A 



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THE 



MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY 



.^v«^ 



CONNECTICUT 



THE WAR OF 1861-65. 



COMPRISING A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF 



THE VARIOUS REGIMENTS AND BATTERIES, 



THROUGH MAECH, ENCAMPMENT, BIVOUAC, AND BATTLE; ALSO INSTANCES OF DIS- 
TINGUISHED PERSONAL GALLANTRY, AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY 
HEROIC SOLDIERS: TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE PATRIOTIC 
ACTION OF CITIZENS AT HOME, AND OF THE LIBERAL SUP- 
PORT FURNISHED BY THE STATE IN ITS EXECUTIVE 
AND LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENTS. 



BY 

W; a;" CEOFFUT AND JOHN M. MOEEIS. 



ILLLfSTRATED. 



c NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED .BY LEDYARD BILL. 

1868. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year i86S, by 

LEDYARD BILL, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southfem District of New York. 






Geo. C. Rand & Avery, Stereotypers and Printers, Boston. 



To 

John Turner Wait, 

LATE SPEAKER « 
OF THE CONNECTICUT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; 

A Patriot 

WHOSE ONLY SON FELL IN DEFENSE OF HIS COUNTRY, 

AND WHOSE MANY ACTS OF KINEiNESS HAVE ENDEARED HIM 

TO THE SOLDIERS OF CONNECTICUT ; 

THE RECORD OF THEIR SERVICES AND SUFFERINGS, 
IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The History of Connecticut during the late civil war was announced by 
Chaplain John M. Morris more than two years ago, and was promised to 
the Publisher more than a year ago ; but the difficulty of obtaining precise 
information was vastly greater than had been anticipated, while many im- 
perative duties of the projector consumed much coveted time. To prevent 
further delay, an arrangement was made whereby W. A. Croffut became 
associated in the labor. The book has been mainly written by Mr. Croffut, 
from materials carefully collected by Mr. Morris. It is proper to bear tes- 
timony, here, to the patient persistence, State pride, and devotedness to the 
cause, which have been exhibited by the Publisher, in overcoming the obsta- 
cles tliat so long postponed a completion of the volume. 

This work aims to give a fair, accurate, and reasonably complete narra- 
tive of the services of the soldiers of Connecticut in the field, with a briefer 
record of the pati'iotic support furnished by citizens at home. It presents 
no scientific discussion of strategy, and no profound reflections on the causes 
and results of the war for the Union. 

We offer no elaborate description of battles, except at the points where 
the regiments of our State were involved : but troops fought under the tri- 
vined flag in every rebellious State, and in almost every important engage- 
ment ; so that we rise from our work to find that the story of the soldiers of 
Connecticut, presents, with singular completeness, the story of the war. 

This general outline is rendered more palpable by the fact, that, instead 
of following the plan of giving each regimental record complete in itself, 
and detached from all the rest, we have rather tried to group events that 
are synchronous, and carry forward the whole with something of the con- 
secutive method of history. 

It is impossible to estimate, even approximately, the number of men, 
much more the aggregate of power and character, which Connecticut con- 
tributed to the war.' On every great battle-field her sons and grandsons 
lie. In the regiments of every State they bore aiuskets and held commis- 
sions. In every pivotal hour of the war, leaders appeared among the fore- 
most, who went back to her sterile but man-nourishing soil for elements 
of strength, skill, and valor. Not only "Winthrop, Ellsworth, Lyon, Poote, 
Sedgwick, Mansfield, "Wadsworth, McClellan, Mower, "Wright, Terry, but 
William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant, sprang straight from 
the loins of our sturdy little Commonwealth. 

" The soldiers fight, and the kings are heroes," says a quaint proverb 
of the Talmud. It were an easy task to enumerate the illustrious officers, 
1 . 1 



11 PREFACE. 

who were lifted up in the gcaze of all the world ; but there is a sense of 
pain and profound sorrow in the consciousness that it is impossible to 
render justice to the naraelessrank and file who never wore even a corpo- 
ral's chevron, but held to their duty with sublime patience. The last of the 
color-guard, who seized the' standard that had dropped from the relaxed 
grasp of his comrades, and bore it on, and planted it and stood by it on the 
edge of the rebel rifle-pit ; the martyr who perished in prison, and ever 
since has been marked "missing" upon the roll of regimental casualties ; 
the thousand glorious obscure, who were mown down by the flaming blade 
of battle, and died singing songs of triumph, and praying for the establish- 
ment of Liberty and Law, — these are the true heroes and martyrs of all 
the wars of the world. But, in a book of limited scope, we have no alter- 
native but to mention the oflacer as the unit standing for his command. 

Connecticut sent to the struggle fifty thousand soldiers in her own regi- 
ments, and probably half as many more in the regiments of other States. 
A simple catalogue of their names and muster would fill two books as large 
as this ; while a complete chronicle of the service of all her faithful sons 
would require a volume for each. Yet we have striven to record every act 
of conspicuous gallantry or merit that has come to our knowledge, without 
regard to rank, feeling rather that rare devotedness Avas nobler in the un- 
titled hero, who had little incentive of military ambition, and little hope 
that his deed would ever be marked or mentioned. 

In treating of affairs at home, we have kept strictly to what had a direct 
bearing on the war ; and, in touching upon local politics, we have written 
in the spirit of fairness. 

In presenting the statistics of patriotic benevolence we confess to a dis- 
appointment. No people beset by war ever gave, of their own free will, so 
lavishly as ours ; and we hoped to compile a record of this liberality, so 
specific and so remarkable, as to amaze the dwellers in this peaceful land 
when our villages shall have become cities, and our farms suburban gardens. 
But we find that our towns, societies, ^.nd churches kept, in most instances, 
no systematic record whatever. The meager facts submitted will probably 
be received as possessing a certain interest and value. 

It is also proper to say that the portraits which appear in this volume 
have been selected with regard not only to the merits of the subjects, but 
also to the desirableness of representing diflFerent regiments, every rank, 
and all sections of the State. 

Instead of relying upon some officer of each regiment to write the his- 
tory of its service, we have preferred to have the whole book grow up un- 
der our own hand ; and to this end we have gathered facts with diligence 
and care from oflUcial reports, diaries, scrap-books, newspapers, private 
letters, personal interviews, and every available source, seeking corrobora- 
tion as far as practicable. By this, we have incurred an enormous labor ; 
but we have secured absolute impartiality, and have attained, we trust, 
substantial accuracy, even in the multiplicity of detail and circumstance. 



PREFACE. {[[ 

Many gentlemen have placed at our disposal sketches, letters, documents, 
and valuable material. Our acknowledgments are duly expressed in these 
pages. There are a few to whom we feel peculiarly indebted, — Col. Philo 
B. Buckingham ; Capt. T. F. Vaill of the Second Artillery ; Lieut.-Col. 
William S. Cogswell of the Fifth ; Chaplain 11. S. DeForest of the Elev- 
enth ; Capt. II. P. Goddard of the Fourteenth ; Capt. Henry G-. Mar- 
shall and Enoch E. Rogers of the Fifteenth ; Chaplain "W. C. Walker of 
the Eighteenth ; Capt. Luther G. Riggs of the Tweoty-second ; Lieut.-Col. 
David Torrance of the Twenty-ninth ; Lieut. J. II. Lord of the Second 
(three-months' troops) ; and John M. Douglass, Esq., for an admirably- 
written chronicle of the part borne by the citizens of Middletown. 

It is hoped that no critic will be so unjust as to compare this volume 
with the vast and eloquent unwritten history of the war. Keenly will the 
friends of many noble men feel that we have failed to portray the self-deny- 
ing lives and valiant deeds of their heroes ; but they can not more than 
we do. Many, even of the Avorthy, are nameless here ; for their story 
has never been told us, and is unrecorded. The whole can not be written. 
Our facts and incidents are only illustrative, not exhaustive. They may 
not always be the most noteworthy ; but they are the best at our command. 
it is hoped that some compensation for any omissions of this kind may 
be found in the fact that we have maintained the local character of the 
work by introducing as much personal incident as could be added without 
burdening the narrati\'e. Few books are ever published that are so full of 
individual achievement and experience. 

We present this volume, however, with confidence, because we feel, that, 
whatever may be its defects of construction, much will be preserved in it 
which would otherwise be lost, and much brought to the notice of the 
whole State, which has hitherto been known to few outside of town or 
neighborhood. It may tend to moderate the extravagant estimate which 
local partiality sometimes places on individuals ; but it can hardly fail to 
exalt the general impression of the average patriotism and efficiency. 

Deeds of daring and devotion now ennoble the records of every town. 
A filial gathering of these seeds of history should have a present value in 
nourishing State pride and stimulating a generous public spirit. And it 
can not but be prized as a record of ancestral sacrifice by the generations 
to come, when grandchildren shall cluster around the chair of the gray- 
haired volunteer, and listen while he tells once more how he carried the 
flag at Gettysburg, and when the venerable dame shall resort to the old 
bureau fragrant with memories, and. gaze again through the mists at the 
blue coat worn .by one who went to battle with her blessing, and died joy- 
fully that the Republic might have a second birth. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



PAOB 

Early History of Connecticut. — The Pequot War. — First American Constitution. — Heavy 
Taxation. — Courage of the New-Haven Colony. — Character of the Civil Govern- 
ment. — The King's Officers resisted. — The Charter preserved. — Connecticut Decla- 
ration of Independence. — Putnam at Boston. — The Statue at Litchfield. — Brother 
Jonathan. — Connecticut Men capture the first British Flags in 1812. — The Blue- 
Laws. — Comparison with other Colonies. — Pre-eminence in Mechanics. — First 
Steamboat, Railroad, and Telegraph. — Influence on other States . . . .-13 

CHAPTER IL 

The War begun at the Ballot-Box. — Elections in Connecticut in 1860. — Attitude of Par- 
ties. — Secession becomes Formidable. — Discussion and Recrimination. — Our Repre- 
sentatives in Congress. — Their Action on Peace Propositions. — Foresight of Gov. 
Buckingham. — The Peace Conference. — Hon. Isaac Toucey. — Spring Election of 
1861. — Connecticut declares for Coercion 29 

CHAPTER m. 

The Fall of Sumter. — Enthusiasm in Connecticut. — " Coercion" accepted as a Duty. — 
A Battle-Sunday. — Wiusted and New Britain. — Sympathy for the South. — The Call 
for the First Regiment. — Condition of our Militia. — The Massachusetts Sixth. — The 
Towns moving. — The Hartford Companies. — Meriden, New Haven, Danbury, Mid- 
dletown, Norwich, Derby, Willimantic, Mystic, Putnam, Danielsonville, Bridgeport, 
Waterbury, New London, Litchfield, Wallingford, Farmington, Salisbury. — The Old 
Flag 38 

. CHAPTER IV. 

The Volunteers uniformed and equipped. — Response of Wealthy Men and Institutions. — 
Patriotic Work of the Women. — Another Revolutionary Sunday. — Call for Second 
and Third Regiments. — The Troops at Rendezvous. — Outfit completed. — In Camp. 

— Rations and Beds. — Contributions flow in. — Drill and Discipline. — Sage Advice. 

— Departure of the Three Regiments 66 

CHAPTER V. 

Capt. Dan Tyler. — Henry B. Norton. — Cassius M. Clay Guard. — The Fourth Regiment. 

— Towns represented. — Departure. — Colt's Revolving Rifles. — It becomes the Fifth 
Connecticut. — Towns represented. — Home Guard. — Yale College. — The General 
Assembly. — Message of the Governor. — War Legislation. — The Constitutional 
Amendment. — Great Unanimity of Feeling. — Independence Day , . . .70 

CHAPTER VL 

The First and Second Regiments in Washington. — Welcome Reception. — Camp at Glen- 
wood. — Joined by the Third. — Death of Col. Ellsworth. — Ellsworth of Connecticut 
Stock. — "Invasion" of Virginia. — Ambush at Vienna. — Holding the Advanced Post. 

— Death of Theodore Winthrop. — Sketch of his Life and Character. — Death of Capt. 
James H. Ward. — An Advance. — Blackburn's Ford. — Bull Rur . — Gen. Tyler be- 
gins the Battle. — The Army betrayed. — Behavior of Connecticut Troops. — The Last 
on the Field. — Tliey act as Rear-Guard in the Retreat. — Go6d Order maintained. — 
They bring ofl" Public Property. — Home, and iluster-out 83 

6 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAOB 

The Effect of the Defeat at Bull Run. — Second Uprising. — The Fifth Regiment goes to 
Harper's Ferry. — Six Regiments begun. — A Squadron of Cavalry. — Peace-Flags and 
Peace-Meetings. — Seymour's Resolutions. — Concurrent Action. — Goshen, Bloom- 
field, Darien, Easton, Cornwall, Sharon, Prospect, North Guilford, Stonington. — A 
New Saybrook Platform. — New Fairfield. — The Bridgeport Farmer. — How Step- 
ney stopped the War. — The Farmer Office sacked. — Gov. Buckingham's Proclama- 
tion. — Life and Character of Gen. Lyon. — His Bravery and Decision. — His Heroic 
Death 101 

CHAPTER Vm. 

The Fourth in Maryland. — Dissatisfoction and Insubordination. — The Fifth on the Poto- 
mac. — Recruiting active. — The Sixth', Seventh, and Eighth. — Towns represented. 

— Departure. — Sixth and Seventh at Washington and Annapolis. — Eighth on Long 
Island. — "The Sons of Connecticut." — Ninth Regiment organized. — "All Full 
Companies" accepted. — The Tenth. — Towns represented. — Eighth and Tenth at 
Annapolis. — Meetings and Social Intercourse. — The Eleventii. — Recruiting. — 
Towns represented. — The Regiment embarks for Annapolis. — Port-Royal Expedi- 
tion. — Landing of the Sixtii and Seventh. — First Union Troops in South Carolina. — 
Tyler appointed Colonel of the Fourth. — The New Discipline. — Exposure and Priva- 
tions of the Fifth 117 

C H A P T E R IX. 

Extra Session of the Legislature. — Governor's Message. — A Carte Blanche. — More Regi- 
ments authorized. — Gen. Butler and the Twelfth. — A Light Battery and a Battalion 
of Cavalry. — At Meriden. — Oflf for the War. — The Ninth badly equipped. — Twelfth 
in Campat Hartford. — Thirteenth in Barracks at New Haven. — Ninth and Twelfth 
• at Ship Island. — Blockading. — The "Stone Fleet." — Effect on the Harbors of the 
South 135 

CHAPTER X. 

Patriotic Benevolence. — The Regiments in the Field supplied. — Sewing and Knitting. — 
Thanksgiving Day. — Soldiers'-aid Societies. — Systematic ElTort. — Alfred Walker. 

— Thirteenth at New Haven. — A " Dandy Regiment." — Off for Ship Island. — The 
Ninth. — Dash at Biloxi and Pass Christian. — Victory. — Trophies and Thanks of 
Gen. Butler. — Capture of New Orleans 148 

CHAPTER XL 

The Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh leave Annapolis. — Storm off Hatteras. — Suffering and 
Depression. — Battle and Capture of Roanoke Island. — Death of C )1. Charles L. Rus- 
sell. — Another Movement. — Battle of Newberne. — Death of Col. A. W. Drake. — 
Incidents. — Siege of Fort Macon 162 

CHAPTER XIL 

The Connecticut Chaplains' -aid Commission. — Chapel Tents and Regimental Libraries 
furnished. — Medical Examining Board. — Spring Election of 1862. — The War Spirit 
predominant. — Governor's Message. — Legislative, Act ion. — Special December Ses- 
sion. — Party Spirit Rising. — Cornelius S. BushnelJ builds the Monitor . . .182 

CHAPTER Xm. 

The Sixth embarks for Florida. — Return to Hilton Head. — The Seventh goes to Tibee 
Island to besiege Fort Pulaski. — Labor of getting the Heavy Mortars in Position. — 
A Case of Insanity. — Sixth goes to Dawfuskie Island to cut off the Approaches 
from Savannah. — Seventh mans the Mortar Batteries. — A Connecticut Affair. — The 
Battle. — Surrender of the Fort. — The Sixth and Seventh and the First Connecticut 
Battery at James Island. — Assault on Lamar's Battery. — Severe Fighting. — Re- 
pulse and Withdrawal. — Bad Management by Gen. Benliam. — Casualties. . . 191 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Fourth becomes the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery. — Recruits. — Goes with 
McClelian to the Peninsula. — "Siege" of Yorkiown. — The Heavy Batteries. — 
"Ready." — Jlagruder falls back. — Detached as Infantry. — The Seven-days' Bat- 
tles. — "Malvern Hill. — Back to Arlington Heights. — The Connecticut Battalion of 
Cavalry. — Among the Mountains of West Virginia. — After Bushwhackers. — Raids 
and Incidents. — Battle of McDowell. — Charge through Wordensville. — Dash into 
New Market. — Ambush at Harrisonburg. — Cross Keys. — J.ickson Ubiquitous. — 
The Fifth at Winchester. — Battle and Repulse, — In Maryland again. — Slaughter at 
Cedar Jlountain. — Brs^very and Severe Losses of the Fiich. — Stone, Blake, Dutton, 
Smith 203 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Summer of 1862. — The Fourteenth Regiment called for. — The Military Situation. — 
Appeal of tlie Executive. — Enthusiastic Response by the People. — War-Meetings 
and Local Effort. — Recruiting Committees. — The Fourteenth full. — New Haven 
raises the Fifteenth. — Hartford recruits the Sixteenth. — Seventeenth from Fairfield 
County-— Eighteenth from New- London County. — Nineteenth from Litchfield 
County. — Twentieth and Twenty-first organized. — The Second Battery goes from 
Bridgeport. — All assigned to the " Army of the Potomac " 222 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Call for Seven Regiments of Nine-months' Men. — The second Great Uprising. — Re- 
cruiting Active. — Meetings and Bounties. — A Draft announced. — The Camps. — 
Exemption sought. — Skulks and Cowards. — The Surgeons besieged. — The White- 
liver Complaint. — Incidents. — How New Haven filled her Quota. — The Day of the 
Draft. — The Mountain brings forth. — All the Regiments Full. — The Twenty second 
from Hartford and Tolland Counties. — Twenty-third from Fairfield and New Haven. 
Twenty-fourth from Middlesex. — Twenty-fifth from Hartford. — Twenty-sixth from 
New London and Windham. — Twenty-seventh, from New Haven. — Twenty-eighth 
from Fairfield and Litchfield. — The Rendezvous on Long Island 240 

CHAPTER XVn. • 

The Eighth and Eleventh near Newbeme. — To Newport News. — Re-organization of the 
Eleventh. — To Fredericksburg. — Pope, defeated, retreats on Washington. — Col. 
Kingsbury in commaii<l of the Brigade. — Arrival in Washington. — Movement into 
Maryland. — The Fourteenth and Sixteenth join the Column. — South Mountain. — 
The Affair of Turner's Gap. — Choice Rebel Literature 255 

CHAPTER XVm. 

Battle of Antietam. — Charge of the Eleventh. — Exploit of Capt. Gibbons. — The Contest 
for the Stone Bridge. — Inexplicable Conduct of Burnside. — Coohiess and Efliciency 
of the Fourteenth. — Charge of llarland's Brigade. — Capt. Charles L. Upham's Com- 
pany capture a Battery. — Great Bravery of the Eighth. — Gallant Conduct of Col. 
Appe'man. — Fatality of the Color-Guard. — Harland assumes Command of Rodman's 
Division. — Severe Losses. — Sufferings of the Wounded. — Corporal Henry A. East- 
man of the Eleventh. — Death of Col. Kingsbury and others. — Total Casualties of 
the Battle. — Death of Major-Gen. Joseph K. F. Mansfield. — Biography of Mansfield. 

— Retreat of Lee's Army 264 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Tardy Pursuit of Lee. — The Eighth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and 
Twenty-first Conned icut Volunteers. — Gen. Burnside in Command. — March to Fal- 
mouth. — The Battle of Frederifkshurg. — Gallantry of the Fourteenth and Twenty- 
seventh. — Gen. Harland's Official Report. — Tlie Disastrous Repulse. — Whereabouts 
of the Fifth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-second. — Private Elias Howe, Jr. 

— The Army Ration. — Camp at Stafford Court House 288 

CHAPTER XX. 

The First Connecticut Battery and Seventh Regiment in Florida. — Capture of St. John's 
Bluff. — Sixth and Stven'th in South Carolina. — Battle of Pocotaligo. — The Twelfth 
at Camp Parapet. — Yankee Enterprise. — Anecdotes of the Thirteenth. — Services 
and Sutl'erings of the Ninth at Vick-burg. — The Battle of Baton Rouge. — The La 
Fonrche Campaign. — Battle of Georgia Landing. — Thanksgiving. — The Nine- 
months' Regiments leave Long Island. — The Twenty-eighth at Pensacola. — Destruc- 
tion of a Rebel Gunboat 303 

CHAPTER XXL 

Spring Election of 1863. — The Peace Wing of the Democracy again Demonstrative. — 
Buckingham rersvs Seymour. — '* No more War! " — The Platforms. — Gov. Seymour's 
Letter. — A|)peRls from the Connecticut Regiments in the Field. — Sharp Kxtracts. — 
The Vote. — Eaton's Resolutions in the Assembly. — After Fredericksburg. — The 
Eighth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-first at New[)ort News. — Siege 
of Suifolk. — Skirmishes and Reconnoissances. — Capture of Fort Huger. — Raising 
of the Siege. — Evacuation. — "The Blackberrv Raid." 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

PASB 

The Tenth Connecticut Volunteers at Newberne. — Expedition to the Interior. — The 
Tarborough Scout. — Forage and Rations. — An Incident of Slaveiy. — The Battle of 
Kinston. — The Tenth at the Front. — The Contest for the Bridge. — Complimented 
by Gen. Foster. — Heavy Losses. — The Railroad destroyed at Goldsborough. — Gal- 
lantry, —To St. Helena Island. — Camp and Surroundings. — The Eighteenth Con- 
necticut Volunteers still at Baltimore. — Joins Milroy at Winchester. — The Situation. 
— Battle of the First Day. — The Second Day at the Intrenchments. The Evacua- 
tion. — The Charge into the Woods. — Surrender of the Eighteenth. — Casualties. — 
Colors saved 341 

CHAPTER XXm. 

Battle of Chancellorsville. — Advance upon the Flank. — The Fifth, Fourteenth, Seven- 
teenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-seventh Connecticut Regiments engaged. — The 11th 
Corps overwhelmed by Stonewall Jackson. — Terrible Battle of May 3. — Heavy 
Losses of the Twentieth Connecticut Volunteers. — The Twenty-seventh Regiment 
captured. — A New Line of Battle. — Withdrawal of the Army, and Failure of the 
Movement. — Losses of the Connecticut Regiments. — Prisoners of War . . . 358 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Race of the Hostile Armies Northward. — Battle of Gettysburg. — The Fifth, Fourteenth, 
Seventeenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-seventh Connecticut Regiments engaged, — 
Second Light Battery. — The Aflair of July 1. — The Assault of July 2. — Attack on 
the Left Flank. — Terrible Fighting of July 3. — Cjnnecticut Correspondents. — The 
Losses in our Regiments. — Scenes on the Battle-Field. — The " Fourth of July." — 
Tardy Pursuit of Lee. — Our Troops again iu Virginia 378 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Biographical Sketch of Admiral Foote. — His Adventures, Battles, and Death. — Banks's 
Ex|)edition. — Feint towards Port Hudson. — .March Southward. — Battle of Irish 
Bend. — The Cotton-Raid up the Atchafal.aya. — Investment of Port Hudson. — The 
Fight of Mav 27. — The Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twenty-fourth, Twiinty-tifrh, Twenty- 
sixth, and Twenty eight!) Connecticut. — The Charge of June 14. — Failure and 
Heavy Losses. — The Twenty-fourth in the Cotton-Fort. — The Forlorn Hope. — Our 
Roll of Honor. — Surrender of Port Hudson 397 

CHAPTER XXVL 

After the Capturp of Port Hudson. — The Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twenty-fourth, Twenty- 
fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-eighth Connecticut Regiments. — Casualties. — 
Incidents of the Uattle. — The Twenty-tliird in Southern Louisiana. — Guarding the 
Railroad. — At Brashear City. — Battle and C;ipture. — Casualties. — Imprisonment 
in Texas. — Return Home of the Nine-mouths' Regiments 420 



CHAPTER XXVn. 

Sixth and Seventh in Florida. — The Advance on Charleston, — The Situation at Folly 
and Morris Islands. — Gen, Terry and the Tenth on James Island. — A Detachment 
of the Seventh the First to land on Morris Island. — Capture of the Batteries. — The 
Battalion of the Seventh in the First Charge on Wagner. — Fia;ht on .lames Island. — 
The First Connecticut Battery. — Daring Charge of the Sixth on Wagner. — Three 
Hours in the Fort, — Heavy Casualties. — Important Service of the Seventeenth 
Ci'Hnecticut Volunteers. — Approaches to the Fort. — Tlie Seventh in Ch;n-ge of 
Heavy llatteries. — bombardment of Sumter. — Capture of Wagner and Gregg. — 
The IJolluf Honor. — The SIxthat Hilton Head. — The Seventh atSt. Helena Island.— 
The Seventeenth on Folly Island. — l"he Tenth in Florida. — Death of Col, Chaifield, 436 

CHAPTER XXVIIL 

More Troops wanted. — A Draft. — The Result. — Call for Seven Hundred Thousand Men. 

— Seven Hundred Dollars' Bounty. — Work of Recruiting.- The Twenty-ninth Regi- 
ment. — Enlistmentand Departure. — Rii-enli<tment of Veterans. — Recruitina; Rapid. 

— Tlie Quota of the State full, with a Surplus. — .Soldiers'-aid Societies. — Har ford, 
Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwich, Daubury, Derby. — The Work at Home and in 
the Field. — A ThauKsgiving Dinner 456 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Harland's Brigade near Portsmouth. — More Digging. — A Handsome Camp. — The 
Twenty-first on Provost-Duty in Portsmouth and Norfolk. — Raid througli Dismal 
Swamp. — The Eleventh at lilouce«ter Point. — Twenty-first at Newport News. — 
An Expedition up the James. — Fifteenth and Sixteenth go to North Carolina. — 
" Accidental " Fire. — Twenty-first at Newport Bacracks and Nevvberne. — The Six- 
teenth at Plymouth. — Battle and Capture by the Rebels. — Geu. Peck's Order . . 4eTV' 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The First Cavalry Battalion. — Demoralization. — Increased to a Regiment. — Fight in 
Virginia. — At Baltimore. — To the Field. — The Eighteenth Connecticut. — At Mar- 
tinsburg. — Gen. Milrov on Winchester. — Prison-Life. — Officers at Libby. — Diver- 
sions. — To Macon. — Escapes. — An Interesting Adventure 489 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The First and Second Artillerv, Sixth, Tenth, Fourteenth, and Seventeenth, during the 
Winter of 1863-64. — The "Second Light Battery.— The Seventh in Florida. — Battle 
of Olustee. — Ninth in New Orleans. -— Tlie Twelfth at New Iberia. — The Thirteenth 
in the Red-River Expedition. — ^^ Battle of Cane River. — Connecticut Regiments Home 
on Veteran Furlough. — Speeches and Banquets 504 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

The Sixteenth in Rebel Prisons. — The Enlisted Men at Andersonville. — Ratios. — Ter- 
rible Suflering in the Stockade. — The "Dead Line." — Starvation. — Insanity. — The 
Patriot's Burial. — The Hospital. — Officers at Macon. — Chivalry and Bloodhounds. 

— The " Glorious Fourth." — In Charleston. — Efforts to escape. — Exchange . . 526 

CHAPTER XXXHL 

Up the James River. — The Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first at 
Bermuda Hundred. — A Reconnoissance. — The Railroad destroyed. — Battle of Dru- 
ry's Bluft". — Repulse and Heavy Losses. — "Bottled up" within the Intrenchments. 

— Fight of the Twenty-first. — Death of Col. Arthur H. Dutton. — Losses of the 
Seventh. — The First Connecticut Artillery ordered to Bermuda Hundred. — The Non- 
Veterans mustered out . . . / 536 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

The Fourteenth at Stevonsburg. — The Affair at Mine Rnn. — How to build Winter-Quar- 
ters, and how to enjoy them. — Fight at Morton's Ford. — First Connecticut Cavalry 
joins the Army of the Potomac — Grant crosses the Rapidan. — Struggle of the Wil- 
derness, — Flank March to Spottsylvania. — Terrible Fighting. — The Second Connec- 
ticut Artillery (Nineteenth) comes up. — Gen. Robert 6. Tyler commands a Division. 

— S^iirited Contest. — The First Cavalry in Front of Richmond. — To the North 
. Anna. — Another Flank Movement. — Death of Geu. John Sedgwick. — His Character 

and Public Services 660 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The First Connecticut Cavalry. — Severe Service. — Battle of Ashland. — Brilliant Per- 
sonal Encounter. — Bravery and Losses. — Battle of Cold Harbor. — Charge of the 
Second Connecticut Artiliery. — Terrible Losses. — Death of Col. E. S. Kellogg. — 
Casualties of the Fourteenth". — The Charge of June 3. — Losses of the Eighth, Elev- 
enth, and Twenty-fir.'it Coimecticut. — Death of Col. Burpee and Major Converse. — 
Organization of the Thirtieth Connecticut 581 

CHAPTER XXXVL 

After Cold Harbor.- The First Cavalry. — To Petersburg.- Exploit of the Eighth.— 
Charge of the Eleventh. — The Second, Fourteenth, and Twenty-first. — The Sixth, 
Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth at Bermuda Hundred. — Wilson's Raid. — The First Cav- 
alry. — Bold Ride of Capt. Whitnker.— Incidents. — First Conncct'cut Arti lery. — 
Siege-Work of the Summer. — Battle of Strawberry Plains. — The Thirtieth Connec- 
ticut at the Mine. — Death of Col. Stedman and Lieut.-Col. Moegling .... 60S 



10 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 

General Assembly. — Adjourned Session in January, 1864. — Spring Session. — Governor's 
Message. — The Ballot given to Soldiers in the Field. — Calls for Troops. — Recruit- 
ing. — The Quotas filled. — How it was done. — Presidential Klection. — The Twenty- 
ninth .(colored) in South Carolina. — The Eighteenth Regiment. — Home on Furlough. 

— Advance with Sigel. — Defeat at Newmariiet. — Victory at Piedmont. — Loss of 
Brave Men. — Pushing South. — Across the James. — Advance on Lynchburg. — Re- 
pulse aud Retreat. — Early Attacks Washington. — Affair at Snicker's Ferry . .629 

CHAPTER XXXVin. 

The Dead Lock at Petersburg. — Flank Movement on the Right. — The Sixth, Seventh, 
Tenth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-ninth Connecticut, and the First Battery, engaged. — 
Four-mile Run. — Battle of Deep Run. — Charge by Terry's Division. — Strawberry 
Plains. — Withdrawal. — Casualties. — The Fourteenth at Reams's Station. -^ Casu- 
alties. — Incidents along the Line 648 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Still in Front of Petersburg. — Demonstration on the Left. — The Fourteenth. — Advance 
of Butler. — Chaftin's Bluif. — Capture of Fort Harrison. — The Eighth and Twenty- 
first. — The Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and Twenty-ninth on the Right. — Rebel Repulse. 

— Casualties. — Attack on Terry's Line. — Repulse. — Counter-Attack. — Death of 
Major H. W. Camp. — Hawley's Brigade on the Darbytown Road. — The Twenty- 
ninth as Skirmishers. — Ihe Second and Fourteenth on Hatcher's Run. — Hawley's 
Division a^ New York. — The First Artillery. — Butler fails to capture Fort Fisher. — 
Terry takes it by Storm * 664 

CHAPTER XL. 

The Fifth and Twentieth in Tennessee. — Guarding the Railroad. — Fight with Guerrillas. 

— Retaliation. — Advance of the Spring. — The Twentieth at Boyd's Trail. — Battle 
of Resaca. — Amusing Incidents. — The Fifth and Twentieth at Peach-tree Creek. — 
Sherman's Flank Jlovement. — Atlanta occupied. — Casualties in the Connecticut 
Regiments. — A Rest. — The March to the Sea. — At Savainiah. — Second Connecti- 
cut Battery. — In Louisiana aud at Mobile. — " The Bay Fight " 692 

CHAPTER XLL 

Sheridan takes Command in the Shenandoah. — The Fir^t Connecticut Cavalry, Second 
Artillery, and Ninth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Eighteenth Infantry. — At Winchester. 

— Kearneysville. — Skirmishes. — Battle of Opequan Creek. — Casualties. — Spring 
Hill. — Cedar Creek. — Defeat and Victory. — Heavy Losses. — The Pursuit. — Roil 
of Honor of Yale College and Wesleyan University. — The Seventeenth in Florida. — 
Battles and Raids. — Successes and Disasters. — Incidents. — Casualties . . . 714 

CHAPTER XLIL 

Prison Experience of our Soldiers. — Testimony of a Confederate Surgeon. — Experience 
of Weston Ferris on Belle Isle. — Great Privation and Sullering. — Condition of Pris- 
oners at Camp Ford, Tex. — Gen. E. M. Lee in Libby. — Capture of Miijor Sanfoid 
and Men of the Seventh. — Adventures of Ihree Officers of the Sixteenth. — Fidelity 
of Surgeon Nickerson. — Thrilling Narrative of Lieut. Bailey. — Deaths at Andersou- 
ville. -^ Incidents of Martyrdom ...'.. I .... . 737 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

Affairs before Richmond. — Grant and Sherman of Connecticut Stock. — Genealogy. — 
Location and Organization of Connecticut Resinients. — The First Cavahy returns 
to Petersburg. — ^"VVhitaker captures JIajor Gihnor. — Twelfth and Eighteenth Regi- 
ments. — First Artillery. — Death of Lieut. -Ccl. Trumbull. — Second Artillery. — 
First, Second, and I'hird Batteries. — Sixth and Seventh. — Death of Chaplain Eaton. 

— Eigh h, Eleventh, Twenty-first, and Twenty-ninth. — Ninth and Tuirteenth. — 
Tentii and Fourteenth. — Sherman's Great March Northward. — Thel'ifthand I'wen- 
tieth. — Incidents of the Campaign. — Battles aud Victories. — Casualties. — Disaster 

of the Fifteenth Connecticut. — The Sixteenth 755 



CONTENTS. 11 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

Spring of 1865. — The Beginning of the End. — Petersburg. — Rebel Assault on Fort 
Stedman. — Repulse. — Service of the First Connecticut Artillery. — The Second 
Artillery and the Fourteenth on the Left. — The Tenth and Thirtieth. — The First 
Cavalry at Five Forks. — The Tenth at Fort Gregg. — Unsurpassed Gallantry. — 
Advance of the Whole Line. — Lee evacuates Petersburg and Ritjhmond. — The 
Retreat and Pursuit. — First Cavalry at Sailor's Creek. — Lee surrounded. — The 
Surrender. — In North Carolina. — TJie Capitulation of Johnston's Army . . . 775 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Matters at Home. — General Assembly of 1865. — The Governor's Message. — Legislation. 

— Number of Soldiers sent from the State. — Our Regiments after the Close of the 
War. — Two Pictures from Richmond. — Terry and Hawley in Virginia. — Presenta- 
tions. — Muster-out of Connecticut Regiments. — The Fourteenth. — Twentieth. — 
First, Second, and Third Light Batteries. — Twenty-first. — Eighteenth. — Sixteenih. 

— Fifteenth. — - Fifth. — Seventeenth. — First Cavalry. — Sixth. — Seventh. —Twelfth. 

— Second Artillery. — Ninth. — Tenth. — First Artillery. — Twenty-ninth and Thir- 
tieth. — Eighth and Eleventh. — Thirteenth. — Thanks of the Legislature . . . 798 

APPENDIX. 

The Sons of Connecticut residing in New York. — The Connecticut Agency in New York. 
The Agency in Washington. — Gen. Aiken's Visit to Washington. — Connecticr.t in 
the Navy. — The Expenses for War Purposes. — The Generals of Connecticut. — 
Organizations and Casualties. — Roll of Honor. — Our Martyrs at Andersonville . 833 



CONNECTICUT- COLONIAL EECOED. 



CHAPTER I. 

« 

Early History of Connecticut. — The Pequot "War. — First American Constitution. — 
Heavy Taxation. — Courage of the New-Haven Colony. — Character of the Cinl 
Government. — The King's Officers resisted. — The Charter preserved. — Connecticut 
Declaration of Independence. — Putnam at Boston. — The Statue at Litchfield. — 
Brother Jonathan. — Connecticut Men capture the first British Flags in 1812. — The 
Blue-Laws. — Comparison with other Colonies. — Pre-eminence in Mechanics. — 
First Steamboat, Railroad, and Telegraph. — Influence on other States. 

HE colonists of Connecticut organized the first 
republic on the Western continent. While all 
the other inhabitanjts of the coast — the Pil- 
grims of Plymouth, the English traders of Bos- 
ton, the Dutch at New Amsterdam, and the 
Cavaliers and Huo-uenots on the distant shore of Viro-inia — 

o o 

were living wholly under royal charters^ and endeavoring to 
maintain public order by irregular and capricious penalties, 
the planters of the Connecticut ^ Colony assembled at Hart- 
ford in January, 1639, and solemnly framed and adopted 
the first American Constitution. The promptness of her 
citizens in dictating statute law was equaled by their zeal 
in enforcing it to secure justice and promote tranquillity. 

Alike in domestic and foreign wars, Connecticut has al- 
ways displayed great vigor and courage. In the spring of 
1637, two and a half years after the erection of the first 




^ Named after the River Quonektacut, — Long River, — so called by the savages. 

13 



14 CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL EECOED. 

house, she was a little confederacy of three plantations, con- 
taining about one hundred and sixty families. But the 
forests enveloping her embryo towns had already become 
the lurking-place of the jealous and vengeful Pequot ; and 
no traveler or loiterer was safe for a moment from his cruel 
tomahawk, and no dwelling secure for a night against his 
fire-brand. Numerous murders had already been committed, 
with every variety of torture. 

The first recorded act of the General Court - of that year 
" Ordered, That there shall be an offensive war against the 
Pequots ; and there shall be ninety men levied out of the 
plantations of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor." This 
was more than half of the adult males of the colony ; and, 
after they went, those remaining at home were, placed on 
short allowance of food, — not the first time, nor the last, — 
and there were not enough men left for the detail of sentries 
kept up night and day. "What we plant," wrote one'of 
them, " is before our own doors ; little anywhere else." 

Foreseeing all this, the little army in one week set sail, 
under command of the sturdy Capt. John Mason, and, 
evincing both strategy and courage, surprised the Indian 
fort at Mystic, killed five or six hundred^ of the hostile 
tribe, ruined its proud chief, Sassacus, and returned home in 
time to plant corn for that year.* 

The activity and stern valor in war thus early exhibited 
by the planters in no wise surpassed their wisdom in civil 
affairs. Two years later, in general convention assembled, 
they declared, " We do therefore associate and conjoin our- 
selves together to be as one public State or Commonwealth." 
They thereupon proceeded to frame an elaborate code of 

2 Fifteen members, — six magistrates and nine committee-men. 

* Trumbull's Colonial Records. 

* Capt. Mason was subsequently offered a commission as major-general in Cromwell's 
army, but refused it. Major John Desborough- of New Haven actually returned to Eng- 
land, and held that position ; while his brother Samuel also went back to tight against 
Charles, and became Lord-Chancellor of Scotland under Cromwell. At the same time, 
Gov. Hopkins of New Haven was appointed to the high office of commissioner of 
the English navy ; and Gov. Eaton, also of New Haven, was shortly tbereafter made 
the king's ambassador at the court of Denmark. 



FIRST CONSTITCJTIOX. — INDIAN WARS. 15 

o-overnment, " the first written constitution of the New 
World, — one that was the type of all that came after it, 
even that of the Republic itself." ^ Of this constitution, Mr. 
Bancroft has written, — 

" Nearly two centuries have elapsed ; the world has been made wiser by- 
various experience ; political institutions have become the theme on wliieli 
the most powerful and cultivated minds have been employed ; dynasties of 
kings have been dethroned, recalled, dethroned again; and so many, con- 
stitutions have been framed or re-formed, stitled or subverted, that memory 
may despair of a complete catalogue : but the people of Connecticut have 
found no reason to deviate essentially from the government established by 
their fathers. . . . They who judge of men by their influence on public 
happiness, and by the services they render to the human race, will never 
cease to honor the memory of Hooker and Haynes." *' 

Of such prowess and intellectual force were the founders 
of our commonwealth. Sternly self-defended, and wisely 
self-governed, they and their children grew to a wholesome 
relish of public order, and an invincible love of freedom. 
They were quick to see the practical advantage of co-opera- 
tion for mutual defense against Indians, Dutch, and French; 
and earnestlv urgred the alliance of the New-En o-land colo- 
nies, formed in 1643, to that end. 

Then followed years of anxiety, vigilance, and war, — the 
latter waged mostly in behalf of sister colonies. In 1675, 
Major Treat led a hundred Connecticut men into Western 
Massachusetts, and rescued the garrison at Northfield be- 
leaguered by King Philip's warriors, saved the day at Bloody 
Brook, and averted a massacre at Springfield. Later, the 
same officer, with three hundred men, marched into Eastern 
Massachusetts acrainst the STroat fort of the Narrnfransetts ; 
and, after the troops of that colony had made a brave but 
unsuccessful attack, forced an entrance by a persistent and 
bloody assault. Four out of five captains, and more than 
eighty men, fell in the victorious onset. 

5 Rev. Horane Bashnell's Historic Estimate. 

^ Rev. Thomas Hooker, the eloquent pastor of the Hartford Church, and John Haynes, 
first governor elected in the colony. 



16 CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL RECORD. 

Major Treat was the acknowledged hero of King Philip's 
War, and the next spring was elected governor/ 

During three years of this Indian war, the colonists un- 
complainingly paid an annual tax of eleven pence on a 
pound ; and for two years thereafter, in order the more speed- 
ily to free themselves from a heavy debt, they increased it 
to nineteen pence on a pound. This amounted, in the five 
. years, to about thirty cents on each dollar of taxable property. 

Meanwhile the Protector had died, and a Stuart had re- 
turned to the throne of England. The New-Haven colonists 
were anxious to conciliate the new king; but, at the very 
beginning of his reign, it became apparent that they loved 
justice more than they feared Charles Stuart. Though fully 
aware that the king's personal vengeance was roused against 
the regicides who had been the judges of his royal' father, 
yet, when the pursuers came to New Haven to search for 
and seize the fugitives. Gov. Leete interposed every obstacle 
except violence ; brave old Davenport preached to his peo- 
ple with impressive eloquence from the text, " Make thy 
shadow as the night in the midst of noonday, hide the out- 
casts, bewray not him that wandereth ; " while the uneasy 
agents of the king were watched by eyes so reproachful and 
menacing, that they hurried off without their prey. The 
fugitives were at that moment hidden within the limits of 
the town. Ever thereafter, Connecticut was a safe refuge 
for the oppressed of every clime, — a sure "covert to them 
that liee from the face of the spoiler." 

Tlie Hartford colonists more shrewdly improved the early 
and pliant days of the second Charles to fortify their pre- 
cious liberties, by the guaranty of his own signature, against 
any future usurpation or exaction. Through Gov. Win- 
throp, the most gifted New-Englander of his time, they ob- 
tained a charter more liberal than was ever before granted to 

' Dr. BushncU, in Work and Play, says of the early colony, "There never was a 
spark of chivalry in lier leaders; and yet there was never a coward among them. . . . 
They knew nothing of figliting without an object ; and, when they had one, they went to 
work hravely, simply because it was sound economy to fight well." 



KESISTANCE TO TYRANNY. 17 

any colony by an English king ; and under it they were able 
to re-enact, with royal sanction, their constitution and laAvs. 

The colonists of New Haven were, much to their sur- 
prise, and against their inclination, included, by this charter, 
within the jurisdiction of Connecticut. In the Hartford 
Colony, none but church-members were eligible to the office 
of governor ; but all orderly freemen, on receiving a majority 
vote of the town, were electors. In the New-H;iven Colony, 
no person could be a voter unless he was a member of the 
church in full communion.^ Under their devout leader, 
Rev. John Davenport, the people had vested civil govern- 
ment in the Church, and apprehended that religious and 
moral laxity might follow the proposed compromise. After 
serious discussion, obvious geographical reasons and the 
necessity of a closer defensive league prevailed over these 
fears ; and, in 1665, the two colonies became one, with John 
Winthrop for governor. 

The sagacity of the colonists, in anticipating that a Stuart 
once in power uiight become whimsical* and tyrannical, was 
proved hi 1674, when Charles gave a new patent to his 
brother,. the Duke of York, transferring Connecticut to him, 
to be re-organized with the New Netherlands under the 
name of New York. Sir Edmund Andros was sent to lay 
claim to " all of Connecticut west of the river," and set out 
for Saybrook Fort to enforce his authority. Landing there, 
he was confronted by the militia drawn up in good order. 
Andros, a little disturbed, directed his clerk to read his 
commission as governor. The officer in command, having 
specific instructions from Gov. Winthrop, commanded him, 
with stern bluntness, to " forbear ! " — " Go on ! " said Andros. 
" Forbear, sir ! " shouted the captain, with an uplifting of 
the sword so ominous as to check the frightened clerk with 
ludicrous suddenness. Sir Edmund was intimidated and 
perplexed, but, after a moment's pause, asked the captain 

8 This was also the rule in the Plymouth and other colonies ; and it was the estab- 
lished law of England, even down to the present generation. 
3 



18 • CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL RECORD. 

his name. " My name is Bull, sir," was the reply. " Bull ! " 
repeated Andros : " it is a pity your horns are not tipped 
with silver;" and, covering his chagrin with this bit of 
unmeaning pleasantry, he re-embarked. 

Every schoolboy knows how, twelve years later, another 
treacherous attempt was made to extinguish the sturdy 
colony; how this same petty tyrant appeared at Hartford, 
and, in the name of the king, demanded the cherished 
charter; how, in the chamber of deliberation, the candles 
suddenly went out, and the charter mysteriously vanished ; 
how the colony maintained its rights ; how the precious 
parchment was ultimatel}^ found in a hollow oak ; how the 
venerable tree, after being visited by pilgrims for two cen- 
turies, still lives in a thousand keepsakes and mementoes, 
while loving hands cherish the charter which no longer 
needs a defender. 

Once more, in a colonial capacity, Connecticut obstinately 
asserted the chartered rights of the colony against " the 
inherent rights of the king," when, in 1693, he conferred 
the command of the Connecticut militia on Gov. Fletcher 
of New York ; and that functionary, coming to Hartford to 
assume command, was silenced by Capt. Wadsworth's drums 
and muskets, and returned, baffled and sullen, to his home. 
The king, humoring this willful people, never again sought 
to muster Connecticut militia under royal officers ; but, 
whenever he wanted men or money, made formal requisitions 
on their governor, which were responded to with cheerful 
alacrity. Well did the stubborn colony earn her reputation 
as the land 

" Where none kneel, save when to Heaven they pvay ; 
Nor even then, unless in their own way." 

Connecticut had already shed the first blood of the French 
and Indian War in the gallant but unavailing defense of 
Schenectady ; and thenceforward, to the close of the last 
French and Indian War in 1763, her citizens were almost 
constantly engaged in campaigns or j)reparations. A care- 



PEEPAEIXG FOE EEVOLUTIOX. 19 

fill investigation shows that the colony furnished propor- 
tionately a far greater number of soldiers than any other/-* 
though the frontiers of New York and Massachusetts were 
much more exposed. 

In these wars, Connecticut expended from her scanty 
treasury more than five hundred thousand pounds above 
the trifling sum repaid by the Home Government. England 
made many fair promises, but, after the close of the war, 
reimbursed not a farthing of this enormous outlay. The 
colonists were losing respect for the mother-country, and 
feeling daily their growing independence. 

The Connecticut General Assembly, as early as May, 
1764, entered a calm but vigorous and searching protest 
against the threatened Stamp Act. In the spirit of those 
who sent him, Mr. Jared Ingersoll, the special envoy of the 
colony to England, assured the secretary of the king's 
treasury , that " any supposable scheme " of taxation by 
parliament " would go down with the people like chopped 
hay ; " and that any plan for enforcing such acts would in- 
volve an expense bearing a ratio to the profits, not unlike 
"burning a barn to roast an egg." The remonstrance 
secured a brief delay ; but the law was passed. 

The governor and his council, the envoy and many of 
the leading men, with sad but loyal hearts, advised submis- 
sion to the law of the realm. Not so Trumbull, Putnam, 
Durkee, the veteran soldiers and sturdy yeomen. In town- 
meetings assembled, they repeatedly resolved that -' busi- 
ness shall proceed as usual" without stamped paper; and 
the Sons of Liberty, vigilant and resolute, rode in armed 
bands, destroying stamped material, and compelling the 
stamp-officer to resign. 

The substitute Revenue Act and the Boston Port Bill 
evoked a day of fasting and prayer, a refurnishing of 
munitions and supplies, the formation of an artillery com- 
pany, and a thorough re-organization of the militia. 

9 Hollister's History, vol. ii. p. 118. 



20 CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL RECORD. 

Thus the colonists of Connecticut were unconsciously but 
fully prepared for revolution. 

In September, 1774, a premature alarm was sounded 
throughout the colony ; and, in sixty hours, more than ten 
thousand armed men started to the relief of Boston. This 
promptness but foreshadowed the alacrity with which they 
afterwards responded to the actual call. 

Eighteen hours after tidings of the engagement at Lex- 
ington reached him, fiery Putnam, gray-haired, and verging 
on sixty, had visited and received orders from Gov. Trum- 
bull ; and, riding all night, he dashed into Concord at sunrise. 
Troops pushed on after him by squads and companies, until 
more than three thousand Connecticut soldiers confronted 
the enemy at Boston. These were pronounced the best 
equipped, drilled, and officered of the troops there collected. 

The retaliatory expedition against Ticonderoga was 
planned immediately after, by Connecticut men, diiring the 
session of the General Assembly at Hartford. It was led 
by residents or natives of Connecticut, was achieved in 
part by her soldiers, and paid for in full from her treasury. 
The capture of this fort was the first victory, and the first 
ao;a;ressive stroke, of the war ; and the armament and muni- 
tions thus obtained were essential to the success of the 
patriot army before Boston. 

By the end of April, Connecticut had issued bills of credit 
to the amount of a hundred thousand pounds ; and, by early 
summer, had twenty-two regiments organized and equipped 
for the field. 

Putnam was the most ardent and bellig-erent member of 
the council of war near Boston. The Massachusetts Com- 
mittee of Safety and the officers in command were hesi- 
tating; and irresolute. Putnam insisted on the immediate 
Occupation of Bunker Hill, and made a bold statement of 
the situation, ending with words which embodied his own 
stern purpose : '' At the worst, suppose us surrounded, and 
no retreat, we will set our country an example of which it 
shall not be ashamed, and teach mercenaries what men can 



PUTNAM AT BUNKER HILL. — INDEPENDENCE. 21 

do determined to live or die free." This impetuous out- 
burst overbore all opposition ; and Putnam was directed to 
make the intrenchment. In the battle which resulted, Put- 
nam had command of the American forces. The terse 
orders of the day were his: "Aim at their w^aistbands! Pick 
ofi'the officers! Reserve your fire till you see the whites of 
their eyes; then fire low!" Re-enforcements or powder, 
both of which were denied to Putnam by his misjudging 
commander Gen. Ward, might have made the conflict, in- 
stead of a glorious defeat, the bloodiest victory of the Revo- 
lution. 

The high estimate placed upon Putnam by Washington 
is indicated by the fact, that, bringing with him from the 
Congress at Philadelphia the commissions of four major- 
generals in the Continental army, he handed to Putnam his 
commission several days before delivering the others, in 
order thus to rank him as second in command. 

On the 14th of June„17T6, in advance of any tidings of 
congressional action, Connecticut pronounced for independ- 
ence in these words : — 

" Resolved unammoiisly ly this Assemlhj, That the delegates of this 
colony, in General Congress, be, and they are, hereby instructed to propose 
to that respectable body to declare the United American Colonies free and 
independent States, absolved from all allegiance to the King of Great Brit- 
ain, and to give the assent of this colony to such declarations." 

Connecticut, with her practical turn of mind, made the 
equestrian statue of King George, in New York, useful to 
rebels against his authority. On the 11th of July, seven 
days after the declaration of the Continental Congress, this 
statue of gilded lead was visited by the Sons of Liberty, 
rudely toppled over, and hurried away the wondering Tories 
knew not whither. But any well-known patriot who visited 
the shed half hidden in the apple-orchard of Gen. Wolcott, 
in Litchfield, would have found his son Frederick chopping 
up the royal image with a hatchet into suitable lumps ; and 
before the glowing coals in the huge kitchen fire-place, wife 



22 CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL RECORD. 

and daughter, with neighboring matrons and maids, fusing 
the lumps into bullets with many a shrug and jest. It was 
so fitting that the hirelings of the king should have " melted 
majesty fired at them." 

Immediately after the British were forced from Boston, 
Putnam was ordered by Washington to the command at New 
York ; and the militia of Connecticut west of the river rallied 
there in obedience to his summons, while those east hurried 
to the defense of New London, Upon sending forward to 
New York additional volunteers to join the five Connecticut 
regiments already there, Trumbull thus exhorted the young 
men : " Be roused and alarmed to stand forth in our just 
and glorious cause. Join yourselves to some one or other 
of the companies of the militia now ordered to New York ; 
or forui yourselves into distinct companies, and choose cap- 
tains forthwith. March on. This shall be our warrant : Play 
the man for God, and for the cities of our God. May the 
Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, be your 
leader ! " The young farmers rose up from their half-gathered 
harvests, and forming themselves in nine regiments, self- 
equipped, marched to New York just in time to meet the 
advance of the British. Not less than twenty thousand of 
our citizens were then in actual service ; and, up to this time, 
" Connecticut had furnished and kept in the field fall one- 
half the American army commanded by Washington." ^^ 

Putnam selected West Point ; and Gen. Parsons, with a 
Connecticut brigade camped there in 1778, without tents, 
and in snow two feet deep erected the fort, then and 
now impregnable, over which no flag but the stars and 
stripes has ever waved. 

At no time during the Revolution could Connecticut num- 
ber more than forty thousand fighting men; but she put 31,059 
in the field. Her poj)ulation was but eight per cent of the 
entire population of the colonies ; but she i^uYuished fourteen 
per cent of the Continental troops, — a larger ratio than any 

^^ Hollister's History of Connecticut, vol. ii. p. 273. 



CONNECTICUT IN 1776. 23 

other colony.^^ Massachusetts alone surpassed her in actual 
numbers ; though New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vir- 
ghiia, and the two Carolinas, were also larger in population. 
Moreover, many Massachusetts troops enlisted for nine 
months, and were recounted at each re-enlistment ; so that it 
is asserted ^^ that" Connecticut furnished for the Continental 
ranks, and kept in actual service, more men than any other 
State in the Confederacy." 

Of the quality of these men, their conduct bore witness; 
but Gen. Hoot declared, that, in his brigade alone, there 
w^ere seven ministers who had taken the field as captains of 
their own congregations. 

Upon no man in civil life in America did Washington -so 
much depend for wise counsel and prompt aid in every 
emergency as upon Jonathan Trumbull, the bold but prudent 
Governor of Connecticut, — the only governor on the conti- 
nent, when the war began, who was not appointed by the 
king. His co-operation was so constant and so valuable, that 
the most intimate relations sprang up between him and 
Washington ; and the latter, in seasons of unusual perplexity, 
was wont to remark playfully, yet with serious purpose, " We 
must consult Brother Jonathan." And it is now well known ^'^ 
that this affectionate sobriquet for Trumbull, passing from 
officer to soldier and from soldier to citizen, was made a 
popular catch-word, first applied to the State he represented, 
and finally becoming a synonym for the colossal young 
Republic. 

Before the Revolution, a tract of country seven hundred 
miles long and seventy broad, extending from the Delaware 
to the Mississippi, and embracing fifty thousand square miles, 
was a part of the Colony of Connecticut. In 1774, it was at- 
tached, for judicial purposes, to Litchfield County, under the 
name of Westmoreland ; and in 1776 was erected into a sepa- 
ls According to the first census (1790), the total population of the States was 3,929,827; 
the population of Connecticut, 238,141. The total of the Continental army was 231,701, 
of which Connecticut furnished 31,959. 
1- Hollister's History of Connecticut. 
13 Stuart, 697 ; HoUistcr, 426. 



24 COXXECTKJUT. — COLONIAL rtECORD. 

rate county by that name. Throughout the struggle that fol- 
lowed, this vast area was deemed a part of Connecticut ; but 
in 1782, by the unjust decree at Trenton, it was wrenched 
from our jurisdiction, and subjected to Pennsylvania. Thus 
the State which had been the very keystone of the Union 
during the conflict, which had met every crisis with the 
utmost vigor and made every sacrifice for the establishment 
of the Republic, now saflfered the mortification of seeing her 
hiws nullified, her territory violated, and her rank in the 
Union reduced. 

During the conflict, Washington personally applauded the 
valor of Connecticut's soldiers : and the nation gratefully re- 
members the services of her heroes, — Putnam, Ethan Allen, 
Warner, Silliman, Waterbury, Wolcott; and the devotion of 
her martyrs, — Wooster, Knowlton, Ledyard, and Nathan 
Hale. 

In the war of 1812, she was one of the first to defy and 
assail the hereditary foe; and in the first month of the con- 
flict, both on land and sea, the first two British flags struck 
were surrendered to sons of Connecticut, as was the first 
British flag and the first British guns captured in the Revo- 
hition. 

It is a fact equally noticeable, that Connecticut has al- 
ways defended herself against her foes single-handed ; and 
that, notwithstanding her exposed position, no soldiers from 
any other colony or state ever fought upon the soil of Con- 
necticut in her defense, though thousands of her own troops 
went to the aid of New York and Boston. 

There is no State in the world whose early statutes were 
more liberal and enlightened than those of Connecticut. To 
the epithet of " blue-laws," now used only by the ignorant, 
or by others in playful derision, oar citizens are no longer 
sensitive; for well-informed people have learned tliat no such 
laws were ever o?i our statute-books. The absurd " code " 
which has been attributed to our infant colony was the in- 
vention of " the Tory renegade, Rev. Samuel Peters, who, 
while better men were fighting the battles of their country, 



"BLUE-LAWS." 25 

was skulking in London, and getting his bread there by the 
stories he could fabricate about Connecticut." How this 
ridiculous forgery could have obtained currency and cre- 
dence, it is difficult to understand." 

It is true that some of the early statutes are severe against 
the Baptists and Quakers, as in Massachusetts, New York, 
and Virginia ; but there were no Quakers in the colony, and 
it does not appear that the penalties against the Baptists 
were ever enforced. Nor does it appear that the persecu- 
tions for witchcraft were so frequent or so severe as in other 
colonies or beyond the sea. The English statute against 
witchcraft stood unrepealed down to 1736; and women have 
been hanged in Europe within a hundred years for " selling 
their souls to the Devil." 

The Episcopal Church was tolerated here by public act, 
when there were not in the State seventy families of that 
denomination, and at the very time when two Presbyterian 
clergymen were imprisoned for months at New York, and 
fined five hundred pounds sterling, for the offense of preach- 
ing a sermon and baptizing a child. 

It is true, that, for a short time, church-going was com- 
manded by law in Connecticut ; but Virginia passed a law in 
1718 requiring every person to attend church on Sundays, 
on penalty of imprisonment for one night, and service of the 
colony as a slave for one week. And it was in force during 
this century. It cannot be denied, that, about 1644, Con- 
necticut passed a law, ordering,'* that no man within this 
colonye shall take any tobacko publiquely in the streett, 
highwayes, or any barne yardes, or uppon training dayes, in 
any open places, under penaltye," &c. Those who deem 
this an unwarrantable infringement of personal liberty 

'* Guthrie's Grammar, publislied in London about 1775, had this paragraph: — 

" Connecticut. — The men of this country, in general, are robust, stout, and tall. The great- 
est care is taken with the limbs and bodies of infants, wliich are kept str.aiglit by means of a board, 
— a practice learnt of the Indian women, who abhor all crooked people, — so that deformity is 
a rarity. The women are fair, handsome, and genteel, and modest and reserved in their manner 
and behavior. They are not permitted to read plays; nor can they converse about whist, qua- 
drilles, or operas : but it is said they will talk freely upon other subjects, of history, geography, 
and other literary topics." 
4 



26 CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL EECOED. 

inay remember that Boston has a kindred prohibition to- 
day. 

These comparisons are cited only to show that Connecti- 
cut, sometimes sneered at for "blue-laws" never enacted, 
was, in fact, ahead of the fashions of her time. " Her only 
reproach in the whole matter is," says Dr. Bushnell, " that 
she was not farther in advance of the civilized world by an- 
other half-century." 

But a complete vindication is the Colonial Constitution 
itself, which gave a tangible and original shape to the repub- 
lican instinct of New England. It organized an annually 
elective government; required deputies to be inhabitants 
of communities represented; gave the elective franchise to 
any man admitted by a majority vote of his town. All 
these were novel and radical changes, — a bold advance be- 
yond the outposts of any existing government. At this 
very time, they were endeavoring in Massachusetts to com- 
fort the "hereditary gentlemen" by erecting them into a 
kind of American House of Lords called the " Standing^ 
Council for Life." Their officers stood upon the theocratic 
basis ; and many of the principal men insisted, that, the 
governor once elected, his office became a vested right, of 
Avhich he could never properly be deprived. ^^ 

Citizens of Connecticut may well be proud of the remark- 
able fact, that in the constitution of the little republic of 
"Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor," no mention what- 
ever is made of either king or parliament, or of allegiance 
ovv'ed to either; but it is expressly declared, with an impulse 
which could have sprung only from a consciousness of the 
divine right of the people, that in the General Court, under 
God, " shall exist the supreme power of the Commonwealth." 
Under this free-written constitution, Connecticut learned her 
lessons of liberty ; and she was the only one of all the 
thirteen colonies whose people never submitted to be ruled 
by a royal governor, and whose capital was never infested 
by a royal court. 

1^ Vide Bushnell's Historic Estimate. 



REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. — INVENTIONS. 27 

The first law-school of the nation was the celebrated 
school of Judge Reeve at Litchfield, and Kirby's Connecti- 
cut Reports were the first American reports published. 
Chief Justice Ellsw^orth, Judges Smith, Gould, Kent, Wal- 
worth, and many of the most distinguished jurists of the 
country, were sons of Connecticut. "Judge Ellsworth was 
chairman of the committee of Congress that prepared the 
Judiciary Act, by wdiich the Supreme Court of the nation 
was organized ; and it will be found that some of the pro- 
visions of that act that are most peculiar are copied, verha- 
thn, from the statutes of Connecticut. The practice of the 
Supreme Court is often said to resemble the practice of Con- 
necticut more than that of any other State." ^^ 

In this brief rehearsal of the former heroism of our State, 
as a background for recent achievements, it is hardly neces- 
sary to refer to her established pre-eminence in manufactures 
and mechanical skill. 

In our State, John Fitch made the first steamboat; Eli 
Whitnev invented the cotton-ij!;in that doubled the cotton- 
crop of the South ; Samuel F. B. Morse devised and con- 
structed the first electric telegraph ; and Dr. Kinsley invent- 
ed and exhibited, in the streets of Hartford, the first steam- 
locomotive ever built. 

Religion and popular education were inseparably blended 
in the minds of the colonists. Laws w^ere to be enacted 
'• according to the word of God." As early as 1650, the 
General Court directed the selectmen to " see to it " that " no 
fiimil}^ in the colony should permit such harharism " as not 
to send their children and apprentices to school. But to 
those who acknowledge the supremacy of God, and who 
believe that intellisrence is an efficient handmaid of 
righteousness and good order, a tendency to such enactments 
should scarcely seem a legitimate mark for derision. 

The result of the early school-discipline of the State is, 
that, in the legislative bodies of the West, the sons of 
Connecticut are in a large majority, compared with the 
emigrants from any other State. In the Constitutional Con- 

1^ Bushnell's Historic Estimate. 



28 CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL RECORD. 

vention of New York in 1821, out of one hundred and 
twenty-six members, thirtj^-two were natives of Connecti- 
cut, while only nine were natives of Massachusetts. In the 
Ohio Legislature of 1838-39, in the lower house of seventy- 
four members, twelve were from Connecticut, two from 
Massachusetts, two from Vermont. Hon. James Hillhouse, 
when in Congress, found that forty-seven of the members, 
or about one-fifth of the whole number in both houses, were 
native-born sons of Connecticut. Of the New- York repre- 
sentatives, sixteen, or nearly one-half, were sons, or descend- 
ants in the male line, of Connecticut. Mr. Calhoun once 
said that he had seen the time when the natives of Con- 
necticut in Congress, together with all the graduates of Yale 
College there sitting, lacked only five of being a majority. 
This result is constantly repeating itself throughout the 
Western States. 

" How beautiful is the attitude of our little State," says 
Dr. Bushnell, "when seen through the medium of facts like 
these ! Unable to carry weight by numbers, she is seen 
marching out her sons, empowered in capacity and fortified 
by virtue, to take their posts of honor and influence in other 
States ; in her behalf to be their physicians and ministers of 
religion, their professors and lawyers, their wise senators, 
their great lawyers and incorruptible judges, bulwarks of 
virtue, truth, and order to the Republic in all coming time. 
And then, when the vast area of our country between the 
two oceans is filled with a teeming population, when the 
delegates of sixty or a hundred States, from the granite 
shores of the East, and the alluvial plains of the South,- and 
the golden mountains of the West, are assembled in the halls 
of our Congress, and little Connecticut is there represented 
in her own behalf by her one delegate, it will still and always 
be found that she is numerously represented also by her 
sons from other States ; and her one delegate shall be him- 
self regarded, in his j^erson, as the symbol of that true 
Brother Jonathan whose name still designates the great 
Republic of the world." 




CHAPTER n. 



The War begun at the Ballot-box. — Elections in Connecticut in 1860. — Attitude of 
Parties. — Secession becomes Formidable. — Discussion and Recrimination. — Our 
Representatives in Congress. — Their Action on. Peace Propositions. — Foresight of 
Gov. Buckingham. — The Peace Conference. — Hon. Isaac Toucey. — Spring Elec- 
tion of 1861. — Connecticut declares for Coercion. 



HE citizens of Connecticut retain their ancestral 
independence of thought, and tenacity of opinion. 
Though conservative in tendency, they accept, 
without flinching, the logical consequences of 
their principles. This characteristic was strik- 
ingly exemplified in the elections during the year 1860. 
The spring election, instead of the presidential, decided the 
position of Connecticut upon national questions. The 
issues being already sharply defined, the campaign was 
intensely animated and vigorous, and brought out almost 
every elector. In the extraordinary poll of 88,375 votes, 
the Republican candidate received 44,458 votes ; a majority 
of only 541. 

A close and hotly-contested presidential campaign was at 
first expected ; but the rupture of the Democratic party, and 
the result of the October gubernatorial elections in Penn- 
sylvania and other States, so clearly foreshadowed the 
election of Mr. Lincoln, that excitement and effort subsided. 
The people of Connecticut quietly assembled on the 6th 
of November, and polled a total vote of 77,292, distributed 
as follows : Lincoln, 43,792 ; Douglas, 15,522 ; Breckenridge, 
14,641; Bell, 1,485; Fusion, 1,852. Total opposition, 33,500. 
Majority for Lincoln, 10,292. 

29 



30 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The supporters of Mr. Lincoln did not generally believe 
the explicit and reiterated declarations of the Southern 
leader?, that his election would be the signal of an imme- 
diate attempt at disunion. Those who did, decided to vote 
for their candidate, and abide the issue. 

The leading men and journals of this State opposed to 
Mr. Lincoln predicted, in case of his election, a determined 
effort at separation by the slave States ; but their fears of 
disunion, or objections to it, were not so serious as to heal 
their party dissensions, and cause them to unite to defeat 
the Republican candidate at the polls. 

After the election, they at once avowed for themselves 
entire acquiescence in the decision of the people constitu- 
tionally expressed.^ 

Our people were turning with renewed energy to their 
usual business ; but the Legislature of South Carolinn, 
convened for the purpose on the day after the election, 
voted at once to call a convention for secession. Other 
States prepared precipitately to follow. 

Action so abrupt and apparently resolute startled our 
people. They did not yet fear disruption by open rebel- 
lion ; but they were alarmed, lest, by the unfamiliar process 
of secession, the dismemberment of the Union might, in 
spite of protesting millions, be adroitly compassed. 

They began at once to examine the theory of secession 
and the legal and practical effect of the actual ordinance, 
neither of which had been much discussed at the North. 
Prominent supporters of Mr. Lincoln asserted that "secession 
is treason, and must be treated by the government as 
treason," and that " the government has the right and the 
power to compel obedience." A considerable number of 
Republicans, while they emphatically denied the right of 
secession, questioned the policy of forcibly j)reventing it. 
They held, that, if an undoubted majority of the adult 

1 " It is right that he (Lincoln) shonkl be inaugurated, and that ho shoukl be sustained 
in the legitimate discharge of the executive duties of the government. Certain it is that 
he will not be permitted to encroach on the rights of any State. — Hartford Times, Nov. 7. 



THE DOCTRINE OF SECESSION. 31 

population of any State deliberately pronounced for separa- 
tion, the rest of the States, thoagh they might legally compel 
that State to remain, would do better to assemble in national 
convention, and acquiesce in her departure from the Union. 
Withdrawal under these sanctions is the only secession ever 
deemed valid or permissible by any number of the supporters 
of Mr. Lincoln. Many who had voted against him also 
concurred in this view. 

Some of the opponents of the President elect denied the 
right of secession, but claimed that there was no constitu- 
tional remedy against it. The greater part held that the 
recusant States were theoretically if not practically right ; 
that the United States was simply a confederation of sove- 
reign States, any one of which possessed a constitutional 
right to withdraw whenever it should consider the arransre- 
ment no longer profitable. They deemed an attempt to 
coerce a State, in order to vindicate the supreme authority 
of the Federal Government and to preserve the territorial 
integrity of the Union, to be both illegal and useless." 

Though the doctrine of secession found defenders, the 
champions of the overt act were few. The mass of our 
citizens deeply deprecated disunion, as portending only grave 
and measureless calamity. To avert this calamity, they pro- 
fessed to be eager to act with " such moderation and forbear- 
ance as will draw out, strengthen, and combine the Union 
sentiment of the whole country." But the attempt to 
reduce this general expression to a more specific statement 
revealed a wide difference of opinion. The opponents of 
Mr. Lincoln accused his friends of the ulterior purpose of 
interfering with slavery in the States, and asserted that the 
Southern people had abundant provocation for their treason- 
able conduct. They demanded of the Republicans a repu- 

2 The Hartford Times of Nov. 7, after referring to the danger that the slave States 
would " form a separate confederacy, and retire peaceably from the Union," proceeds to 
say, " If they do so decide and act, it will be useless to attempt any coercive measures to 
keep them within the voluntary copartnership of States. . . . We can never force 
sovereign States to remain in the Union when they desire to go out, without bringing 
upon our country the shocking evils of civil war, under which the Eepublic could not, 
of course, long exist." 



32 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

diation of the distinctive principle on which the political 
campaign had been fought and won, and declared that the 
conservatives of the North would never consent to coercion ; 
adding the not unfrequent menace, that, " if war is to be 
waged, that war will be fought in the North." 

The Republicans rej)lied, that no misstatement of their 
principles and purposes, and no threat, empty or significant, 
would move them a hair's-brearlth ; and that the intemper- 
ate language of their opponents tended rather to mislead 
than to undeceive the Southern people. At the same time, 
they avowed a sincere desire to make their real opinions 
and designs understood by the South, and a readiness to 
join in a convention of all the States and parties for mutual 
consultation and reconciliation ; and repeatedly pledged 
" any sacrifice of mere feeling or interest " for harmony and 
union. A majority of our people, though uneasy at the 
portentous and expanding proportions of secession, were 
confident that excitement would subside, reason displace 
passion, and a peaceful solution of our difficulties be at 
length safely reached. So believing, the}^ anxiously awaited 
the assemblinai; of Con stress. 

Connecticut was represented in the Thirty-sixth Congress 
by Senators Lafayette S. Foster and James Dixon, and 
Representatives Dwight Loomis, John Woodruff', Alfred A. 
Burnham, and Orris S. Ferry. 

They, like their constituents, hoped much from personal 
intercourse and consultation with the representatives of the 
South ; and were resolved to omit no honorable efibrt to 
avert disunion and civil strife. 

The House of Representatives, on the second day of the 
session, raised a committee of thirty-three — one from each 
State — upon " the state' of the Union." Messrs. Ferry and 
Woodruff voted for the resolution ; Messrs. Burnham and 
Loomis, against it. Mr. Ferry was designated as the Con- 
necticut member of that important committee. The mes- 
sage of the President, and the thirty or more sets of reso- 
lutions submitted, comprised every conceivable plan of 
adj ustment. 



FIRING UPON THE STAR OF THE WEST. 33 

On the 10th of December, a resolution, raising a similar 
committee of thirteen on the state of the Union, was intro- 
duced in the Senate. Senator Foster favored the resolution, 
" as a step which may allay public excitement. It looks 
toward bringing back harmony and fraternal feeling to the 
country." ^ 

Senator Dixon also, in advocating the resolution, said that 
he felt no desire " to threaten war in any event. . . . The 
slavery question must now have a final and rightful adjust- 
ment, consented to by the people of both sections. . . . 
The first thing should be to restore fraternal s^jirit by cheer- 
full}' and honestly assuring to every section of the country 
its constitutional rights." He added, " My constituents are 
ready to make any sacrifice which a reasonable man can ask 
or an lionorable man can grant." 

In reply. Senator Brown of Mississippi declared, " There 
is but one way. The Northern people must review and 
reverse their whole policy on the subject of slavery. There 
is no such purpose, and therefore no hope of reconciliation." * 
Mr. Brown and his coadjutors in the Senate and House per- 
sisted. The Republicans refused to yield. Discussion now 
became obviously useless. 

Major Anderson's removal from Moultrie to Sumter 
stirred the heart of the North ; while the firing upon the 
Star of the West (Jan. 9) roused indignant resentment. 
The war-spirit began to kindle and glow. 

Gov. Buckingham, watching every movement intently, felt 
that war was imminent, and that Connecticut should be ready. 
On the 17th of January, he issued a proclamation, in 
which he recited the traitorous and hostile acts of the South, 
and reminded our people, that " when reason gives way to 
passion, and order yields to anarchy, the civil power must 
fall back upon the military for support, and rest upon that 
arm of national defense." With clear vision and resolute 
purpose, he said that " the active services of the militia may 

8 Congressional Globe, Thirty-sixth Congress, second session. 

* The committee was ordered ; but neither senator from Connecticut was placed on it. 
6 



34 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

soon be required ; " and urged companies to fill their ranks, 
inspect their arms and equipments, perfect themselves in 
drill, and •' be ready to render such service as any exigency 
may demand." Then, as if foreseeing that the struggle was 
to be no easy one, he, on his own responsibility, quietly 
ordered his quartermaster to purchase equipments for five 
thousand men. 

The opponents of the incoming administration clamored at 
the delay of Congress to adopt pacificatory measures. The 
border State men now submitted propositions which they 
hoped would, if adopted, satisfy the border slave States, and 
keep them from secession. Petitions numerously signed, 
praying for the adoption of these propositions, were for- 
warded from New Haven, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Derby, 
Hartford, Bethany, Westport, Seymour, New London, North 
Haven, Wallingford, Milford, and other towns.^ Petitions 
from Hartford and some other towns, for the adoption of the 
Crittenden propositions, were transmitted to Congress. More 
were circulated, but were never sent on. 

The last-named petitions were viewed by some in a 
partisan light, because the Democratic State Convention 
had, on the 6 th of February, recommended in its platform 
the Crittenden or similar propositions. 

Citizens of Mystic and neighboring towns united in a 
protest against any compromise involving the extension of 
slavery ; and those of Derby and vicinity sent a petition 
praying Congress to stand firmly by " the Constitution as it 
is, the Union of the States, and the enforcement of the 
laws ; " and pledging themselves, " separately and unitedly," 
to maintain " public liberty and national safety" against all 
enemies, abroad or at home. 

Meanwhile the Peace Conference had been in session. 
Connecticut was represented by Ex-Gov. Roger S. Baldwin, 
Ex-Gov. Chauncey F. Cleveland, Hon. Charles J. McCurdy, 
Hon. James T. Pratt, Hon. Robbins Battell, and Amos Treat, 

^ Congressional Globe, Thirty-sixth Congress, second session, Feb. 2-27. 



Ajviendment to the constitution, 35 

Esq. Ex-Gov. Baldwin," eaiinent alike for learning and pa- 
triotism, strenuously advocated a national convention, to pro- 
pose amendments to the Constitution of the United States. 
This proposition was rejected by a vote of eight yeas to thir- 
teen nays, each State casting one vote. The Connecticut 
delegation thereafter voted against most of the propositions 
submitted by the select committee. Neither the Peace 
Conference nor the petitions of citizens availed any thing. 

Our representatives in Washington became convinced 
that no compromise could check secession ; that honor and 
safety alike called for decided action. On the 11th of Feb- 
ruary, Mr. Ferry offered in the House a resolution looking 
to such an amendment of the Constitution as " expressly to 
forbid the withdrawal of any State from the Union without 
the consent of two-thirds of both houses of Conorress, the 
approval of the President, and the consent of all the States." 
Mr. Burnett of Kentucky proposing to debate the resolution, 
it was laid over, and never voted on. 

Mr. Burnham, on the 14tli of February, addressed the 
House. He emphatically urged every citizen of every State 
to enforce all laws, and pointedly called on the South to 
guarantee protection to citizens of free States while traveling 
in slave States. He entered a vigorous protest against the 
amendment of the Constitution, or the adoption of any com- 
promise " under coercion of fear." He declared that the 
government must be maintained and the will of the people 
obeyed. 

On the 24th, Mr. Ferry made an earnest speech, affirming 
that the Southern leaders demanded that the Constitution be 
so amended as to give protection to slave-property every- 

^ "As eai-ly as Feb. 4, Gov. Buckingham addressed the delegation In a letter, In which, 
after counseling a conciliatory spirit, be said, " I would suggest as of primary impor- 
tance that you have special regard to measures which tend to maintain the dignity and 
authority of the government ; so that every citizen shall feel that it is, and is to be, a 
shield to protect him in every proper and lawful pursuit, as well as in his property and 
his person. 

" Also that no sanction be given to measures which .shall bind the government to new 
guaranties for the protection of property in man, — a principle subversive of the founda- 
tions of a free government." 



36 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

where in the United States, while they refused to pledge 
that even such an amendment, with the repeal of the Per- 
sonal-liberty Bills, should constitute a final and sartisfactory 
adjustment. "To buy transient peace, even if possible, at 
the price of this amendment, is to enact a dangerous prece- 
dent. Any new demand will be enforced by repeated seces- 
sion. ... A compromise now is but the establishment of 
sedition as an elementary principle in our system. . . . There 
is no course left but for the government to vindicate its 
dignity by an exhibition of its strength." 

In the same spirit our entire delegation had voted in the 
Senate on the 11th of February, and in the House on the 20th, 
for a proposition to build at once seven war-steamers. 

The only pacificatory measure adopted by Congress was 
a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution, 
providing that the Constitution shall never be so amended as 
to give Congress the power to abolish or interfere with the 
domestic institutions of any State. In the Senate, Mr. Dixon 
voted for the resolution. Mr. Foster did not vote. In the 
Honse, our entire delegation voted against it.^ 

On the 2d of March, the House of Representatives passed 
a resolution censuring Hon. Isaac Toucey for the manner in 
which he had administered affairs as Secretary of the Navy.^ 

During the special session, Mr. Foster, on the 8th of 
March, moved the expulsion of Mr. Wigfall of Texas, because 
he had declared himself " a foreiujner, and owinu; allegiance 
to the foreign State of Texas." He held that the secession 
of Texas in no way invalidated the right of the senator to 
sit in the Senate during the time for which he had been 
constitutionally elected ; but the contemptuous language 
and traitorous spirit of the senator rendered his presence 
dangerous and insulting. The motion passed by a party 
vote. 

Seceded States were now organized, defiant, and belli- 

■^ All of our representatives had, however, voted, on the 11th of February, for a 
declaratory resolution of the same purport. 
* For a detailed statement, see Appendix. 



CONNECTICUT VOTES FOK COERCION. 37 

gerent. " Coercion " was the issue in the State election ; and 
each party met it squarely. The Democrats regarded dis- 
union as an accomplished fact, and advocated a -peace policy 
as a means of retaining the border States, and ultimately 
winning back those which had already seceded. In their 
State Convention (Feb. 6), they resolved that "the perni- 
cious doctrine of coercion " is " utterl}'- at war with the 
exercise of right, mature judgment, and the principles of 
the Constitution of the United States, and should be strongly 
resisted by every lover of our common country." 

The Republicans of Connecticut had kept pace with their 
representatives in Congress, and, on the 26th of February, 
had pronounced explicitly for the maintenance, by force, of 
"the supreme and perpetual authority of the National 
Government." 

The canvass was spirited, and the vote large, exhibiting a 
total of 84,015 ; of which William A. Buckingham received 
43,012, — a majority over James C. Loomis of 2,009.^ 

Thus the freemen of Connecticut by a majority vote 
decided for coercion. The stern meaning^ of that decision 
they were soon to know. Within fourteen days, the flag, — 
not in half a century struck to any foe, — to them the sacred 
emblem of resistless and protecting nationality, was hauled 
down in defeat, to be raised again in triumph on that spot 
by the hand that lowered it ; but not until four years Imd 
passed in civil war, matchless in cost, in magnitude, and in 
valor. 

^ This vote is but little lighter than that of the spring of I860, justly the test election ; 
the Republican vote being less by 1,446, the Democratic by 2,931. The majority, 
compared with that of 1860, shows for the Republicans an apparent gain in available 
strength of 1,485 votes. 




CHAPTER m. 

The Fall of Sumter. — Enthusiasm in Connecticut. — "Coercion " accepted as a Duty. — 
A Battle-Sunday. — Winsted and New Britain. — Sympathy for the South. — The 
Call for the First Regiment. — Condition of our Militia. — The Massachusetts Sixth. — 
The To\vns moving. — The Hartford Companies. — Meriden, New Haven, Danbury, 
Middletown, Norwich, Derby, Willimantic, Mystic, Putnam, Danielsonville, Bridge- 
port, Waterbury, New London, Litchfield, Wallingford, Farmington, Salisbury. — The 
Old Flag. 

HE traitors are firing on Sumter ! " read the 
dispatch : " Anderson answers gun for gun ! " 
Men stood startled a moment, and half dis- 
mayed ; then, with electric response to the 
echoing summons, they spoke out with indig- 
nation and courage: "Parley is ended; now re-enforce Sum- 
ter; avenge the insult; vindicate the nation's honor!" 

For six months, the impatient arms of the loyal people had 
been bound, and their patriotic resentments suppressed ; while 
traitors had gone on from arrogance to menace, and from as- 
sault to assault, everywhere unresisted. They had captured 
and occupied nineteen national forts ; had taken possession 
of scores of Federal revenue-cutters and war-vessels ; had 
appropriated our arsenals and mints ; had stolen twelve 
hundred cannon and a hundred and fifty thousand muskets 
from the national armories ; had caused the .destruction of 
fifteen million dollars' worth of ships and ordnance-stores at 
Pensacola ; had waged war on the government by firing upon 
and driving back a vessel sent to relieve a starving garrison ; 
had assumed to wrest State after State out of the Union ; and 
had made prisoners, through the treachery of commanders, of 
more than half of the regular army of the United States, — 

38 



A BATTLE-SUNDAY. 39 

all this without eliciting a single shot in defense of the 
nation. The patience of. the Northern people was well-nigh 
exhausted. A majority of the supporters of President Lin- 
coln believed that his policy was too timid and forbearing. 
They felt that the nation was weaker in April than in March ; 
and that the president still debated what he should have 
decided, and paused wlien he ought to act. The demand that 
the assaulted government should defend itself had been 
hitherto answered only by new efforts at conciliation, and 
followed by still grosser insults and outrages. 

From the bitterness of these humiliations, and from painful 
suspense and helpless inactivity, the first gun brought relief 
All day Saturday the city streets were crow^ded, and from 
the country towns came riding anxious men asking for 
the news. The bombardment was going on ; Anderson was 
makino; a brave resistance : little else was known with certain- 
ty. But this short message thrilled the State with a sort of 
angry exultation. The loyal people were of one mind : " Let us 
settle this trouble now, and not bequeath it to our children." 
The excitement swept across the State, kindling battle-fires 
in which the mortification of years was consumed. Doubt 
was succeeded by enthusiasm. The despairing felt that the 
Republic was saved. Conservatives who had grappled to 
the Crittenden Compromise, as the hope of the hour, were 
stunned by the sudden blow. Men who, by force of party 
habit, had justified treason in its preliminary offenses, were 
awed into silence now by the audacity of this act of war : 
while patriots thanked God, that, if war must come, it had 
been no longer delayed ; and forthwith fell into line for the 
front. Business was suspended, and men prepared to meet 
the crisis. 

The next day was a battle-Sunday all over the State. The 
news of the surrender of Sumter was announced in the larsre 
towns; and the event was alluded to in sermons, and responded 
to by congregations, in a manner worthy of Revolutionary 
times. Ministers prayed that the foes of the nation might 
be smitten down, and law maintained, and liberty given to 



40 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

* 

the captive; and urged their hearers to trust in God,- and do 
their duty. The Hartford Daily Post, a Douglas Demo- 
cratic organ, which had already pronounced heartil}^ against 
treason, issued extras, and freely sold them within church- 
doors without rebuke. The New-Haven Palladium, an able 
supporter of the administration, sold that day eight thou- 
sand extras. In the evening, people throughout the State 
assembled in unusual numbers at their conference-meetings, 
and expressed their solemn purpose in address and prayer. 

A war-meeting for the evening was announced from 
some of the pulpits of New Britain, and a great gathering 
was the result. Resolutions to sustain the government were 
passed ; and a volunteer roll, headed by Frank Stanley, was 
opened as a nucleus of the first company. " A handsome 
photograph of Major Anderson, encircled with a laurel" 
wreath, prepared by a lady of New Britain, was presented 
in a thrilling speech by V. B. Chamberlin, Esq. ; the whole 
audience risino; to their feet with the wildest demonstrations 
of enthusiasm." 

A similar meeting was called in West Winsted ; and Camp's 
Hall was filled with an enthusiastic crowd. In the midst of 
the excitement, Roland Hitchcock, a lawyer, offered a resolu- 
tion declaring that the president ought to withdraw the 
United-States troops from the forts within the seceded States, 
stop the shedding of blood, settle the difficulties honorably 
by fiu^ther concessions, and " revive the drooping business 
interests." He was fiercely hissed down ; and the proposition 
was indignantly and almost unanimously rejected. The 
meeting adopted a patriotic address ; and one hundred 
young men signed an agreement to go to the war. A sub- 
scription-paper was also opened, and seven hundred dollars 
subscribed for the volunteers. 

Preparations for volunteering were made in all the large 
towns. Excited crowds filled the streets, and thronged 
telegraph and newspaper offices. 

The Hartford Times displayed a good deal of boldness in 
attempting to stay the rising tide. On Saturday, when 



TREASONABLE SENTIMENTS. 41 

Sumter was on fire, and Anderson and his intrepid little band 
were tearing up their garments to make cartridges, in the 
midst of smoke and flames, the Times reasoned thus : — 

" ' But,' say the yield-not-aa-inch Republicans, ' the Southerners fired 
the first gun.' Under what circumstances? As our fathers in the Revo- 
hition declared their independence of Great Britain, so have seven States 
at the South declared their independence of the Fedei-al Government of the 
United States. . . . Could that people wait until they were taken by the 
throat and held in subjection? Their position had been taken. That 
position was invaded by a powerful foi'ce, and to save themselves they 
acted. ... In the end, this controversy must be settled by treaty. The 
paper settlement alone will bring peacie. Every battle, and every gun that 
is fired, complicates it. We cannot hold the South in subjection." 

Great indignation was expressed against the Times, and 
also against the Bridgeport Farmer and New-Haven Regis- 
ter; the latter somewhat less emphatic in defense of "the 
rights of the South." There were angry controversies, and 
here and there personal collisions, growing out of expressions 
of disloyal sentiment. On Monday, the Times said, — 

" The greater power lies in the States : they are sovereign. The 
Federal Government is subordinate to the States. South Carolina has 
repealed her ordinance by which she became a part of the F'ederal Union. 
Had she, a sovereign State, a right to do so ? We claim she had ; for the 
State had reserved that right, and the reservation is written in the Consti- 
tution. We have opposed the policy of fighting State 'against State, 
brother against brother ; we shall oppose it : for it is that policy which 
will impoverish the North, and bi'eak up the Union." . , . 

The Register had just said, " Henceforth these States 
pass into two republics instead of one;" and, while declar- 
ing that " the flag must not be dishonored," it pledged itself 
to " discountenance the war-spirit." 

With these politicians sympathized a considerable number 
of Democrats, who quietly but sullenly refused to aid in the 
preparations for battle. Some declaimed against " an aboli- 
tion war," and, whenever they could get breath during the 
tumult of these days, feebly demanded that " those who had 
made the trouble " should constitute the army. Other 



42 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

Democrats, like Henry C. Deming, Mayor of Hartford, sturdi- 
ly opposed the use of force, even after Fort Sumter was taken, 
while the cry was, " On to Charleston ! " and pronounced for 
war only when secession had become a gigantic revolution, 
threatening immediate advance on the capital, and aiming 
no longer at independence, but supremacy.^ 

Daring Monday, the people of the State had received the 
president's first proclamation," calling out, for three months, 
seventy-five thousand of the militia of the several States to 
" repossess the forts, places, and property " which had been 
seized ; " to maintain the perpetuity of popular government ; 
and to redress wrongs long enough endured." This call was 
received with earnest satisfaction. The crisis which had 
come was not unlooked for, and yet it was startling in its 
suddenness and importance. Until within two days, many 
had cherished a belief that the disloyal communities would 
not proceed to the ultimate act of war. No people had ever 
been so rudely awakened from a long dream of peace. For 
more than eighty years, we had been devoted to a develop- 
ment of the industrial resources of the State. We believed 
that a standing army was a standing menace, an invitation 
to war. The forts on the Sound were dismantled, and falling 
to ruin. We had hardly cannon enough to usher in the 
Fourth of July. Not half the young men of the State knew 

1 Mr. Deming was invited to preside at the war-meeting to be held April 19. He 
declined in a letter, of which the following is an extract : " I am in favor of maintaining 
the government in Washington. I am willing to furnish it with the requisite force to 
defend it in the possession and occupancy of the Federal capital. I will support it in 
repelling invasion of the territory of any State which still adheres to the Federal Union. 
On the other hand, I am not willing to sustain it in a war of aggression or invasion of the 
seceded States. Snch a war, to accomplish its avowed purpose of recapturing Fort Sum- 
ter and of continuing the occupancy of Fort Pickens, must be a war for conquering, and 
holding in subjugation, more than three millions of an indomitable race of men." 

A week later he presented a flag to one of the regiments, and, within six months, was 
colonel of the Twelfth Regiment. The Times and Register also declared for the de- 
fense of the capital, but against the invasion of any seceded State. 

'^ By the law of 1795, the president had power to call out the militia of the different 
-States to suppress insurrection or rebellion, provided that no man should be obliged to 
serve more than three months, or more than thirty days after the next meeting of Con- 
gress. So President Lincoln was constrained to issue the three-months' call, and to post- 
pone the assembling of Congress to July 4. 



CONNE(;TICUT MOVING. 43 

how to handle a musket. The venerable institution onc^ 
honored in Connecticut as " Training Day " had been laughed 
out of existence. 

Moreover, we had been for a whole generation virtually 
teaching our youths the wickedness of physical combat by 
forbidding them to defend themselves when assaulted, and 
instructing them that good boys ought alwaj^s to run away, 
rather than stand and maintain their rights. We had now 
to prove to the world and to ourselves that our dogmas of 
non-resistance, added to a lifetime of tranquillity and money- 
getting, had not rusted out our manhood. 

Connecticut had on her militia rolls fifty-one thousand able- 
bodied men, with two or three ilominal regimental organiza- 
tions. Moreover, on examination, it was found that " the mili- 
tary laws of the State were very defective, and of such a 
nature that the commander-in-chief had no legal authority to 
answer a requisition from the president for the single regiment 
of militia called for " ^ as our quota. In this dilemma, the gov- 
ernor promptly issued* a call for a regiment of volunteers, 
relying upon the legislature to indemnify him for assuming 
the authority ; ^ and the patriotism of the people instantly 
responded to the appeal. Enlistments began at once. All 
other employment gave way to volunteering and equipping. 
Within four days, the companies of the First Regiment were 
at the rendezvous at New Haven ; within six days, those also 
which were mustered in as the Second Regiment ; in two 
weeks, the Third went into camp at Hartford ; and, within 
three weeks, fifty-four companies had tendered their services 
to the governor. This was five times our quota under the 
call. 

But patriotism and zeal could not supply the place of or- 
ganization ; and, to our chagrin, Massachusetts was able to send 
forward her militia regiments that had volunteered, in a body ; 



^ Adjutant-General's Report, April, 1862. 
4 April 16, Tuesday. 

^ A law for the organization and equipment of volunteer militia was passed at the 
succeeding May session. 



44 CONNECTICUT DURING Q HE EEBELLION. 

while ours, equally ardent, were assembling, but unorganized 
and undisciplined. On Wednesday, while our companies were 
concentrating at New Haven, her Sixth -Regiment passed 
through the State for AYashington, via Baltimore. Along the 
line of the road, the excited people had remained all night to 
greet them. They were delayed, but arrived at Hartford at 
two o'clock on tlie morning of Thursday the IStli. Not less 
than twentj'-five hundred still waited at the depot as the train 
of nineteen crowded cars came thunderin«j alons; out of the 
darkness. Lieut. Hawley briefly welcomed them in the name 
of the citizens, assuring them of constant sympathy and speedy 
support. Cheer after cheer emphasized the welcome. Men 
and women shook hands eaVnestly with the travelers they 
never saw before, and prayed for victory on their flag. Young 
ladies exchanged handkerchiefs with the soldiers ; and old 
ladies, less sentimental, brought them lunches : and the train 
moved on with shouts of, " Burn Charleston, and sow it with 
salt ! " mingled with, " God bless you ! " and ending with a 
prolonged cheer, that was at once a flirewell and a benediction. 
At Meriden and New Haven, similar receptions awaited 
them ; though the crowds, standing since ten o'clock, began 
to thin out towards morning. At New Haven, where three 
thousand were still conQ-reo-ated, sandwiches and coffee were 
served to the soldiers ; and the throns; cheered the regiment, 
Plj-mouth Rock, Col. Jones, Gen. Butler, and every thing 
relating to the gallant Bay State. 

Our people resolved to m.ake up in dispatch what they 
lacked in organization. Party prejudices were renounced, 
personal animosities laid aside : men forgot interest, sac- 
rificed preferences, forfeited the profits of business, and, 
with an earnestness and abandon witnessed but once in a 
century, devoted time and money to the salvation of the 
Republic. Thousands came forward, without looking for 
office or promotion, and hoping only to vindicate the author- 
ity of law, and save the imperiled country. The known 
horrors of battle, the unknown hardships of camp and field, 
and the terrors of prison, could not intimidate them. They 



THREE COMPANIES RAISED. 45 

knew that war meant wounds and death : but the stars and 
stripes had been struck down, and the national honor trailed 
in the dust; and they sprang forward to the rescue. 

From all parts of the State, and all ranks of society, they 
came, — young lawyers, farmers, merchants, gentlemen of 
education and leisure, mechanics ; men worth their tens 
of thousands, and men worth nothing; boys from the rifle- 
factories ; waiters from the hotels ; under-graduates from 
Yale, Wesleyan, and" Trinity Colleges, in the same ranks, 
shoulder to shoulder. 

Upon the reception of the governor's proclamation, Joseph 
R Hawley, Albert W. Drake (a Democrat), and Joseph Per- 
kins, met in the office of the Hartford Press, of which Haw- 
ley was editor, and, after discussion of the situation, signed an 
informal enlistment paper'' as volunteers in the First, and is- 
sued a call in the morning paper for men to join them in a rifle- 
company. Before sundown, nearly the minimum had enlisted ; 
and at a great meeting in the evening, presided over by 
Lieut-Gov. Catlin, the company was filled np. In this com- 
pany was only one man who had ever seen service on any 
field, and only two who had even been in the militia. The 
command of the company was offered to and accepted by 
George H. Burnham, lieutenant-colonel of the First Connec- 
ticut Militia. Hawley became first lieutenant, and Drake 
second lieutenant ; Perkins going into the ranks as a private.^ 

The Hartford Light Guard, Capt. J. C. Comstock, had 
already promptly volunteered as a company, and were not 
long in filling up vacancies of those who could not go; 
and such was the rush of volunteers from the city and adja- 
cent towns, that a third company, Capt. Ira Wright, was im- 
mediately begun, and filled to the minimum before the first 
week ended. On Saturday evening, April 20, the latter was 

^ Drake had taken the initiative, and drawn up this paper in his own office early in the 
morning. 

" Capt. Burnham soon became colonel of the First, and afterwards of the Twenty-second ; 
Lieut. Hawley ultimately brigadier and brevet major-general, and afterwards governor of 
the State ; Lieut. Drake, colonel oF the Tenth (died in service) ; and private Perkins, 
colonel of a United-States colored regiment. 



46 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

escorted to a position in front of the State House ; and Mayor 
Deming presented to tliem, in an eloquent speech, a hand- 
some banner, inscribed '' Right and Victory," and furnished 
by Messrs. Case, Lockwood, & Co., book-publishers. 

Meantime all the towns in the State were moving. New 
Britain speedily raised her militia company to a minimum, 
and divides with Danbury the honor of being the first com- 
pany to offer its services to the State. The West Meriden 
company, also constructed on the basis of a militia company, 
was the first accepted by the governor; while Capt. Burn- 
ham's company was the first accepted composed wholly of 
volunteers. This priority was trivial, however, a matter of 
mere circumstance, and not of particular merit, as between 
the companies of the First Regiment. Lieut. Hawley went to 
Sharpe's rifle-factory on Wednesday, and engaged rifles for 
the company on his own personal credit. Some thirty com- 
panies were begun during this first week, almost simulta- 
neously, at New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwich, New London, 
Ansonia, Norwalk, Danbury, Birmingham, Waterbury, Rox- 
bury, CoUinsville, Litchfield, Windham, Windsor, Middletown, 
— in almost every village. 

The great Winsted meeting of Sunday resulted in a com- 
pany filled and officered during the week. The first man 
who enlisted was Samuel B. Home, as a private, only seven- 
teen years old.^ At this meeting, the town voted a bounty 
of five dollars to each man, — the first indication we find 
of the bounty system. 

An immense war-meeting was held in Meriden, at which 
Charles Parker (Democrat) presided; and speeches exhort- 
ing to action were made by 0. H. Piatt, Dexter R. Wright, 
(Democrat), Rev. D. Henry Miller, and G. W. Wilson, after- 
wards captain. A company was immediately raised, and a 

^ Young Home, who was probably the first rolunteer in Connecticut, was quite small 
of his age ; and would have been rejected, had it not been for his importunity. He served 
faithfully during the three-months' service; rc-cnlistcd, and bore a musket as private for 
eighteen months ; and was then pi'omoted to a captaincy. He was in twenty-five battles, 
was wounded three times, and served at the close of the war as provost-marshal of 
the eiehteenth army corps. Two of his uncles were officers iu the English army, one of 
them on Wellington's staff at Waterloo. 



THE FLAG SALUTED. 47 

Colt's revolver presented to each man by Charles Parker.^ 
The Sinn of five thousand dollars was raised for equipments. 

In Danbury, the citizens assembled at the Court House in 
large numbers in the daytime, and resolved that the ad- 
ministration must be supported in suppressing the Rebellion. 
Here, perhaps, was the first town provision made for families, 
in a vote to pay the wife of each volunteer three dollars per 
week, and each child one dollar per week, during his ab- 
sence.^*' On Monday, the Wooster Guards, Capt. Wildman, 
an excellent company, offered its services to the governor 
two days in advance of his call, and was the first company 
to arrive at the rendezvous. Nelson L. White, a prominent 
lawyer of Danbury, gallantly entered the ranks as a private ; 
but Gov. Buckingham soon promoted him to be major of the 
Third, and thence to be lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth. 

Birmingham held a large meeting in Nathan's Hall on the 
19th : Edward N. Shelton presided ; William B. Wooster made 
a bold and powerful speech, and was followed by Thomas 
Burlock, Robert N. Bassett, Charles L. Russell, Dr. Ambrose 
Beardsley, and other citizens. Three thousand dollars were 
raised at the meeting, and the sum was increased next day 
to five thousand dollars. Nearly an entire company volun- 
teered on the spot, and passed under the command of Capt. 
George D. Russell. 

At New London, the city flag was raised, followed by a 
display of flags all over the city and on the shipping. At 
the Wilson Manufacturing Company's Works, all hands 
were summoned, and the flag saluted with repeated cheers. 
On the 19th, Mayor J. N. Harris received a dispatch from the 
Secretary of War, requesting him to furnish a company to 
garrison Fort Trumbull. The suggestion was immediately 
complied with; and the City Guards, Capt. Frankau, were 
put on duty there. On the same evening, " the largest and 



^ Mr. Parker remained faithful, — one of the most patriotic and liberal supporters of 
the war. 

1° This liberal provision was applied to two companies of three-months' men sent, and 
continued to them during the war in case of their re-enlistment. Edgar S. Tweedy and 
John W. Bacon were a committee to dispense the appropriation. 



48 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

most enthusiastic meeting ever convened in the city was 
held inside and outside the Court House." Hon. Nathan Bel- 
cher was chairman ; and Hon. Augustus Brandegee ofiered 
a resolution, declaring that political differences must be 
buried, and all unite to save the Republic. "Passed with a 
unanimous and thundering ay." Speeches were made by 
Messrs. A. C. Lippitt, Thomas Fitch, Augustus Brandegee, and 
others. An enlistment-roll was opened. A subscription-list 
to equip and arm the soldiers was headed by Mr. Brandegee 
with five hundred dollars, and followed by J. N. Harris and 
Williams & Barnes, each for the same amount. Ten thousand 
dollars was raised on the spot. Capt. N. Frankau issued a 
call for volunteers to fill up the ranks of his company, the 
(^ity Guards, "to be ready to march at a moment's notice." 

In Ansonia there was a great out-door meeting at Brad- 
ley's Hotel, presided over by D. W. Plumb, for many years an 
earnest antislavery leader in that section of the State. 
Speeches were made by Dr. J. M. Colburn and Major E. S. 
Kellogg (State militia). A subscription and a volunteer- 
roll were opened, resulting in the formation of a company, 
which, within three weeks, joined the Fourth Regiment, with 
Major Kellogg as their captain. 

On Saturday, the State was thrilled and enraged by the 
news that the Sixth Massachusetts had been assaulted, and 
some of its members murdered, in Baltimore ; and a fierce 
demand w^ent up that the next regiments should be hurled 
on that city. 

At Mystic, a great Union meeting w^as held in Floral Hall ; 
and war-speeches were made by Col. Amos Clift, Hiram 
Appelman, Lucius M. Slade, Rev. S. S. Griswold, and others. 
Chauncey D. Rice of the Pioneer was secretary. A sub- 
scription was opened ; and Isaac Randall, George Greenman 
& Co., Silas B. Randall, and Charles Mallory & Sons, gave a 
thousand dollars each for the prosecution of the war. 
Others subscribed largely. Twenty-four young men volun- 
teered, and became the nucleus of a company, that, three 
weeks later, joined the Fourth Regiment. The Mallory boys 



WAR-MEETINGS HELD. 49 

offered their yacht, of a hundred tons' burden, to the govern- 
ment, free of expense during the war ; and she was accepted. 
A flag was raised from the ramparts of Fort Rachael by the 
hands of Capt. Jonathan Wheeler, a veteran of fourscore, 
who commanded the guard on duty at the fort in 1812 ; and 
its appearance was hailed with cheers and music, and saluted 
with cannon. 

In Windham County, the capture of Fort Sumter created 
a profound sensation. This county led all other counties of 
the State, in her prompt response with Putnam and his men, 
when the Revolutionary War " began at Lexington ; and she 
was not behind when the Republic was assailed by internal 
foes. Willimantic held a large meeting, began a company, 
and voted five thousand dollars to equip her volunteers. On 
the 22d, a county mass-meeting was held at Brooklyn, 
Ex.-Gov. Chauncey S. Cleveland presiding. Earnest war- 
speeches were made by the president, Col. D. P. Tyler, Col. 
Keach, J. J. Penrose, and others. The sum of five thousand 
six hundred dollars was subscribed on the spot, Hon. W. H. 
Chandler heading the paper with five hundred dollars ; and a 
volunteer company of sixty men was raised in thirty minutes. 
Resolutions were adopted, declaring that the citizens of the 
county " would expend their last dollar, and exhaust the last 
drop of their blood," rather than consent to a disruption of 
the nation. 

There was also, this first week, a meeting at Putnam, 
worthy of its name and the crisis. E. Wilkinson presided ; 
and speeches were made by Rev. W. C. Walker, Dr Plyrap- 
ton, G. W. Phillips, and others. Patriotic resolution^? w^ere 
adopted, and thirty young men instantly volunteered. A 
war-meeting was held at Danielsonville (Killingly) with 
good effect ; and Mr. Wilkinson of the Windham-county 
Transcript, and twelve others, joined the Buckingham Rifles 

11 Windham and New-London Counties seem also to have made the first active 
resistance to the British Stamp Act of 1765. In September of that year, two hundred 
of their sturdy yeomanry proceeded on horsebacli to Hartford, and thence to Wethersfield, 
where they found Jared Ingersoll, and compelled him to resign the office of stamp-master 
for the colony. 



50 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

at Norwich ; and many others soon followed. There was 
also a large meeting at Dayville, where, in less than forty 
minutes, fifty-six men enrolled themselves ; the venerable 
Capt. John Day at their head. Windham had a similar 
meetino- on the 18th, and raised two thousand dollars to 
equip a company ; and voted to pay to all volunteers tw^elve 
dollars a month " extra," and one dollar a week for each 
child under the age of twelve. Canterbury made a similar 
liberal offer. Pomfret was even more generous, voting twenty 
dollars a month to each volunteer for the three-months' 
service, and six dollars a month to the wife, and two dollars 
a month to each child under fourteen. 

In Bridgeport, the feeling was intense. On Saturday 
evening, a war-meeting was held, presided over by Mayor 
D. H. Sterling, at which stirring speeches were made ; and 
resolutions offered by W. H. Noble were adopted, pledging 
the city to stand by the government in punishing treason, 
and requesting the city council to make instant and ample 
appropriations for the equipment of volunteers and the sup- 
port of their families. Seven thousand dollars was raised on 
the spot. On Sunday, April 21, a Massachusetts regiment 
and battery passed through ; and the people rushed out of 
church, and the bells rang welcome and good speed. While 
firing a salute, a citizen was killed. 

The war-news created the utmost excitement in Norwich. 
On the 18th, at ten o'clock in the morning, was held a war 
mass-meeting, at which H. H. Starkweather presided : J. L. 
Spaulding was chosen secretary. A subscription-committee 
of seven was authorized, consisting of Amos W. Prentice, 
Frary M. Hale, John F. Slater, Henry Bill, John W. Sted- 
man, David Smith, and James A. Hovey. Gov. Buckingham 
made a patriotic speech, and headed the paper with a 
thousand dollars ; and William P. Green added a thousand 
dollars more. Fervid speeches and contributions followed : 
a subscription of five hundred dollars each was made by 
James M. and W. H. Huntington, D. Smith, J. L. Greene, 
John F. Slater, John W. Allen, Norton Brothers, and A. 



RAISING OF A FLAG. 51 

Hubbard. Other contributions swelled the amount to twen- 
ty-three thousand dollars. Among individual donors, Louis 
Mitchell sent his check, " payable to stars and stripes, or 
bearer," and " as part payment of an old debt due to the good 
cause." A venerable lady, who had neither cash nor coupons, 
sent an old-fashioned silver cup, with this note : '• I have no 
money to give ; but this old cup has been in my family 
'through five generations. It is small, but true. May it not 
have passed through one revolution to help our brave boys 
now ? I have given my younger son to his country, with 
regret that his elder brother cannot be with him." On 
April 19, Frank S. Chester, book-keeper in the Thames 
Bank, commenced a company, and enlisted sixty-five men 
before night. They took the name of the "Buckingham 
Rifles." Jared S. Dennis gave five able-bodied sons to the 
government. 

John L. Chatfield, of Waterbury, promptly recruited his 
company, the City Guard, to the maximum, and offered it 
to the governor on April 19. On the 20th, it left for New 
Haven, being escorted to the depot by an immense crowd 
of citizens and civil societies, and a speech of farewell being 
made by Rev. Mr. Hendricken of the Catholic Church. After 
their departure, an enthusiastic inpromptu war-meeting was 
held at Hotchkiss Hall. Mayor Bradley presided ; and 
speeches were made by E. B. Cooke, the venerable editor of 
the American, Lyman W. Coe, Dr. P. G. Rockwell, Hon. S. 
W. Kellogg, C. H. Carter, Esq., and others ; and a subscrip- 
tion of nineteen hundred dollars was immediately raised. The 
special town-meeting of the 2 2d appropriated ten thousand 
dollars to the families of volunteers. A beautiful American 
flag; was raised over the old Catholic Church ; the three hun- 
dred Catholic pupils, under direction of the IVIisses Slater, 
participating in the patriotic ceremonies. The Irish Catho- 
lics assembled, and fifty voted to volunteer. At this time, 
Waterbury held one hundred thousand dollars of govern- 
ment securities, and her banks had loaned money to the 
State. 



52 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

Middletown moved early and vigorously. On the even- 
ing of the 19th of April, that night of national indignation, 
a war-meeting was held in McDonough Hall, and addressed 
by Mayor Samuel Warner, Lieut.-Gov. Benjamin Douglas, 
President Cumraings of Wesleyan University, and other 
prominent gentlemen. While the meeting was jDroceeding, 
the members of the Mansfield Guard, militia, summoned to 
the armory by their resolute captain, David Dickerson, voted' 
to go to the war ; and, before morning, the company was 
readj^, with full ranks. 

The citizens of New Haven rallied in great numbers at 
Music Hall. Mayor Welch presided, and all parties partici- 
pated. Speeches or remarks were made by Rev. Dr. Leon- 
ard Bacon, Rev. Dr. Cleveland, James F. Babcock, James 
Gallagher, Thomas H. Bond, W. S. Charnley, Thomas Lawton, 
Charles Ives, C. S. Bushnell, Ira Merwin, and Rev. W. T. 
Eustis; and every patriotic sentiment was cheered to the 
echo. Resolutions were passed recommending the common 
council to appropriate ten thousand dollars for the fomilies 
of volunteers. The city government conformed to the rec- 
ommendation, but doubled the amount. 

At a similar meeting in Branford, Col. L. S. Parsons pre- 
sided ; and the people were addressed by Rev. Mr. Miller, Dr. 
H. V. C. Holcombe, and others. Recruiting began at the 
meetino'. 

Moses Y. Beach, former proprietor of the New- York Sun, 
sent a patriotic letter to Wallingford, his native town, offer- 
ing to loan a hundred thousand dollars to the government, 
and providing for a liberty-pole and flag and the equipment 
of Wallingford volunteers. Fifty young men enrolled at 
once at a war-meeting, presided over by Roderick Curtis, and 
addressed by Israel Harrison, Dr. B. F. Harrison, and others. 

Woodbury held a large meeting, and began a company. 
A subscription for the families of volunteers was headed by 
William Cothren and Daniel Carter, — five hundred dollars 
each. In Madison, E. C. and S. H. Scranton offered five 
hundred dollars each to equip the company raising in the 



THE TOWNS VIE WITH EACH OTHER. 53 

town. East Haddam sent twenty-five men. Torrington 
voted four t]iousand five hundred dollars for equipments and 
soldiers' families. Canterbury yoted to raise a company, and 
equip it. Norwalk raised a volunteer aid-fund, from which 
every man was paid ten dollars on enlistment, and five dol- 
lars a month during service. In Hartford, the fund reached 
thirty thousand dollars by voluntary subscription before the 
city assumed the responsibility. 

In many towns, as in Hartford, even after a liberal sub- 
scription had been commenced, it was deemed best to do the 
work by a regular appropriation from the town treasury. 
Waterbury voted ten thousand dollars ; Bridgeport, ten thou- 
sand ; Meriden, five thousand ; Torrington, four thousand 
five hundred ; and many other towns in a ratio equally lib- 
eral. Thus, by contribution or town vote, generous provis- 
ion was everywhere made for volunteers and all dependent 
on them. 

In Salisbury, George Coffin offered One hundred tons of 
iron to the government, to be made into cannon-balls ; and 
other citizens manifested equal zeal and liberality. A large 
meeting was held in Litchfield on the 22d, and measures 
taken to assist in the prosecution of the war. In this work, 
Hon. John H. Hubbard took an active part. The Rockville 
Guard voted to go to the war, and offered themselves to the 
governor. Sixteen hundred dollars was raised to equip 
them ; and the citizens went earnestly at the work. Mil- 
ford, at a special town-meeting, voted a bounty of ten dollars 
to every unmarried, and fifteen dollars to every married vol- 
unteer ; and agreed to insure the life of each to the amount 
of one thousand dollars. At Farmington, a meeting was 
held on the 23d, at which W. M. Wadsworth presided ; and 
a full company of men enlisted for the war. East Hartford 
voted to pay a bounty of ten dollars, and ten dollars a 
month to each man while in service. Woodbridge raised 
forty men under Capt. Farren Perkins. From Unionville, 
one-tenth of the legal voters volunteered. Canterbury 
voted to raise a company, and subscribed two thousand dol- 



54 CONNECTICUT DTJEING THE EEBELLION. 

lars to equip it. In North Branford, the people raised a 
noble hickory, the gift of an old Jackson man, Capt. Jona- 
than Rose ; and unfurled a handsome flag on the identical 
spot, where, in 1776, after the Sabbath service, Parson Ells 
called the young men of his congregation together, and led 
them to the war. These uprisings all over the State but 
illustrate the spirited resolves and earnest action of every 
community. 

The sons of Connecticut out of the State were also promi- 
nent and active in similar patriotic demonstrations. 

The great mass-meeting in Union Square, of New York, 
had its initial movement in a preliminary meeting at the 
residence of that true man and patriot, Robert H. McCurdy, 
formerly of Lyme, but long a merchant in New York, a 
brother of the well-known Judge McCurdy of our State. 
This gentleman sallied forth in the rain, rallying his neigh- 
bors, who assembled at his house the same evening, and 
there organized. A committee was appointed to issue a call 
to the citizens of New York. The following day, this was 
done ; and, on the last of that week, that immense uprising 
of tens of thousands in Union Square was a fact accom- 
plished and memorable. Nowhere on this continent, before 
or since, has there been seen such a mighty host swayed 
with but one earnest purpose. We find prominently asso- 
ciated with Mr. McCurdy the names of other true sons of 
our State, — Gen. Prosper M. Wetmore, William C. Oilman, 
S. B. Chittenden, and others to whom reference is made as 
we proceed in the narrative. It will be shown how they 
permanently organized ; also the efficiency of their labors, 
and their great liberality and personal sacrifices and constant 
sympathy with the soldiers of our State. 

In nearly all the cities of the West, we were represented 
in* these uprisings. Soon after the attack on Sumter, the 
organization of the first Loyal League Club was formed, 
so far as known, at the city of Louisville, Ky. ; and chief 
among those who organized this society, which afterwards 
spread over the entire North, and was not unknown in 



UNION LEAGUE. — THE STARS AND STRIPES. 55 

many portions of the South, was Ledyard Bill, a citizen of 
Connecticut, at that time a resident of Kentucky .^^ 

Already the national i3ag had come to have a new and 
strange significance. When the stars and stripes went 
down at Sumter, they went up in every county of our 
State. Every town, from Thompson to Greenwich, suddenly 
blossomed with banners. On forts and ships, from church- 
spires and flag-staffs, from hotels, store-fronts, and private 
balconies, " the old flag " was flung out ; and everywhere it 
was hailed with enthusiasm ; for its prose became poetry, 
and there were seen in it a beauty and a sacred value which 
it never before possessed. Loyal women wore miniature 
banners on their bonnets, and, with untiring ingenuity, 
blended the colors with almost every article of dress ; and 
men carried the emblem in pins and countless other devices. 
The patchwork of white, blue, and red, which had flaunted 
in our face* for generations, without exciting much emotion, 
in a single day stirred our pulses with an imperative call to 
battle, and became the inspiration of national effort. All at 
once, it meant the Declaration of Independence ; it meant 
Lexington ; it meant Bunker Hill and Saratoga ; it meant 
freedom ; it meant the right of a majority to elect their 
president ; it meant the honor and the life of the Republic. 
So a great crop of splendid banners came with the spring 
roses ; and hundreds of youths donned the blue uniform, and 
advanced to the line of battle, impelled not more by a con- 
scious hatred of treason than by the wonderful glory that 
had been kindled in the flag. 

^ See Abbott's Civil War, vol. i. p. 144. «j^ 




CHAPTER IV. 

The Volunteers uniformed and equipped.— Response of Wealthy Men and Institutions. 

— Patriotic Work of the Women. — Another Revolutionary Sunday. — Call for Second 
and Third Regiments. — The Troops at Rendezvous. — Outfit completed. — In Camp. 

— Rations and Beds. — Contributions flow in. — Drill and Discipline. — Sage Advice. 

— Depai-ture of the Three Regiments. 

iIE volunteers who, in these first memorable 
days, rallied with patriotic impulse around the 
national standard, were simply men in citizen's 
dress. Few had either uniforms or arms. 
Gov. Buckingham, as early as Jan. 17, had 
wisely ordered the purchase, on his own responsibility, of 
knapsacks, cartridge-boxes, bayonets, and every thing be- 
longing to the full equipment of five thousand men. The 
State owned one thousand and twenty United-States muskets 
of the latest pattern, and more than two thousand percus- 
sion-muskets not very serviceable. It was thought that 
these would be sufiicient for any temporary service, and that 
the rifle factories of the State could speedily furnish other 
weapons for five thousand men if required. For this reason, 
and apprehending that the purchase of muskets might cre- 
ate premature excitement. Gov. Buckingham did not then 
increase the supply of arms. 

But when the actual call came, on Sunday night, April 
15, he at once resolved to discard all smooth-bore weapons, 
and arm the troops of Connecticut with the best rifles. With 
this intent, he decided to go on Monday morning to the 
Thames Bank, and ask a loan of fifty thousand dollars, and 
pledge his private fortune for payment. 

56 



PRIVATE BENEFACTOES. 57 

But others were also thinking of the money needed. 
E. C. Scranton, president of the Ehn-city Bank in New 
Haven, was early at his post. Thomas B. Osborne, vice- 
president, came in. There was a brief consultation. Be- 
fore Gov. Bucking;ham left his house to g-o to the Thames 
Bank, he received a telegram, tendering a loan of fifty thou- 
sand dollars, from the Elm-city Bank, for the emergency. 
The Thames Bank immediately offered a hundred thousand 
dollars. • Almost simultaneously, the Pahquioque Bank, of 
Danbury, tendered fifty thousand dollars ; Mechanics' Bank, 
of New Haven, twenty-five thousand dollars ; Fairfield-county 
Bank, of Norwalk, thirty thousand dollars ; Danbury Bank, 
fifty thousand dollars. The banks of Hartford united to offer 
the State a loan of five hundred thousand dollars, — one- 
tenth of their capital ; and the New-Haven banks soon after 
voted the same proportion, — a total of more than a million 
dollars. 

Of private benefactors, one of the earliest and most 
thoughtful was Thomas R. Trowbridge of New Haven, who, 
before a company was yet formed, offered five hundred dol- 
lars for the support of the families of volunteers ; thus begin- 
ning a course of unstinted liberality, which he continued 
throughout the struggle, and initiating that great patriotic 
charity, which, continued by private individuals, and finally 
adopted by towns and the State, extended a hand to all the 
families of absent soldiers. David Clark of Hartford rose in 
the first war-meeting, and pledged himself to give two 
hundred and fifty dollars to every company which the city 
should send ; and Hawley's company received his check on 
the spot. The next day, he offered to support one hundred 
families of volunteers during the war. This work was virtu- 
ally taken off his hands by a vote of the town soon after; 
but the impulse continued active in that and 'similar chan- 
nels, until, directly and indirectly, he had given the sum of 
sixty thousand dollars to the work of prosecuting the war. 

With still greater ardor, the women rose up to do their 
share in the great work of preparation. By Friday, April 

8 



58 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION, 

19, " within three days of the date of the governor's call," 
the companies for the First Regiment had been ordered to 
move to the regimental rendezvous at New Haven. Com- 
plete uniforms for nearly all were to be made. Wives, 
mothers, and sisters had no time for grief ^ With one heart, 
young and old, rich and poor, ransacked the wardrobes of 
their household, and the shops of the city and town, and plied 
shears and needles with unwearied diligence. April 21 
was a second Revolutionary Sabbath. Ministers expounded 
the right and duty of defending the government, and dwelt 
with fervor on the days and the men of" '76 " and the glory 
of our great Republic. Among favorite texts were, " In 
the name of God we will set up our banners ; " " He that 
hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one ; " 
" Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands 
to war, and my fingers to fight ; " " Lift up a standard to the 
people ; " "I come not to bring peace on earth, but a 
sword." 

The sacredness of the day seemed but to hallow labors 
of love and patriotism. The Bulletin of April 22 informs 
us that — 

" The ladies of Norwich, to the number of three hundred, assembled 
early at Breed Hall, where they were engaged all day in making up uni- 
forms for the company which starts to-morrow. Flags were flying, drums 
beating, and troops drilling in the streets ; clergymen preached war-ser- 
mons in all the churches, and left the pulpits to encourage the women in 
their sewing, or the volunteers in their drilling." 



The Hartford Courant said 



" A great many ladies served God yesterday by serving their country, 
in making uniforms for its gallant defenders. Some of them were at work 
at Schulye's, and some at Fisher & Co.'s. One hundred and fifty were 
also busy on haversacks at Griswold & Co.'s. George H. Hawk, of the 
Allger-house Saloon, furnished coffee and refreshments. Unknown friends 
aent in seven pails of lemonade." 

Henry Schutze and other tailors of Hartford cut for 
nothing all uniforms brought. A. M. Cosgrove of Middle- 



fl 



V 



-•^T»T7,T.Lioisr. 



Ai; 



Henry k5ciiuu/>v 



nothing all uniforms brought. A. ivi. v^u^^xv.. - ^x Midu. 




( libi/f!>uj2mdu44uJ 




THE LADIES OF KILLINGLY. 59 

town offered his entire stock of under-clothing to equip the 
Mansfield Guards. All day Saturday aiid Sunday, the la- 
dies of Middletown worked upon the uniforms of this com- 
pany. "Places of public worship were deserted, and the 
entire population seemed engaged in the great work of the 
hour. In those churches where service was attempted, it 
was only a passing prayer, that the Great Ruler of nations 
would shield from harm those who were about goino; down 
to the valley of battle. Banners were flying from church- 
spires, bands of music were on the street, and processions of 
citizens marching, cheering, and encouraging the volunteers. 
At many of our prominent residences, blue flannel was dis- 
played by the ladies at the windows, to show that they were 
engaged in the same patriotic work." ^ 

Of the work in Killingly the Windham-county Transcript 
said, — 

" Hundreds of fair hands and nimble fingers are at work in furnishing an 
outfit for the Union Guards, Capt. Granger. The ladies of Brooklyn, 
Woodstock, Pomfret, and other towns in this vicinity, have urged their 
claims for an opportunity to perform a share of the labor. In less than 
six days, three hundred and fifty shirts, eighty pairs of pants, and eighty 
coats, have been begun and finished. The misses have pi-epared for each 
soldier a very neat and convenient arrangement to carry pins, needles, scis- 
sors, thread, &c., — little matters which will be greatly appreciated by the 
boys when far away from home. The energy, patriotism, and enthu- 
siasm displayed by the ladies is the theme of great praise. . . .The 
Guards yesterday marched into the hall where the ladies were preparing 
the outfit. One of the ladies addressed the soldiers with great eloquence ; 
urging them to fight manfully for their country, and to enroll themselves 
also under the banner of King Emanuel. The scene was very impressive, 
and there were few dry eyes in the hall during the delivery of the aflfecting 
appeal." 

Such incidents, with only the modification of name and 
local circumstance, occurred in every town and neighbor- 
hood where a company had been enlisted. From every clus- 
ter of houses, too, some boys were going ; and there was a 
never-ending repetition of the quieter but no less earnest 

^ Manuscript Kecord of Middletown during the War, by John M. Douglas. 



60 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

village sewing-circle, turning out the ready uniforms^ the 
tricolor rosettes, the needle-books, and the thousand little 
. tokens of patriotism and affection. 

Then followed hasty farewells, tears of loved ones, and 
hearty cheers of" good speed ; " and the companies hastened 
to the rendezvous. 

The work in the towns continued : cloth for uniforms was 
purchased as quickly as possible, and generally paid for by 
subscription in the towns represented, and the garments 
made .up by the ladies at voluntary bees. In some towns, 
the work went on, by relays, night and day. In many towns 
and communities, it was, for weeks, the absorbing effort of the 
State, overshadowing all other interests. 

On their arrival at New Haven, the first companies were 
quartered at the various public and private buildings until 
the quartermaster could provide camp equipage. Company 
and regimental officers supplied from their private resources 
many pressing wants wdiich the State found itself unable so 
suddenly to meet. The companies were still besieged by 
men begging the j)rivilege of entering ranks already full. 
A score stood ready to take the place of every man rejected, 
while the rejected volunteer entreated to be retained. A 
member of the Meriden company was offered fifty dollars for 
his place, and rejected the offer with disdain. 

Among the companies formed, there was the utmost rivalry 
as to which should be so fortunate as to be accepted as mem- 
bers of the regiment ; for many regarded it as inconceiva- 
ble that the government could require more than the levy 
of seventy-five thousand men. This was deemed the last 
chance ; and in every part of the State alarmed volunteers 
deserted their half-formed companies, and precipitated them- 
selves into New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport, that they 
might not be too late to join some company that was sure 
to go. Ten full companies were immediately assigned to 
the First Reo-iment. 

Despite the utmost efforts of all, many volunteers were 
still in citizen's dress; and the new uniforms, mingling with 



THE FIE ST EEGIMENT IN CAMP. Ql 

every other variety of costume, gave a curiously grotesque 
effect to the early company evolutions. The ladies of New 
Haven resolved to supply all deficiencies in uniforms, and- 
worked by scores so diligently, that, within ten days, they 
had finished and distributed more than five hundred full sets. 
They also provided a large number of caps, shoes, and socks. 
In this work, Benjamin Noyes and John G. North rendered 
efficient aid. 

Beds were now called for. To sleep on a dry floor and 
clean straw was a luxury to which at Falmouth, or in front 
of Petersburg, a brigadier-general hardly dared to aspire ; 
but to these unseasoned volunteers, and to the citizens, it 
seemed intolerable hardship. Material was quickly pur- 
chased by voluntary contributions. Winchester & Davies 
gave the use of their sewing-machines ; and several hundred 
ticks were prepared in two days by men and women who 
volunteered for the work. The ladies then carried the fin- 
ished ticks to the soldiers' quarters, and filled them with 
straw. The first evening, they gathered at the State House. 
It did not once occur to them, in the plenitude of their pa- 
triotism, that a hundred ladies was a force rather strono-er 
than necessary to put straw in the same number of beds, or 
that the soldiers might do so simple a thing for themselves. 
No straw had arrived. A patriotic meeting was at once or- 
ganized by Chaplain Herbert Lancey ; and songs and speeches 
followed in rapid succession till a late hour. With equal 
spontaneity, the patriotic fervor of the people broke forth in 
speeches and songs, at all times and in every place. 

On Monday, April 22, the First Regiment went into camp 
at Brewster's Park. The Hartford Rifle Company (Hawley 
captain, vice Burnham, promoted) was assigned to the rio-ht 
of the line ; the Bridgeport Rifles, Capt. John Speidal, to the 
extreme left. This latter company was composed wholly of 
Germans; while every company contained soldiers of foreio-n 
birth. The first three companies in the regiment were from 
Hartford. Company C. Capt. Levi N. Hillman, received its 
officers and fourteen men from Windsor Locks, sixteen from 



62 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

Enfield, nineteen from Stafford, and nine from Simsbiiry; 
D, Capt. Marcus Coon, was from Waterbury ; E, Capt. E. E. 
Wild man, from Danbury; F, Capt. Theodore Byxbee, from 
Meriden ; G, Capt. F. W. Hart, from New Britain, with a 
squad of eleven from Farmington ; H, Capt. E. Fitzgib- 
bons, from Bridgeport. Two companies were begun in New 
Haven for the regiment; but they waited to join the Second, 
together, under Col. Terry. Thirty impatient men from that 
city, however, obtained admission to Capt. Wright's Hartford 
company. Several from Manchester dropped into the first 
two companies. 

When the boys received the plain but plentiful govern- 
ment rations of pork, fresh beef, soft bread, potatoes, coffee, 
and sugar, they knew neither how to cook, nor how to 
economize them. They declared them scanty, and " unfit to 
eat." They murmured, and almost mutinied. On the 30th 
of April, a number actually broke guard to "get their break- 
fasts." They were court-martialed before Major Chatfield 
and Capt. Hawley, and the non-commissioned officers reduced 
to the ranks, and some of the privates expelled from the 
regiment, begging hard to stay. 

The citizens sympathized heartily with the soldiers. The 
daily papers defended them, and declared that it would be 
quite soon enough to starve the boys when they got into a 
hard campaign. The common council voted ten thousand 
dollars to supply bedding, food, and other necessaries. A 
soldier who could get down town on a pass was sure to eat 
dinner at the private table of some pitying lady, or at a 
hotel, at the expense of some commiserating patriot. Roast 
meat and fowls, pies, cake, and delicacies of every sort, 
found their way from city and country to the " suffering " 
volunteers. The sauntering boy in blue whose hunger was 
appeased was sure of some other favor. Did he need a pair 
of boots ? They were his for the asking. Knives, razors, 
pistols, handkerchiefs, under-clothing, — all things which 
promised to be of service, — were urged upon the proud 
citizen soldiers. 



THE LADIES AT WORK. 63 

All ages and classes now vied with each other in efforts to 
do something for the volunteers. 

While the ladies of Hartford were busy making uniforms, 
the deaf and dumb pupils offered fre;e use of their tailor-shop 
and their shoe-shop. Physicians throughout the State pledged 
their services gratuitously to the families of volunteers dur- 
ing their absence, and in most cases faithfully redeemed 
their pledges. One hundred little girls visited the company 
of Capt. Ira Wright in camp, and presented to his men one 
hundred red-white-and-blue rosettes made by themselves. 

Mrs. Jansen of New Haven presented a red-white-and- 
blue work-bag to each member of Company B, Second Regi- 
ment. Four New-Haven ladies went into camp, and worked 
all day in lining the blankets of Capt. Hawley's company. 
Mrs. Sophia Butler, seventy-six years of age, who did ser- 
vice in the hospital in the last war with Great Britain, offered 
to go again to take care of the sick and wounded. 

Hundreds of employers continued the salaries of their ein- 
■ployes, and retained their places for them till their return. 
The working-men, in many cases, combined to do the work 
of one of their number who had enlisted, so as to continue 
the wages to his family. 

Many proprietors retained the places vacated by their work- 
men until their return. Mechanics clubbed together, and 
performed the work of comrades who enlisted. The Congre- 
gational clergymen in the vicinity of Winsted in turn gra- 
tuitously supplied the pulpit of Rev. Hiram Eddy during his 
absence as chaplain of the Second Regiment ; and his con- 
gregation gladly paid the salary to his family. 

Nor were preparations of a serious nature overlooked. 
The ladies of East Hartford had, by April 25, made and 
rolled up, at the house of Dr. C. M. Brownell, six thousand 
yards of bandages, and one thousand five hundred compress- 
es. Ladies of other towns swelled the quantity of such arti- 
cles to tons. 

In the mean time. Gov. Buckingham went to Washington ; 
and, after an earnest appeal, the Secretary of War was in- 



64 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

duced to accept two additional regiments from Connecticut. 
The clamor of repressed patriotism on the part of the multi- 
tude who could not find place in the First Regiment was 
immediately relieved by another proclamation, directing the 
acceptance of all full companies offering. The Second Regi- 
ment was ordered to rendezvous with the First at New 
Haven ; the Third, to go into camp at Hartford. 

On Monday, May 6, the Second Regiment joined the First 
at Brewster's Park in a rain that did not cease for twenty- 
four hours. Next day, it was mustered into the service ; its 
colonel being Alfred H. Terry, the popular colonel of the 
Second Regiment of State militia. He soon won the 
love and respect of the men by his constant attention to 
their comfort, and his ability as an officer. Several of these 
companies, like some of those in the First, were the result 
of the patriotic co-operation of various contiguous towns. 
Capt. F. S. Chester's company, of Norwich, contained six vol- 
unteers from Griswold, and twenty more from Putnam, Pom- 
fret, Killingly, Woodstock, and elsew^here. Capt. Henry 
Peale's company, of the same city, had eight from Preston, 
and twelve or fifteen Trom Lisbon, Sprague, and Thompson. 
Capt. E. C. Chapman's New-London company contained a few 
volunteers from Stonino;ton. Ca])t. Abram G. Kelloo-o-'s New- 
Hartford company contained sixteen from New Hartford, 
twenty -four from Winsted (Winchester), twenty-one from 
Canton, and six from Norfolk. Capt. James W. Gore's Hart- 
ford company included men from Rocky Hill, New Britain, 
and other towns in the vicinity. This company was under 
the special patronage of Mr. David Clark of Hartford. Be- 
fore leaving Hartford, it had received from his hands a beau- 
tiful banner, with a charge to bear it in the face of the enemy , 
as gallant soldiers should ; and each officer had been pre- 
sented by him wdth an expensive sword and complete equip- 
ments, and each private soldier with a revolver. Company 
A, Capt. David Dickerson, was from Middletown ; C, Capt. 
E. Walter Osborn, from New Haven ; D, Capt. George D. 
Russell, from Derby; E, Capt. S. T. Cooke, from Winsted; 
and F, Capt. A. B. Downs, from Nev/ Haven. 



NECESSARIES FOR THE SOLDIERS. 65 

As soon as the regiments were in camp (Camp Bucking- 
ham), the rules of military life, slightly relaxed to suit the 
character of volunteers, were adopted and cheerfully ob- 
served. The officers applied themselves persistently, first to 
learning, and then to teaching, the rudiments of military 
science ; and there was soon a marked improvement in drill 
and discipline. 

This was due largely to the 'pupils of the military school 
of Gen. Russell. Almost every company in the first regi- 
ments was instructed in evolutions and the manual of arms 
by these efficient drill-masters, ranging from twelve to eigh- 
teen years of age. Officers and men alike submitted with 
grateful attention to the dictation of these skillful striplings. 

Feeling that they would soon be flice to face with a foe 
familiar with the use of arms, all kept closely to the work 
of preparing themselves for efficiency in service. Several 
hours of each day were devoted to the facings and march- 
ing, and a study of Hardee's '• Tactics ; " each man vying with 
his neighbor to acquire the elements of a soldier's education. 
The results of this discipline were apparent when they came 
into the field. 

The camps, both at New Haven and Hartford, were con- 
stantly thronged by visitors and friends bringing all manner of 
gifts, useful and useless, — all varieties of pastry and delicacies, 
towels and soap, blankets and hammocks, handkerchiefs and 
needle-books, tobacco, pipes, and pills. One officer was fa- 
vored with a gallon jug of molasses. 

The simple suggestion that the soldiers should be supplied 
with reading evoked an avalanche of illustrated papers and 
magazines, with hundreds of books, both religious and general. 
The "Havelock" fever also raged. An English journal hav- 
ing stated, that in 1857, during the suppression of the re- 
bellion in India, the soldiers used with advantage the " Have- 
lock," — a white cloth-covering for the head and neck, — as a 
protection from sunstroke, our people went earnestly into 
the manufacture of these articles. Every soldier was pro- 
vided with two or more ; and one company received six 



66 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

sets all around. Portable writing-desks, water-filterers, pat- 
ent knives, and a score of other contrivances, had been in- 
vented, declared to be absolutely indispensable to health 
and comfort ; and were provided in great numbers. 

Volunteers were entreated to line their blankets with 
brown drilling, to carry a rubber blanket, extra shirts, an 
extra pair of shoes and stockings, and a variety of cooking 
utensils. These, with the paper and envelopes, the pocket- 
alburn, the Bible, and other good books, made with the 
musket and equipments, a load of from a hundred and twen- 
ty-five to a hundred and fifty pounds. Most volunteers 
undertook to carry this burden. The veteran, content with 
blanket, canteen, haversack, tin cup, and jack-knife, smiles at 
the pack under which he perspired in those days ; and he 
laughs outright at the advice then solemnly spoken and re- 
peated in the ears of the men. A writer who called himself 
" an old soldier " told the beginners, " Let your beard grow. 
March always in cotton stockings, but have a pair of woollen 
ones to put on when you stop. Wash your whole body 
every day." How easy to do this on a march in Virginia or 
Georgia ! and how invigorating in open .air, after creeping 
out of a " dog-tent," on a December morning at Falmouth ! 
" A veteran " urged the soldiers to '• avoid oily meat" as if it 
were possible to forego pork in Uncle Sam's fiimily. He 
also warned the soldiers against "strong coffee," the wel- 
come beverage which afterwards sustained them in privation 
and wearisome marches, and often seemed temporarily to 
take the place of food and sleep. 

Another thought " the soles of army-boots should be at least 
one-half, and, better, three-fourths of an inch in thickness ; " 
and bade his soldier-friends to " be sure never to sit down 
while heated, but to stand until cool ; and be very careful 
always to have your food well cooked!''' The old soldier can 
find, no more amusing reading than the newspaper files of 
those days ; and yet, as exhibiting the profuse liberality and 
the absorbing aftection of a people who could not devise or 
do enough for their citizen-soldiers, it is- a record to be con- 
templated with gratification and pride. 



DEPARTURE OF FIRST AND SECOND REGIMENTS. 67 

The First Regiment had received Sharpe's rifles. On 
Wednesday, May 17, Hon. Julius Catlin, formerly lieutenant- 
governor, presented the colors ; ' and the next day the 
regiment broke camp for the seat of war. The city assem- 
bled to greet them ; and, in their march down Chapel Street, 
they were hailed with uninterrupted cheers. Flags bloomed 
upon them from every portico, roof, and window. At last 
they embarked on the steamer Bienville, and, turning their 
faces from friends and home, disappeared down the harbor, 
bound for the still besieged capital of the nation. 

Sharpe's rifles also were distributed to eight companies, 
and Enfield rifles ^ to two, of the Second Regiment, on the 
morning of the 10th; and, on the evening of the same day, 
they broke camp, under orders for Washington. Just before 
departure, the regimental colors, elaborately embroidei-ed, 
were presented, in a speech of characteristic eloquence, by 
Hon. E. K, Foster, in behalf of the ladies of New Haven. A 
fine horse was also presented to Col. Terry by Arthur D. 
Osborne. Again the streets were filled with an enthusias- 
tic multitude, hailing the volunteers with approving cheers 
and cordial farewells ; and the scene was one of solemn and 
triumphant joy. In the evening, the regiment embarked ; 
and, at eleven o'clock at night, the Cahawba steamed into 
the darkness, along the track where the First Regiment 
had waved its good-bys only the day before. 

The same high-souled, uncalculating patriotism that had 
created these two regiments had also filled the ranks of the 
Third. It rendezvoused at Hartford, April 30 ; and was 
sheltered by the city and people, and hospitably cared for, 
until its camp was ready. 

''' His presentation-speech closed as follows : " Take the flag ; and, when it presses 
closest on the foe in some hard-set contest, will some brave boy among you strike one 
true blow for freedom for an old man at home, whose heart and prayers go with these 
colors to the field ? " Mr. Catlin became one of the most generous supporters of the war. 

^ The Enfield rifles were purchased by Gov. B. for seventeen dollars and thirty-five 
cents ; and were worth, when delivered, twenty-eight dollars. The Colt rifles, nearly all 
purchased at twenty dollars, immediately commanded forty and fifty dollars. The Sharpe's 
rifles, used by the three-months' troops, were afterwards issued to the flank companies 
of the several regiments. 



68 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

On the day of the departure of the First, the Third went 
into camp on the Fair Grounds, Albany Avenue, two miles 
from the State House, Hartford ; and it was mustered into the 
service May 14. This regiment, like the others, was hetero- 
geneous in character, and furnished from every part of the 
State. Capt. S. J. Root's New-Haven company was uni- 
formed and equipped throughout by James Brewster, Avhose 
name they adopted. Company A, Capt. Douglass Fowler, 
was from Norwalk; Company B, Capt. Daniel Klein, Ger- 
mans, from New Haven ; Company C, Caj)t. J. E. Moore, 
from Danbury ; Company D, Capt. Frederick Frye, was one 
half from Bridgeport, and the other half distributed among 
the towns of Fairfield County. Capt. G. N. Lewis's Hartford 
company contained squads from Wethersfield, Glastenbury, 
East and West Hartford, and East Windsor. Capt. Edward 
Harland's Norwich company represented also Sprague, Boz- 
rah, Franklin, and Lebanon. Capt. J. R. Cook's company 
was from Meriden ; Capt. Nelson's company, from Hartford. 
Capt. Albert Stevens's Stamford company had twenty vol- 
unteers from Darien, and fourteen from New Canaan. Com- 
pany E, Capt. John A. Nelson, was mainly from Hartford. 

The regiment was organized, at first, with Levi Woodhouse 
of Hartford as colonel; but, subsequently, Col. Woodhouse 
was transferred to the command of the Fourth, and was 
succeeded by John Arnold of New Haven. 

During the three weeks following the rendezvous at camp, 
the officers and men were vigorously engaged in mastering 
the theory and practice of mihtary science and the various 
duties of camp and field. They had a better opportunity 
to acquire this disciphne than either of the former regiments, 
because they were farther removed from the distractions of 
the city, and had longer time in which to fimiliarize them- 
selves with their new life. About a week before they went 
away, they received Springfield smooth-bore muskets, flint- 
locks altered to percussion, and were thus enabled to devote 
themselves for a few days to the manual of arms. On May 
19, they were ordered to Washington; and next day struck 



THREE REGIMENTS SENT. 69 

tents, and raarcbecl into Hartford. The. colors were presented 
in front of the State House by Gov. Buckingham ; ^ after 
which, through a surging and enthusiastic crowd of friends 
and neighbors, the regiment marched to the depot, and took 
cars for New Haven. There they embarked upon the steam- 
er Cahawba, and sailed forth cheerfully upon their strange 
mission. 

A month had passed since the nation was aroused to arms, 
and since one regiment was called for from Connecticut. 
Three regiments had gone forward, so completely equipped 
as to become a model for general imitation, so well dis- 
ciplined as to reflect honor upon the State in the excitement 
and confusion of battle. 



* The governor made a brief speech, in which he saiJ, " No father could welcome 
more cordially the presence of his sons than I welcome you to-day. Let these banners be 
your rallying-point ; and, if the hands that bear them be smitten, let your voices be heard 
inspiriting your fellows to their defense ; and, if you fall, others shall take your places to 
bear them on, and they shall be the signal and emblem of your liberties vindicated and 
preserved." 




CHAPTER V. 

Gen. Dan Tyler. — Henry B. Norton. — Cassius M. Clay Guard. — The Fourth Regi- 
ment. — Towns represented. — Departure. — Colt's Revolving Rifles. — It becomes 
the Fifth Conneeticut. — Towns represented. — Home Guard. -7- Yale College. — The 
General Assembly. — Message of the Governor. — War Legislation. — The Constitu- 
tional Amendment. — Great Unanimity of Feeling. — Independence Day. 

[N these early movements, Gov. Buckingham re- 
lied greatly upon Capt. Daniel Tyler of Norwich, 
who was burning with zeal, chivalric, high-spirit- 
ed, honorable, indefatigable in his labors, and 
familiar with the details of organization. He 
was the only professional soldier in the first three regiments. 
He impressed upon all, both officers and men, correct views 
of the character of the true soldier, and taught them that it 
was as honorable to obey as to command. His discipline 
was exact ; and to those who forgot that an army can not be 
a democracy, and that a regiment is not a town-meeting, it 
seemed severe. Yet is it just to say that much of the sys- 
tematic, well-disciplined character of Connecticut troops, 
which made so many of her regiments favorites in various 
corps and departments, was due to the soldierly spirit infused 
into the three-months' troops by Col. Tyler of the First. 
The j)osition of brigadier of the State militia was early 
offered to him by Gov. Buckingham, and accepted by him 
on condition that all duties should be " performed without 
remuneration for services rendered or expenses incurred." ^ 
Soon after reaching Washington with his regiment, he was 
made brigadier-general ' of volunteers at the earnest request 
of Gen. Scott. 

1 Gov. Buckingham's Message, 1862. 
70 



THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION. 71 

Henry B. Norton of Norwich also rendered substantial 
service in chartering vessels, superintending the transporta- 
tion of troops, and purchasing supplies at that early period. 
An upright, able, and influential business-man, he left his 
own affairs, and gave personal attention to the wants of the 
State in this emergency. He cheerfully spent months of 
time, refusing even the re-imbursement of his expenses. 

In the Cassius M. Clay Guard, which patrolled \7fishing- 
ton in the days of alarm and peril, before the arrival of 
troops, Connecticut was represented by Orris S. Ferry, John 
Woodruff, Cornelius 53. Bushhell, A. H. Byington, and WiUiam 
S. Chalker (captain of the first company of Wide-Awakes). 
The danger being passed, they were mustered out of service 
on May 18 by an order of the Secretary of War, expressing 
thanks for their faithful service day and night. 

Deeming the three regiments sufficient for the emergency, 
the president declined the services of the twenty-four addi- 
tional companies still industriously drilling in squads all over 
the State ; and, on the 8th of May, Gov. Buckingham ordered 
them to be disbanded. The decision was received by the 
men with every expression of disappointment. 

The president had, however, on the 3d of May, issued a 
proclamation for forty-two thousand volunteers, an increase 
of the regular army of twenty -two thousand and sixty-eight, 
and for the enlistment of eighteen thousand seamen ; and 
the disappointment was quickly forgotten in the zeal to 
embrace one of these opportunities. The State-call was de- 
layed until May 11 ; and it is estimated that "not less than 
two thousand men~ from Connecticut enlisted in other 
States, or the regular army or navy." 

Our quota was considerably less than one regiment ; but 
the War Department had accepted the second and third three- 
months' regiments from Connecticut, on condition that 
the State should immediatel}^ raise two other regiments 
for three years. Gov. Buckingham had gladly promised 
this, because fully convinced that the government would 

2 Adjutant-General's Eeport for 1861. 



72 CONNECTICUT DtJElNG THE KEBELLION. 

need them ; and now issued orders for two regiments from 
Connecticut. Men eagerly responded ; though they greatly 
feared, that, before they could get to the front, the three- 
months' regiments would inconsideratel}^ go ahead, and finish 
the war. 

The first full companies were accepted for the Fourth 
Regiment, and ordered into camp at Hartford. Levi Wood- 
house, who had served with credit in Mexico, accepted the 
command. Company A, Capt. L. G. Hemingway, was mainly 
from Hartford ; though twenty or thirty men were from Man- 
chester, Farmington, and East and West Hartford. Company 
B, Capt. Elisha S. Kellogg, was from Derby; a few of the mem- 
bers hailing from Seymour, Canton, and other towns. Com- 
pany C, Capt. R. S. Burbank, was officered by Suffield, which 
furnished about half the men ; the rest going from Granby. 
Enfield, the Windsors, and neighboring towns. Company D, 
Capt. J. C. Dunford, was mainly from New London ; a number 
of members, however, enlisting from Thompson and the vari- 
ous Lymes. Company E, Capt. 0. A. Dennis, was mainly from 
New Haven; also Company F, Capt. N. S. Hallenbeck'; both 
receiving a sprinkling of volunteers from adjacent towns. 
Middletown contributed the officers and fourteen privates of 
Company G, Capt. R. G. Williams; Killingly furnished twenty- 
two ; Berlin, eleven ; and Plainfield, Putnam, and other east- 
ern towns, the rest. Middletown also officered Company 
H, Capt. C. C. Clark, and sent most of the privates ; Berlin fur- 
nished sixteen ; and twenty more were chiefly from Crom- 
well and East Haddam. Torrino-ton contributed the officers 
and sixteen men to Company I, Capt. S. H. Perkins ; while 
twenty-seven were from Plymouth, ten from Thompson, and 
twenty-five more from Litchfield, Waterbury, and Goshen. 
Company K, Capt. D. W. Siprell, was from Hartford; surround- 
ing towns supplying twenty-five, and Meriden ten. Companj^ 
G was known as the Wesley an Guard, most of its mem- 
bers being students in Wesleyan University. It was more 
than an ordinary sacrifice for them to cease their studies, 
discard their hopes of distinction, and ofier their young lives 
to their country. 



COL. SAlSrCTEL COLT. 73 

The regiment received careful and constant drill, and left 
Hartford for the front on Monday, June 10, seventeen 
days after the Third. At State-house Square, the regimen- 
tal colors were presented by Lieut.-Gov. Benjamin Douglass'^ 
in an earnest speech, concluding thus : "Remember Sumter I 
Remember that there, for the first time in our history, this 
blood-bought flag of our fathers was lowered to Americans. 
Let this thought fire 3-our patriotism, nerve your arm, and 
give strength to your determination to wipe out this gross 
insult from the records of our national history." The men 
then sought refuge from the broiling sun on board the boats. 
Fifteen or twenty thousand people were assembled to witness 
their departure; and in the midst of cannon-firing, martial 
music, and resounding cheers, they steamed down the pleas- 
ant river, not to Washington, but to do picket-duty along 
the Upper Potomac. 



On the 25th of April, Col. Sam. Colt offered to raise a 
reo;iment, and arm it with revolving- breach rifles of his own 
manufacture. His purpose was to have every man over six 
feet high, and a 'good shot, — a regiment of accomplished 
grenadiers; and, on May 16, he was commissioned colonel 
of the First Connecticut Revolving Rifles. Parts of compa- 
nies rendezvoused on South Meadows, at Hartford, in accord- 
ance with this plan, under Major George D. Chapman. There 
was soon disagreement concerning arms, the appointment 
of subalterns, and other important matters ; and Col. Colt's 
commission was revoked June 20, and the regiment, then 
numbering nearly seven hundred men, was disbanded.* 

3 Gov. Douglass, who had hitherto been known as an uncompromising foe of shivery, 
was henceforth distinguished, also, as being one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the 
war ; giving freely of his time, labors, and money, first to put men in the field, and then to 
make them and their families comfortable. 

* A fine company of Irishmen from Norwich was raised for the Fifth Regiment ; but it 
10 



74 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

More than half the men returned to their homes ; but those 
remaining were organized into skeleton companies, and des- 
ignated as the Fifth Connecticut. Orris S. Ferry was im- 
mediately commissioned as colonel, and abandoned a lucra- 
rative law-practice for the field. The camp was transferred 
to a lot on the New-Haven turnpike, a short distance out of 
Hartford. 

Company A, Capt. H. B. Stone, was from Danbury; which 
town furnished its stalwart officers, and twenty of its men : 
fifteen were from Bethel, Redding, and Ridgefield ; and the 
rest from other towns in the vicinity of Danbury. Hartford 
officered Company B, Capt. Justin H. Chapman, and furnished 
a dozen of the men: the rest came from Bristol (twenty), 
Windham (fourteen), Griswold, Southingtou, and Farmington. 
Company C, Capt. George W. Corliss, was raised in New Ha- 
ven ; a few of the men being from adjacent towns, and ten 
from Norwalk. Hartford and Waterbury furnished the offi- 
cers of Company D, Capt, D. F. Lane, and most of the pri- 
vates. Company E, Capt. Wilson Wyant, was the result of 
consolidating two incomplete companies from Norwalk and 
Seymour; some thirty of the men, however, hailing from 
Westport, Weston, Woodbury, and Naugatuck. Company 
F, Capt. Edward P. Allen, was from Tolland County; Vernon 
furnishing the officers and a majority of the men, others 
flocking in from surrounding towns. Grotcn contributed the 
captain (Warren W. Packer), first lieutenant, and ten men, 
of Company G ; Hartford the second lieutenant, and five 
men ; and, of the remainder of the company, fourteen were 
from Norwalk, and twelve from Stonington. Company H, 
Capt. Albert S. Granger, was officered from Patnam ; which 
also furnished thirteen of the men : Killingly sent fourteen, 
Plainfield thirteen, Woodstock twelve ; and Thompson, East- 
ford, and Griswold, the rest. Hartford furnished the officers 
of Company I, Capt. Griffin A. Stedman, and two of the 

finally joined the First New- York Artillery. Capt. Thomas Maguire became major of the 
regiment, and was succeeded by Capt. William A. Berry, killed in front of Petersburg. 
He, in turn, was succeeded by Capt. Thomas Scott of Norwich. — Vide Miss F. M. Caul- 
kins's History of Norwich. 



THE FIFTH REGIMENT. Y5 

men : twenty-five were from Cornwall, thirteen from Salis- 
bury, and fifteen from Sharon and. Norfolk. The captain 
(James Sutton) of Company K, and sixteen men, were from 
New London ; the lieutenants, and first two sergeants, from 
Waterbury : of the privates, twenty-one were from Wind- 
ham, and most of the others from Norwich, Sprague, and 
Stonington. 

Systematic " recruiting " was not yet resorted to : the 
companies were chiefly the result of spontaneous enlist- 
ment. It is noticeable thus early that the cities or large 
towns monopolized most of the officers; the commissions 
being frequently secured by those familiar with the ways of 
the w^orld, and with managing, even where country towns 
supplied a majority of the men. There were men from 
Norwalk in almost every company of the Fifth, attracted at 
the last moment, even after companies were organized, by 
the call of their popular neighbor. to the command.' The 
regiment was soon full to the maximum, having 1,102 men. 
Physically, they averaged the best material ever enlisted in 
Connecticut ; and, feeling that they needed only proper dis- 
cipline to make them the foremost regiment of the service, 
officers and men gave themselves assiduously to the drill. 

Many who did not join these early regiments felt that there 
might be another call, or even service in the State, and 
began to organize home-guards. In the larger towns, com- 
panies were formed, and instructed in marching and in the 
manual of arms. The lessons were generally rude and 
unscientific ; yet many volunteers for the three-years' regi- 
ments went out from these early companies, more efficient 
for the discipline there obtained. 

The recruiting, the constant drills, the martial music, and 
the bustle of camp-life, greatly quickened the military spirit 
in New Haven. In her home-guard were enrolled more 
than four hundred members. Besides these, there were no 
less than five companies organized and regularly drilled at 
Yale College. 



76 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE EEBELLION. 

The call for troops occurred during vacation at Yale ; and, 
when the students came back, thej found themselves in 
camp. Many graduates promptly joined the ranks ; and 
students left their classes for a life in the barracks and on 
the field. Among the first of the volunteers came " march- 
ing from Winchester down " white-haired John Boyd, of the 
class of 1821, — a man of social and political influence, and 
conspicuous hostility to slavery. The venerable volunteer 
was importunate, but could induce no one to pronounce him 
young enough for military duty, and went reluctantly 
home. Rev. John Pierpont,^ a graduate of the class of 
1804, also caught the war -impulse; and, at the age of 
seventy-six, marched into Virginia as chaplain of the Massa- 
chusetts Twenty-second. 

Daily contact with soldiers, and the daily sight of the 
vacant places of undergraduates, tended to make the Yale 
students restless and mieasj^ " We must be ready for the 
next call," they said. Each class became a military com- 
pany, with frequent drills and creditable discipline. TIiq 
same feeling prompted the organization of the Graduates' 
Guard. Students of theology, law, medicine, and philoso- 
phy, with the learned professors of the college, became, all 
at once, obedient and patient students in the school of the 
soldier. Very laugh-provoking to this day is the recurring 
vision of the graduates' company-drill, on those bright, sum- 
mer afternoons, in the field adjoining Tutor Lane. Some of 
the illustrious privates of " the Guard " were by no means so 
youthful or agile as to enjoy rapid marching ; but one day 
a light-footed member maliciously informed the drill-master 

^ John Pierpont was born in Litchfield, April 6, 1785. He graduated at the age of 
nineteen, studied law at Litchfield, practiced a short time, and had a brief mercantile 
career. In 1816, he published at Baltimore the Airs of Palestine, a poem in heroic 
measure, which attracted much attention. He then studied theology, and was ordained 
in Boston, in 1819, as a Unitarian pastor. His activity and zeal for the temperance, 
antislavery, and other reforms, brought him into a sharp and prolonged controversy with 
some of his parishioners, in which he was completely triumphant. For fifty years, freedom 
and temperance were the burden of his song. • In 1861, he went with Massachusetts 
troops to the field, but was rescued by Senator Wilson from fatal exposure, and served in 
the treasury department until 1864, when he resigned, and went home to a peaceful 
death. 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. '7'7 

that there was a general desire to try company movements 
in quicker time. The wicked suggestion was accepted. 
Along the slope, up and down the declivity, by the rio-ht 
flank and the left, with an occasional bewildering " about- 
face," they lumbered along at a straggling double-quick. 
" Close up, close up ! " was an order shouted and repeated in 
vain. Onward struggled the heavy end of the line, with 
visible perspiration and audible puffings; while utter exhaus- 
tion heaved in almost bursting chests, and glowed in fiery 
cheeks. Meantime, the lighter end of the line grew weak 
in the knees, and thick in the throat with irrepressible 
laughter at the droll display. The agony of that hour 
nearly proved fatal ; but, after a few days, nearly all the 
disabled veterans returned, and the drills were cautiously 
continued. 

These drills, though at first almost ludicrous, were far 
from fruitless. The older members, one by one, dropped 
out ; but the rest drilled regularly, and with good progress. 
" The next call was made, and we sent to the front our full 
quota. Another call came, and a third. We gave our stur- 
diest and best, until nearly one-half the Graduates' Guard 
were soldiers of the Republic." ^ 

The annual session of the General Assembly convened at 
Hartford on the first day of May, 1861. 

Fortunately, many of. the first men in the State had been 
chosen, and entered on their serious duties with a determi- 
nation to do all that was possible to put down the Rebellion 
at once. 

The House was organized by the election of Hon. Augustus 
Brandagee as speaker; and Cyrus Northrop, clerk. The Sen- 
ate elected Hon. A. B. Mygatt president ^ro tern.; and W. W. 
Stone, clerk. 

The governor, in a short message, informed the Assembly 
that the services of forty companies had been accepted and 
mostly uniformed, but none had yet departed from the State. 

^ The Patriotic Record of Yale College, by John M. Morris in Hours at Home, vol. 
iii. No. 2. 



78 CONNECTICUT DURING THE KEBELLION. 

As if foreseeing the magnitude of the war, the governor, at 
that early jDeriocl, recommended that a force of eight or ten 
thousand men be organized, armed, and equipped by the 
State, and drilled and disciplined, ready, when needed, to be 
called into active service. He discussed the critical condition 
of national affairs with clearness and manly courage. He 
suo-orested a modification of the Personal-liberty Bill in 
regard to the evidence necessary to prove a false declara- 
tion of the claimant of a negro alleged to be a slave, but 
recommended that the bill thus amended be retained. 
He said, " We are in the midst of a revolution on which 
all that we hold dear as a free people is staked. Never 
have the liberties achieved for us by our fathers through the 
fire and blood of a seven-years' war been in such imminent 
peril as now. The sceptre of authority must be upheld, and 
alleoriance secured. It is no time to make concessions to 

o 

rebels, or parley with men in arms ; " and, as if speaking for 
the people, declared, that " we will make the battle-fields of 
the second war of independence, if need be, altars of patri- 
otic sacrifice and watchwords of liberty forever." 

Immediately after the organization of the House, the 
speaker appointed the following gentlemen the Committee 
upon Military Affairs : Messrs. Carpenter of Killingly (now 
a judge of the Supreme Court) ; Deming of Hartford (after- 
wards colonel of the Twelfth Conpecticut Volunteers), in 
place of Thomas H. Seymour, who declined to serve ; Wooster 
of Derby (afterwards colonel of the Twenty-ninth Connec- 
ticut Volunteers) ; Geer of Lyme ; Cunningham of Norwalk 
(afterwards lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Connecticut 
Volunteers); Burrall of Sahsbury; Scoville of Haddam; 
and Pease of Somers. The Hon. Charles Briscoe of the 
second district was appointed senate-chairman of this 
committee. 

On the third day of the session, a bill reported by this 
committee passed both Houses without opposition, which 

Note. — The State debt on the 1st of April, 1861, was $7,709.50; u reduction during 
the previous year from $26,432.54. The debt in 1858 was $81,161.06. 



THEEE-YEAKS' REGIMENTS. 79 

authorized the governor to accept the services of ten thou- 
sand men for such time as he might deem expedient, they 
being Hable at all times to be turned over to the service 
of the United States. All acts of the governor in raisin^'- 
volunteer regiments were ratified and confirmed, and all 
expenses incurred by him for the same purpose were ordered 
paid from the State treasury. The sum of ten dollars per 
month, as additional compensation, was appropriated to every 
non-commissioned officer and private who was mustered into 
the service under the act. 

Towns and cities were authorized to vote money to aid 
volunteers or their families, and previous votes of this 
character were validated. The sum of two million dollars 
was appropriated to defray mihtary expenses ; and the treas- 
urer was authorized to issue six per cent coupon bonds to 
that amount, payable in twenty years. The act was approved 
by the governor immediately, and became the basis of much 
of the subsequent legislation upon war-matters. 

Mr. Sedgwick of Cornwall gave early notice of a bill to 
raise five regiments of negroes ; but the project, repeatedly 
broached by him, met with little favor. 

At this time, the patriotism of the people was glowing at 
a white-heat ; partisan feeling was subdued ; " and, with few 
exceptions, the Democratic members of the Assembly vied 
with those of the majority party in expressions of loyalty 
and devotion to the Federal Union. 

Resolutions of inquiry or instruction upon the all-absorb- 
ing subject were introduced nearly every day, many of 
them illustrative of the crude ideas that then prevailed con- 
cerning the requirements of actual warflxre. 

Before the close of the session, three-years' regiments were 
begun; and it was deemed necessary to reduce the extra pay 
of ten dollars per month, except in the case of those who en- 
listed for three months, to thirty dollars per year, to be paid 
in installments of ten dollars every four months. This was 

"^ At the city elections of New Haven and Norwich in June, a Union ticket was nomi- 
nated by mutual agreement of parties, and elected without opposition. 



80 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

continued until the close of the war. By an act approved 
June 27, provision was made for the payment of a bounty 
for the support of the fiimily of each enlisted man. 

This bounty was six dollars per month for the wife, and 
two dollars per month for each child, not exceeding two, under 
fourteen years of age. It was paid quarterly until the final 
muster-out ; and, whenever a soldier died in the service, it 
was continued until the expiration of his term of enlistment ; 
so that, in many cases, it operated as a pension for two or 
more years.^ 

The Corwin Constitutional Amendment was reported from 
the Committee on Federal Relations on the 3d of July with- 
out recommendation, and continued to the next session of the 
General Assembly by nearly a strict party vote. Senator 
E. Johnson (Dem.) w^as for a peaceful settlement of the 
difficulties, and in favor of guaranteeing the constitutional 
rights of the South. He should consider a vote for con- 
tinuing the amendment as a vote against it. Senator 0. H. 
Piatt replied, " I vv^ish the vote I shall give for continuance 
to be considered as a declaration that I will not compromise 
with traitors. I wish first to know whether we have a Con- 
stitution to be amended, or whether it is to be subverted. I 
believe that those who talk of peace now mean sympathy 
vvith traitors, and a peaceable dissolution of the Union." 
The amendment was not heard of again. 

An act to repeal the Personal-liberty Bill was also con- 
tinued to the next session by a similar vote. 

The resolutions upon Federal affairs, which were presented 
according to custom just before the close of the session, 
were very conservative in their character, declaring it to be 
the duty of the government to resist rebellion with all its 
force, and against interference with slavery in the States. 
They were passed by the votes of Republicans and Demo- 
crats, and were opposed only by Mr. Thomas H. Sejnnour 
and a few others, who, in those early days of the war, were 

^ The bounty, in this beneficent form, was secured chiefly by the persistent eflbrts of 
William B. Woostcr of Derby. 



DEMONSTRATIONS AT WALLINGFORD. gl 

known as " peace men." A large proportion of the Demo- 
cratic party in the Assembly seemed, however, at this time, 
to be as earnest and hearty in their support of the war- 
measures as the Republicans. Several of them, like Dem- 
ing of Hartford, Atwater of New Haven, and Dibble of 
Branford, continued to act with the Republican Union party 
through the war. Much credit is due to the Military Com- 
mittee of this Assembly for their arduous work and judicious 
recommendations. The principal bills relating to the con- 
duct of the war were never repealed, and were only altered 
for the purpose of extending their provisions as circum- 
stances required. The Assembly adjourned, sine die, on the 
evening of July 3. 

Independence Day was celebrated with earnestness and 
enthusiasm. Communities which had no suitable flag-staff 
commemorated the day by raising the tallest and hand- 
somest the region afforded. Others gathered around the 
massive and shapely poles already erected, to renew with 
solemn emphasis their pledges of devotion to the starry 
emblem, and the Republic whose majesty and power it 
typified. 

Among the unique demonstrations was that at Walling- 
ford, where the citizens unfurled the flag that had been pre- 
sented by Moses Y. Beach. Samuel Simpson presided, and 
the flag was received by E. S. Ives. After a bountiful colla- 
tion, a miniature model of the flag and staff, surmounting a 
colossal loaf of cake, adorned with flowers, was presented 
to Mr. Beach by six daughtei's of M. W. Munson, who accom- 
panied the gift with a patriotic note expressing thanks to 
him, and signed themselves " six sisters for the Union." 

Gov. Buckingham spent the day at New Haven. In the 
forenoon, there was a review of the volunteer and militia 
companies ; in the afternoon, a mass-meeting to listen to ad- 
dresses and the sino-insi; of the Children's Brio-ade. 

Some weeks before, Benjamin Jepson had issued a circular, 

in which he ursred that all our children mio-ht and should be 

imbued with ineradicable love of country by early instruc- 
11 



82 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

tion in our national songs, and calling them together to re- 
hearse a programme for the Fourth of July. In response to 
this call, a thousand children assembled, from time to time, 
for practice, and, at two o'clock on the Fourth, gathered at 
" The Wigwam " in Olive Street, and formed in procession in 
the following order: Division of boys, — Indians, represent- 
ing the Boston Tea-Party ; Washington Zouaves, Wide- 
awake Fire-engine Company with a miniature engine, 
Marine Guard, Infant Rifles. Division of girls, — Daughters 
of Columbia, Goddess of Liberty in a floral car. Young 
America with continental guard, Brother Jonathan in full 
costume. Union of States represented by thirty-four young 
ladies. 

The costume of the children accorded with the parts as- 
signed them : each carried a flag, and the entire procession 
Avas interspersed with banners representing the battles of 
the Revolution and various appropriate devices. The pro- 
cession passed through the principal streets to the north 
portico of the State House, and were seated on the broad 
steps in a prescribed order, making a most picturesque and 
impressive tableau. Maj^or Welch presided : speeches were 
made by his Excellency the Governor, Ex-Gov. Dutton, 
Prof D. C. Gilman, Deacon George F. Smith, John G. North, 
and others. The speakers were warmly applauded ; but the 
spirit and power of the singing, intensified by the effect of 
the decorations, elicited much enthusiasm. 

The vast audience, of from fifteen to twenty thousand, 
stood in compact, swaying mass, without sign of weariness, 
for four hours, and dispersed with hearts vibrating to this 
stanza, sung by the children with thrilling effect : — 

" Still undaunted, still united 
By the fires oiu- fsTthcrs liglitcd, 

We will stand, we will stand, 
As a noble band of brotliers. 
Freer, prouder, than all otiicrs 

In the land, in the land ; 
While onward, with resistless tread, 

Unconquercd, unconquered, 
The Union's niiiihty hosts are led, 
Our standard waviny; at its head, 

Unconquered, unconquered, 
• Against the lines of Treason." 




CHAPTER VI. 

The First and Second Eegiments in "Washington. — Welcome Reception. — Camp at 
Glenwood. — Joined by the Third. — Death of Col. Ellsworth. — Ellsworth of Connecti- 
cut Stock. — " Invasion " of Virginia. — Ambush at Vienna. — Holding the Advanced 
Post. — Death of Theodore Winthrop. — Sketch of his Life and Character. — Death of 
Capt. James H. Ward. — An Advance. — Blackburn's Ford. — Bull Run. — Gen. 
Tyler begins the Battle. — The Army betrayed. — Behavior of Connecticut Troops. 
— The Last on the Field. — They act as Rear-Guard in the Retreat. — Good Order 
maintained. — They bring off Public Property. — Home, and Muster-out. 

fHE clestiriatioii of the First was kept a secret, 
even from its line officers, until the Bienville 
was outside New-Haven Harbor, to avoid the 
necessity of a hostile reception by the rebels 
along the Potomac. The transport made straight 
for the Chesapeake, and steamed along without opposition. 
It was the first regiment up the river; and rebel camps 
were seen here and there in the distance, while the strangre 
flag of treason was flaunted at Alexandria. The regiment 
arrived not a daj^ too soon ; for the capital was still at the 
mercy of the foe, had he been resolute and dashing. 

They were met on the Potomac, and cordially welcomed, 
by President Lincoln and his cabinet. While marching 
through the streets of Washington, they received much praise 
for their soldierly bearing and discipline, and for the perfec- 
tion of their personal and camp equipage. It was the first 
regiment from any State thoroughly equipped ; being fur- 
nished not only with tents, but with a complete baggage- 
train. Gen. Scott reviewed them, and exclaimed, " Tliank 
God ! we have one regiment ready to take the field." The 
day of their arrival. May 13, they pitched their camp about 
two miles north of the capital, on the pleasant grounds of 
the wealthy banker Corcoran, called Glenwood. 

83 



84 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The First Connecticut Rei»:iment was taken as a model for 
equipment by other States. Before its departure, agents 
from New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont, were 
in New Haven to examine it ; and, when it arrived in Wash- 
ington, it had more transportation than all the other regiments 
combined ; and the government sent next day to borrow the 
teams to distribute rations to the other troops. Moreover, 
the First had provided itself with fifty thousand rounds of 
ammunition, and rations and forage for twenty days. Col. 
Tyler was prepared not merely for a battle, but for a cam- 
paign. 

The steamer Cahawba, with the Second, leaving New 
Haven the day after the First, came to anchor under the 
guns of Fortress Monroe on Sunday morning ; and the 
sturdy old Cumberland sloop - of- war, thereafter famous, 
manned her yards, and gave the regiment three cheers. 
The sail was soon continued up the Potomac ; and, as the 
shores were occupied by the enemy, ball-cartridges were 
dealt out after divine service, and the companies were as- 
signed positions for defense. Rebel sentries were visible on 
the Alexandria wharves, and armed traitors were grouped 
in the streets. The regiment reached Washington, and 
pitched its tents at Glenwood by the side of the First, The 
situation was a westward slope, covered with oaks and cedars ; 
the ground thick with underbrusli and decaying leaves. In 
a few days, the leaves had been swept up and burned, the 
stumps removed, and the inequalities of surface leveled 
down. The regiments built, of the evergreens, arches and 
arbors in front of the officers' tents, and floored them with 
fragrant twigs, and festooned them with running vines, until 
the camp looked like a pleasant picnic-scene. They gave 
nine hours a day to drill, evolutions, and the manual of aruis ; 
and, under diligent officers, their progress was rapid. Social 
religious meetings were held every evening, conducted by 
Rev. S. Herbert Lancey, a private in the Second, afterwards 
appointed by the Secretary of War to be chaplain. Feeling a 
strong desire for music, the members assessed themselves to 
pay the expenses of the Union City (Naugatuck) Brass Band, 
which reached the camp early in June. 



CONNECTICUT TROOPS' EXPRESS. 85 

On May 23, the Third Kegiment arrived, and joined the 
First and Second, by whom they were warmly welcomed. 
So far as was compatible with military discij)line and the 
rules of camp-life, the members of the three regiments im- 
proved the opportunity for social intercourse. The Third, 
like the First and Second, applied itself diligently to the 
drill. Col. Arnold, not having proved very efficient, resigned 
soon after arriving at Washington ; and his resignation was 
instantly accepted. Lieut.-Col. Chatfield of the First was 
appointed to the command ; but Lieut.-Col. Brady refused to 
recognize his authority, and exhibited gross insubordination 
in asserting his own right to the succession according to the 
laws of the militia. He was placed under arrest lor muti- 
ny, and so held, without trial, until the final muster-out. 
This folly was afterwards atoned for by patriotic sei^ice. Col. 
Chatfield took the place assigned him, and devoted himself 
with ardor to the work of transforming^ the raw voliuiteers 
into soldiers. A militia-officer, he was an admirable disci- 
plinarian, — one of the very best drill-officers in the whole 
United-States service. A distinguished graduate of West 
Point said, " Worth, in his palmy days, could not handle a 
regiment better." 

The hearts of the people went to the field with their 
brave boys. The daily papers were in unprecedented de- 
mand. The telegrams and letters from the front were 
read and re-read with the greatest avidity. Scenes and 
events in camp were the absorbing topic of conversation 
in the streets and at many firesides. The mails were 
loaded with newspapers, packages, and plethoric letters. 
Men were dispatched from all parts of the State to see " the 
boys," and carry them provisions and money ; and were in- 
structed to provide, at any cost, whatever they might need. 
Craw and Martin, two young men of New Haven, started a 
" Connecticut Troops' Express," leaving for Washington 
every Monday night, and taking parcels of every sort ; guar- 
anteeing their safe delivery to the individuals for whom 
they were intended. They did a thriving business.^ 

^ The Connecticut Troops' Express was continued by J. M. Crofut as long as any of 
the Connecticut regiments were encamped near Washington. When the troops moved 
farther into the field, it was necessarily discontinued. It was for seven or eight months 
both convenient and profitable. 



86 CONXECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

On Sunday, June 16, an accident occurred in camp, which 
cast a gloom over all. A member of the Third, Richard 
Howard of Madison, sat in his tent reading his Bible, when 
a companion, playing with a pistol which he supposed not to 
be loaded, snapped the cap at a fly on Howard's breast, and 
shot him through the heart. The body was sent home, and 
buried with a public demonstration of respect and sorrow. 

On the afternoon of May 24 came the news of the death of 
Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth at Alexandria. Brave, enthusiastic, 
and rash, he had ascended to the roof of the Marshall House 
to tear down a rebel flag, and had been -shot dead by the pro- 
prietor Jackson while descending the stairs with the trophy. 
The patriotic act and its result roused and enraged the North ; 
and thousands of young men sprang forward to avenge the 
murder, while the name of the dead hero became the inspi- 
ration of battle and the assurance of victory. 

YouuiT Ellsworth was of Connecticut stock. His g-rand- 
father, John Ellsworth, was sexton of Center Church in 
Hartford for a quarter of a century ; and had two sons, 
John and William. The former, developing considerable 
genius as an artist, became the protege of Daniel Wadsworth, 
and painted for him the copy of Stuart's Washington which 
now hangs in the gallery at the Athenaeum. William mar- 
ried, and emigrated at an early day -to Michigan ; and there 
Elmer was born. In the winter of 1860-61, he showed great 
skill in drilling Zouaves, and, at Mr. Lincoln's request, accom- 
panied him to Washington. 

Col. Ellsworth was succeeded, as commander of the Zouaves, 
by Col. Noah L. Farnham, a native of Connecticut, born at 
Haddam, June 6, 1829. In 1861, he went to Washington 
as a lieutenant in the New- York 7th. He soon became 
lieutenant-colonel of Ellsworth's Zouaves ; and, at the fall of 
Ellsworth, he was made colonel. He rose from a sick-bed to 
command his regiment at Bull Run, where, after gallant con- 
duct, he received a severe wound in the head, which shortly 
proved fotal. He was buried at New Haven with military 
and civic honors. 

There were various alarms of the comfortable camp at 
Glenwood. On the day of Ellsworth's sacrifice, the First was 



PRIVATE BUGBEE WOUNDED. g^ 

summoned by an excited orderly, and aroused by the lono-'roll 
to the defense of the threatened city. The men seized their 
arms, and rushed down to Long Bridge ; but it was a false 
alarm, and they turned back disappointed. Another week 
passed ; and at twelve o'clock, midnight, of June 1, they broke 
camp in earnest, and marched to re-inforce the half-dozen 
regiments maintaining a precarious hold on the " sacred soil," 

— as Virginia was now derisively termed. Followed b}^ a 
long train of baggage and commissary wagons, through the 
deep woods the regiment wound its way into the broad 
streets of the capital, and silently and stealthily across Long 
Bridge, and over the crooked roads of Virginia clay, to 
Roach's Mills, on the Alexandria and Leesburg Railroad, 
where, at dawn, it relieved the 12th New-York, Col. Butter- 
field. Here a camp was established, and the routine of 
drill resumed. 

Gen. McDowell, visiting the camp, inquired how many 
times the pickets had needlessly alarmed the regiment. 
" Never," was the reply, " except when there was a legitimate 
occasion." " I am glad," he rejoined, " that there is one regi- 
ment this side the Potomac that does not unnecesarily alarm 
itself" A prisoner was brought in within a few minutes. 
He was found to be a brother of the rebel general at Fair- 
fax Court House ; but, as was the rule in those easy-going 
days in the Union army, he was sworn, and set at liberty. 
On June 16, a detail of four hundred men, under Gen. Tyler 
and Col. Burnham, started to explore the country by railroad. 
They went three or four miles be3'ond Vienna ; and, while 
returning, the crack of a rifle was heard, and George H. Bug- 
bee of Hartford, a private in Company A, fell, shot through 
the shoulder from an ambush. The shot was probably in- 
tended for Gen. Tyler, near whom Bugbee was standing.- 
The men jumped from the cars, scoured the woods madly in 
all directions, and returned with a number of prisoners ; but 
the assassin remained undiscovered ; and the prisoners, after 
the administration of the government's favorite panacea, 

— the oath of allegiance, — were discharged. 

During the succeeding night, the Second had orders to 

^ Young Bugbee suffered severely ; and his wound was the first one received by a son 
of Connecticut during the war. Since the war, a man named Frank Williams has 
acknowledged the shooting of Bugbee : he served afterward^ in Mosby's bold riders. 



88 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

join the First; and they broke camp in great glee, for they 
had heard exaggerated rumors about battles already fought, 
and believed that their " invasion " of Virginia would be 
stoutly contested. 

A description ^ of this weird midnight scene says, " About 
thirty wagons, drawn by four mules each, were provided for 
the transportation of tents and camp material. A Washington 
guide was to lead the column. The night was cloudj^, with 
occasional showers. To give light for the necessary work 
of moving, the men set fire to the dried cedars, which had 
served as shades and ornaments. The effect was splendid. 
There was little noise, for silence had been enjoined ; and the 
figures of the men tagging away at bundles, packing and 
repacking, hurrying hither and thither, and leaping over ob- 
structions, with the images of the long-eared mules reflected 
on the white-covered wagons, which were alternately brilliant 
in the glare, or darkened in the shadow, as the flames flashed 
up in wreathing spires, or the smoke rolled in clouds of 
pitch}' blackness, made altogether a scene of wildness fit for 
the pencil of Salvator Rosa." How many times was this 
goblin picture, with every conceivable variation, repeated 
durino; the war ! 

After a weary night-march, they arrived at Roach's Mills 
at sunrise, and camped again at the side of the First. Next 
day, both regiments marched to the relief of the Ohio volun- 
teers surprised at Vienna ; after which they occupied Falls 
Church, the advance post in the loyal line. That very even- 
ing,* two men^ were captured while incautiously supping 
beyond our lines. Two days afterwards, Capt. A. G. Kellogg 
of the Second, while out in command of the picket-guard, was 
taken prisoner. He left his command to escort two ladies, 
the Misses Scott, to their homes near by, and was seized by 
the enemy lurking near the road. The captors were pursued, 
but not overtaken. A few days afterwards, the young 
women, who were believed to have betrayed him, were 
brought into camp ; but, after a short detention, they were 
sent home again, after the fashion of that day.^ 

^ By Jesse H. Lord, in Connecticut War Record. * Wednesday, June 17. 

^ Sergeant Austin G. Monroe and Corporal C. E. Hawkes. 

^ It was the aim of the Federal authorities to do nothing to " exasperate " the enemy ; 
and it was some weeks before any captives were retained as prisoners of war. The oath 



DEATH OF THEODORE WINTHROP. gQ 

The location of the regiments at this time was a perilous 
one, — in the extreme front of the Union centre ; and, nio-ht 
after night, the men expected to be awakened by the lon<j-- 
roll and the enemy's advance. They were menaced, but not 
attacked ; and the Third Regiment immediately joined them.' 
Col. Terry, who had been left in Washington ill, rejoined his 
command at this time, and was received " by the cheers of the 
entire regiment." Private property was sacredly respected, 
and the men lived in the midst of luxuries they were forbid- 
den to share. The keeper of the Oak-hill Tavern was a 
rebel, and refused to sell a single pig, fowl, or vegetable to 
" the Yanks ; " yet he never complained of the loss of a 
cent's worth of property.^ On April 27, Brig.-Gen. J. K. F. 
Mansfield, a Connecticut soldier, was placed in command 
of the troops in Washington.* 

While our three regiments were holding the picket-line 
in Longstreet's front, one of the most brilliant sons of Con- 
necticut, Major Theodore Winthrop, fell in the skirmish at 
Big Bethel, in Lower Virginia.'*' This fiasco was called a 
battle in those early days, and it excited a degree of inter- 
est far beyond its actual importance ; and Winthrop's name 
became a watchword as Ellsworth's had been, and his hero- 
ism an example. 

Theodore Winthrop, son of Francis R. Winthrop, was born 
in New Haven in 1828; and was a thoughtful, delicate, se- 
rious child. He entered Yale at sixteen, and was graduated 
at twenty, taking the Clark scholarship, and dividing with 
another the honor of the Berkeleian. He traveled much, 
making a tour of Europe, which was not the conventional 
one, going much of the way on foot ; also to South America, 
California, and Oregon, Puget's Sound, and the Saskatchawan 
districts of British America. In 1855, he was admitted to 
the bar; but his roving habits, and an experience full of 
picturesque episodes, unfitted him for a sedentary life, and 
he was restive in the profession he had chosen, 

of allegiance was administered even to rebels taken with arms in their hands. The first 
prisoners retained were committed for contumacy, they refusing to take the oath. 

7 On June 24. 

^ This circumspection and rigid regard for meum and tuum was considerably relaxed 
before the war was over, even among Connecticut troops. 

^ On June 26, he reported 27,846 men present for duty. i" June 9. 

12 



90 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

He had strong administrative talent ; for he sprang straight 
from John Winthrop, who was the first governor of Con- 
necticut. He would have made an enterprising and daunt- 
less explorer. He wrote short tales and magazine articles 
with great success ; and the sketches which he contributed 
to the Atlantic Monthly had a certain dash and briskness 
of style that won instant favor. He wrote several books, 
but never published them, being deterred by a morbid sensi- 
tiveness, which shrank from the criticism of his own maturer 
self Most of these have been published posthumously. 

Winthrop was buried at New Haven, to which place large 
numbers of his old comrades followed his remains. In the 
funeral-procession were more than a thousand persons, in- 
cluding the veteran Grays, Governor's Foot-Guards, Emmet 
Guards, Russell's School Battalion, National Blues, officers 
of the Horse Guard, City Government, and the faculty and 
students of Yale. 

George William Curtis, under whose auspices his books 
have been brought out, says of his friend, — 

" A wide readei", he i-etaiued knowledge with little effort, and often sur- 
prised his friends by the variety of his information. Yet it was not strange ; 
for he was born a scholar. His mother was the great-grand-daughter 
of old President Edwards ; and, among his relations on the maternal side, 
"Winthrop counted six presidents of colleges. . . . The womanly grace of 
his temperament merely enhanced the unusual manliness of his character. 
In walking and riding, in skating and running, in games out of doors and 
in, no one of us all in the neighborhood was so expert, so agile, as he. 
Often, after writing a few hours in the morning, he stepped out of doors, 
and, from pure love of the fun, leaped and turned summersault's on the 
grass before going up to town. . . . 

" There is an impression somewhat prevalent that Winthrop planned 
the expedition to Great Bethel. It is incorrect. As military secretary of 
the commanding general, he probably made suggestions, some of which 
were adopted. The expedition was the first move fi-om Fort Monroe, to 
which the country had been long looking in expectation. These were the 
reasons why he felt so peculiar a responsibility for its success ; and, after 
the melancholy events of the earlier part of the day, he saw that its for- 
tunes could be retrieved only by a dash of heroic enthusiasm. Fired him- 
self, he sought to kindle others. For one' moment, that brave, inspiring 
form is plainly visible to his whole country, rapt and calm, standing upon 
the log nearest^ the enemy's battery, the mark of their sharpshooters, 
the admiration of their leaders ; waving his sword, cheering his fellow- 
soldiers with his bugle voice of victory, — young, brave, beautiful : for one 



DEATH OF CAPT. WAED. 91 

moment erect and glowing in the wild whirl of battle ; the next, falling for- 
ward toward the foe, dead, but triumphant. 

V On the 19th of April, 1861, he left the armory-door of the Seventh 
with his hand upon a howitzer; on the 21st of June, his body lay upon 
the same howitzer, at the same door, wrapped in the flag for which he 
gladly died as the symbol of human freedom. And so, drawn by the hands 
of young men lately strangers to him. but of whose bravery and loyalty 
he had been the laureate, and who fitly mourned him who had honored 
them, with long, pealing dirges and muffled drums, he moved forward. 

" Yet such was the electric vitality of this friend of ours, that those 
of us who followed him could only think of him as approving the funeral 
pageant, not the object of it, but still the spectator and critic of every 
scene in which he was a part. We did not think of him as dead. "We 
never shall. In the moist, warm, midsummer morning, he was alert, alive, 
immortal." 

Two weeks later, a spirited engagement took place between 
the defiant rebels on the right bank of the Potomac and 
the United-States gunboats Pawnee and Freeborn, stationed 
in the river. Among the losses, the Union forces had to 
deplore the death of Capt. Ward, the gallant commander of 
the Freeborn. 

James Harmon Ward was the eldest son of Col. James 
Ward, commissarj'-general of our army in the war of 1812 ; 
and was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1806. He studied for 
two years at a military academy in Vermont, and entered 
the navy as a midshipman on the old frigate Constitution 
in 1823. He was promoted to be lieutenant in 1831, and 
sent to the Mediterranean, where he compiled his Manual 
of Nayal Tactics. In 1842, he delivered a course of popular 
lectures in Philadelphia on Gminery, in which he urged the 
establishment of an American naval school. When the 
school was founded at Annapolis, he became one of its pro- 
fessors, and shortly after published a book on Naval Ordnance 
and Gunnery, — a work highly esteemed. At the commence- 
ment of the Rebellion, he was summoned to Washington to 
aid the government by his counsel ; and he soon showed his 
efficiency by organizing the Potomac flotilla, of which he 
was placed in command May 16, 1861. This was our first 
war-fleet, and was a terror to rebels while he directed it. 
On the 31st, he attacked the rebel batteries at Acquia Creek, 
silencing three of them ; and, on June 1, resumed the cannon- 



92 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ading, burning the depot and all the stores. On June 27, 
with the Freeborn and Pawnee, he attacked the batte- 
ries at Mathias Point, and landed a party of men to burn 
the rebel ambush. The Freeborn kept up a constant fire 
to cover the landing, hotly replied to by musketry from the 
woods. One of the gunners was wounded ; and Capt. Ward, 
faking his place, was shot in the breast by a musket-ball, 
and killed, while in the act of sighting the gun. One of his 
acquaintances wrote, " His death is a shock ; but we have 
expected it. He was always at the post of danger." He 
was a gentleman of thorough education, and in religion a 
devout Catholic. He was buried from St. Patrick's in Hart- 
ford with all the honors of the Church, the State, and the 
Army. A eulogy was delivered by his personal friend Father 
O'Reilly, and the burial-service was read by Bishop McFar- 
land. The governor. State officers, and legislature, the Fifth 
Regiment, and the Hartford military companies, joined in 
the last tribute of respect for the brave and patriotic man. 

In the mean time, the three Connecticut regiments held 
the aggressive point, eight miles farther into Rebeldom than 
any Union troops had before been stationed. By either 
Ball's or Bailey's cross-roads, the rebels could throw a force 
in their rear, so that officers and men lay down in the nightly 
expectation of being aroused by an attempt to cut them off'. 
Their situation was too critical to be entirely pleasant ; and 
the question of withdrawing them was discussed earnestly 
in the War Department. Gen. Scott telegraphed to Tyler, 
" You are too fiir in advance. Better draw back. You will 
be gobbled up." Gen. Tyler replied, that Falls Church was 
the place that ought to be held ; that there was no other 
point so naturally defensible ; that the rebels would seize it 
if he should abandon it ; and that he would take the respon- 
sibility of holding it. Every evening, he consulted with his 
officers as to the preparations for a night-attack. 

During all this time, the loyal States were impatiently de- 
manding a forward movement against the enemy. About the 
4th of July, an advance on Richmond via Manassas Junction 
was anticipated ; and from day to day thereafter the rumor 
assumed more defined and exact proportions, until, at dress- 



BATTLE OF BULL HUN. 93 

parade on the afternoon of the 15th, the fact was made cer- 
tain by an order for a movement the next day. The three 
Connecticut regiments were now brigaded with the 2d 
Maine, under command of Col. E. D. Keyes of the 11th 
regulars. The estimation in which Gen. Tyler and the Con- 
necticut troops were held is shown by the fact that to him 
was assigned the command of the first and largest division, 
consisting of twelve thousand men ; while they were made 
the first brigade of that division, and were thus, in regular 
formation, the advance of the entire force. On the after- 
noon of the 16th, the division left Falls Church, the Connecti- 
cut brigade ahead, and led the way past Vienna towards Cen- 
treville. He halted his division on the heights, and with 
Richardson's brigade pushed forward, and encountered Long- 
street's division at Blackburn's Ford of Bull Run. He felt 
out with a battery to test the opposing strength ; and the 
rebels showed fight with a spirit that proved an intention to 
contest the run. In the slight conflict that resulted, the 
Union losses were nineteen (official), the rebel loss sixty- 
eight ; the former having largely the advantage of ground. 
The object of the reconnoissance was gained, and the ford 
was held during the two successive days of the tardy advance. 

If this success had been immediately followed up by the 
attack along the whole line, which did not come until three 
days afterwards, it seems almost certain that the result would 
have been a victory ; for Johnston's army of eighteen 
thousand had not yet stolen away from Patterson's front, 
and the systematic treachery at Washington, which so soon 
betrayed us, had not yet done its work. 

Gen. Tyler advised the continuation of the battle next 
day. During the afternoon of the 18th, and the 19th and 
20th, McDowell's whole army was grouped in the rear 
of Centreville, and might have been hurled on the enemy in 
two hours at any time ; and Bull Run was fordable at all 
points. Tyler insisted that he could whip the rebels with 
his own division : and such a result was more than possible ; 
for he had sixteen regiments and two batteries, while Beau- 
reo-ard had not more than ten, thousand effective men durinor 
Thursday and Friday. Col. Chrisholm, aide-de-camp to Gen. 



94 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Beauregard on that day, and afterwards his chief of staff, 
said in a recent conversation, " Beauregard's whole forces 
did not exceed twelve thousand men, stationed at Lewis's, 
Blackburn's, and Mitchell's Fords, and at the Stone Bridge, 
including Holmes's brigade at the Occoquan, out of reach." 
And he adds, "Had the affair of the 18th been vigorously 
pushed, Beauregard looked for certain defeat ; for not a man 
of Johnston's army had at that time come up." The first of 
them arrived on Saturday morning, and McDowell waited for 
his Grouchy in vain. This was the hour and this the place 
to strike ; but McDowell halted for " five days' rations," and 
the men threw away their rations as the general had already 
thrown away his opportunity. 

When, on the memorable Sunday, July 21,'^ the main 
column, instead of crossing at the Stone Bridge, as first threat- 
ened, made a wide detour to the northward, and crossed at 
Sudley's Church, expecting to tlank and surprise the enemy, 
its commander was astonished, instead, to find himself con- 
fronted there by an enormous force of the rebels, with 
preparations to receive him. When it is remembered 
that traitors walked the streets of Washington unmolested ; 
that spies, when captured within our army-lines, were dis- 
charged on taking the oath of allegiance ; that secessionists 
remained in office, even in the War Department,^^ appointees 
of Jefferson Davis and Floyd, — it is not strange that the ene- 
my had the fullest information of our position and strength, 
and that the plans of McDowell, a secret to the few who 
were to execute them, were perfectly familiar to Beauregard. 
The latter had even obtained possession of a copy of Mc- 
Dowell's map of the county, made on Friday. 

The possession of this complete and minute information 
enabled Beauregard himself to have a plan of the pending 
battle. A Confederate officer present at the council of war 
the previous day is authority for the statement, that it was 
the intention of Beauregard and Johnston to make a flank 

11 By this time, Beauregard had somethitiji' like thirty tliousaiid men (PoHard, in his 
Southern History, says " less than thiity thousand "), and McDowell had about thirty-five 
thousand; a slight dis])arity, considering the relative positions. 

1"-' " Gen. Beauregard received the very earljest inioriuation from a friend of lih in Wash- 
ington, and had plenty of time to make all his preparations." — Col. Estvan's War Pic- 
tures from the South. 



BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 95 

movement to the south on Centreville simultaneous with 
McDowell's flank movement to the north on Manassas. 
Agreeably to this plan, the Sudley-church Road was left 
unobstructed, and the main body of the enemy was massed, 
under Beauregard, near Stone Bridge. His original design 
was to make a show of fight here in the morning against 
our left, and when the columns of Hunter and Heintzelman 
should be met by Johnston's reserves, now mostly on the 
plains, to wheel the whole main army to the left, make 
Mitchell's Ford a pivot, and strike the Union army in the 
rear at Centreville.^^ The scheme miscarried, the rebels 
say, because the Mitchell's-ford Road was blocked up. 

On Sunday, Gen. Tyler began the battle. At six o'clock 
in the morning, he fired the first gun near the Stone Bridge, 
having been ordered to make a feint by threatening the 
passage of the run in force at this point. 

The Connecticut brigade, being detached to guard the 
Warrenton Turnpike, did not reach the stream until ten 
o'clock, A.M., just as Col. Tecumseh Sherman's brigade of 
Tyler's division had crossed to attack. Here the enemy 
opened on the Connecticut men with twenty or thirty 
rounds of shot and shell from a battery across the run, from 
which several were wounded. The brigade rapidly ap- 
proached at double-quick, dropping flat on the ground at 
each discharge to allow the missiles to pass over their heads. 
They crossed the stream on a run, and fell into line of battle 
beyond Young's Brook, farther west. Col. Keyes says, — 

" The order to advance was given at about ten o'clock, a.m. ; and 
from that hour to four, p.m., my brigade was in constant activity on the 
field of battle. The First Regiment Connecticut Volunteers was met by a 
body of cavahy and infantry, which it repelled ; and, at several other 
encounters at different parts of the line, the enemy constantly retired before 
us. At about two o'clock, p.m.. Gen. Tyler ordered me to take a battery 
on a height in front. The battery was strongly posted, and supported, by 
infantry and riflemen, sheltered by a building, a fence, and a hedge. My 
order to charge was obeyed with the utmost promptness. Col. Jameson 
of the 2d Maine, and Col. Chatfield of the Third Connecticut Volun- 
teers, pressed forward their regiments up the base slope about one hundred 
yards ; when I ordered them to lie down, at a point offering a small protec- 

13 The second battle of Bull Run was fought by tlie rebels on prociscly this plan. 



96 ■ CONNECTICTJT DTJEING THE BEBELLIOIS". 

tlon, and load. I then ordered them to advance again, which tliey did, in 
the face of a movable battery of eight pieces and a Lirge body of infantry, 
toward the top of the hill. As we moved forward, Ave came under the 
fire of other large bodies of the enemy, posted behind breastworks ; and, 
on reaching the summit of the hill, the firing became so hot, that an expo- 
sure to it of five minutes would have annihilated my whole line." 

The battery was nothing like so terrible as this ; and, if 
the order of Gen. Tyler had been given to Gen. Keyes 
during the last year of the war, it probably would have 
been executed. But, as the enemy had retired to a height 
beyond, a movement by the left flank was ordered ; and the 
brigade passed to a piece of woods, whence they were again 
put in motion. Our further advance caused the rebels to 
retire from abatis, enabling the engineers to clear it away, 
and bring up the guns. The brigade, attempting to turn the 
battery, had now reached a point below the Warrenton Road, 
having succeeded in pressing the enemy back, and behaving 
with perfect coolness and intrepidity. Nothing like defeat 
was dreamed of 

At this juncture, Gen. Tyler, perceiving a lull in the 
artillery-firing, sent Lieut. Upton to inquire the cause ;^* 
and was astounded to receive an order to retreat. Even 
then, there was no panic. Col. Keyes says, — 

" Before recrossing Bull Run, and until my brigade mingled with the 
retreating mass, it maintained perfect freedom from panic ; and at the 
moment I received the order to retreat, and for some time afterward, it 
was in as good order as in the morning on the road. Half an hour earlier, 
I supposed the victory to be ours." 

In his official report. Col. Burnham says, — 

" While halting for orders, a mounted aide rides up, and directs the two 
regiments to march by the right flank. The Second files by the First ; and 
the latter regiment falls in, supposing they are to be placed in a more 
effective position. But those infernal guns of the rebels approach nearer 
and nearer ; and, as the two regiments near the open plain, every thing 
is seen and understood. Our noble army is routed ; and the whole plain 
is covered with fugitives, nothing apparently left in an organized state but 
the Connecticut regiments. Marching acTOSS the level, they reach the 
woods, when the enemy's cavalry come down. Facing by the rear-rank, 

" " The tide of battle was turned in our favor by the arrival of Gen. Kirby Smith from 
Winchester with four thousand men of Gen. Johnston's division." — Richmond Despatch 
of Aug. 1, 1861. 

Gen. E. Kirby Smith was a Connecticut man, turned traitor. 



THE FIRST AND LAST SHOT. 97 

the regiments repulse them by well-directed volleys. Resuming the march, 
the Connecticut troops approach Cub Run, the bridge across which is 
crowded with the hurrying masses of disorganized troops. Without 
mingling with them, they ford the stream, and, forming in line, protect the 
rear from the rebel cavalry, which here prudently withdraw." 

As Col. Keyes was a native of Vermont, he will be 
accepted as an impartial w^itness to the efficiency of Con- 
necticut troops. We quote further from his report : — 

" The gallantry with which the 2d Regiment of Maine, and the 
Third Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, charged up the hill upon the 
enemy's artillery and infantry, was never, in my opinion, surpassed. I 
was with the advancing line, and closely observed the conduct of Cols. 
Jameson and Chatfield, which merits in this instance, and throughout the 
day, the highest commendation. 

" I also observed throughout the day the gallantry and excellent con- 
duct of Col. Terry's Second Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, from whom 
I received most zealous assistance. At one time, a portion of his regi- 
ment did great execution with their rifles from a point of our line which 
was thin, and where a few of our men were a little tardy in moving 
forward. 

" Col. Terry, in his report, calls attention to the coolness, activity, and 
discretion of Lieut. -Col. D. Yoimg and Major L. Colburn. The latter, with 
the adjutant of the regiment, Lieut. Charles L. Russell, showed conspicuous 
gallantry in defending their regimental colors, during the retreatthis side 
of Bull Run, against a charge of cavalry. Col. Terry also commends the 
devotion of Drs. Douglas and Bacon to the wounded while under the 
hottest fire pi' artillery. Private Arnold Leach is also highly praised for 
having spiked three abandoned guns with a ramrod, and then bringing 
away two abandoned muskets." 

Col. Keyes also mentioned for gallant conduct Lieut.-Col. 
John Speidal, Capts. J. R. Hawley and J. H. Chapman, Adju- 
tant Theodore C. Bacon, and Lieuts. Albert W. Drake, 
Charles Walter, and Alexander Ely. Gen. Tyler specially 
commended Col. Chatfield and Col. Terry; and Col. Chatfield 
gave especial credit to Major Warner and Adjutant Redfield 
Duryee. 

As the Connecticut troops fired the first shot in the morn- 
ing of that memorable day, so they fired the last shot in the 
evening ; and as they had been first in the advance, so they 
were last in the retreat, covering the stampede with solid 
columns. The rebel cavalry, after having broken through 
our retreating lines, and killed and captured many towards 
Centreville, turned back upon the Connecticut troops. Col. 

18 



98 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Radford, in a report giving a bombastic account of his achieve- 
ments, says of this, — 

" Having dispersed the enemy in our front in the direction of Cub-run 
Bridge, I charged upon them between Cub Run and Bull Run, and soon 
came upon a column of infantry, about five thousand, strongly posted, and 
supported by a battery of three pieces. They immediately opened upon 
ray command, throwing them into some confusion." 

He then proceeds to report his killed and wounded. A 
less interested rebel officer says, " The fact is, no three of the 
cavalry could be found together after that." 

We do not claim for Connecticut troops in the battle of 
Bull Run a degree of courage and manly bearing superior to 
their loyal brothers from other States ; but it is known, that, 
in retiring from the field, they maintained a degree of per- 
sistent good order and soldierly discipline not generally ex- 
hibited by the men of any other regiments. This was due, 
perhaps, partly to the fact that they were near the flank, and 
so were not enveloped in the first bewilderment of defeat. 
To whatever it may be attributed, it is a fact, that they left 
the field without confusion, facing about, and firing a well- 
directed volley, whenever the foe pressed too eagerly ; and, 
during that unparalleled stampede, they covered the rear of 
the army, a service which was recognized by the regiments 
and the press of other States.^^ They occupied their old 
camping-grounds the day after the battle, and, being ordered 
to Fort Corcoran, made their appearance there with six pris- 
oners (many more had escaped), two pieces of abandoned 
artillery, one caisson, the implements of the sappers and 
miners, twenty horses, all their own baggage and camp 
equipage, and the tents and equipage of two Ohio regiments, 
the 2d New- York, and a company of cavalry, with their 
baggage-wagons and property, which had been deserted. 
"And," says Gen. Tyler with some pride, in concluding his 
report, " at seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, I saw the 
three Connecticut regiments, with two thousand bayonets, 
march under the guns of Fort Corcoran in good order, after 

^^ " The Connecticut brigade was the last to leave the field of Bull Run, and, by hard 
fighting, had to defend itself and to protect oar scattered thousands for several miles of 
the retreat." — Stedman in New -York World, July 23, 186L 



THREE REGIMENTS MUSTERED OUT. 99 



having saved us not only a large amount of public property/*^ 
but the mortification of having our standing camps fall into 
the hands of the enemy." ^^ 

The casualties at the battle were as follows : — 





Killed. 


Wounded. 


Prisoners. 


Total. 


First Regiment Connecticut Vols., 




8 


9 


17 


Second " " " 


2 


5 


9 


16 


Third " " " 


4 


13 


18 


35 



68 

Those known to have been killed are Joseph Stokes of 
Norwich, James Fritz of New Haven, Sergeant John R. Marsh 
of Danbury, David C. Case of Norwich, and Jeremiah 0. 
Leroy of Hartford. Rev. Hiram Eddy, the devoted chaplain 
of the Second, remained with the wounded on the field, a 
prisoner. 

The missing were mostly prisoners, and were retained for 
four to twelve months in the rebel prisons at Richmond, 
Salisbury, N. C, Tuscaloosa, Ala., and other places. Two 
members of the New-Haven Grays, captured while aiding a 
wounded rebel, were released on arriving at Richmond by 
order of Jeff Davis, and supported at a hotel until there was 
an opportunity for their return. 

Col. Chatfield was presented with a new dress-uniform by 
Hon. James E. English, then representative in Congress, 
afterwards governor of the State. 

After the return from Bull Run, the regiments remained 
at Washington a short time, and soon returned home. The 
First and Second were mustered out at New Haven, and the 
Third at Hartford. As the people had gathered to bid them 
good-by, they now re-assembled to welcome them. The 
enthusiastic regimental receptions were followed by eager 
and hearty local receptions in all communities to which 
companies returned. They were praised, petted, and feasted ; 
and grateful citizens and proud relatives listened to the 
story of their exposures and services. These gatherings 
greatly augmented the martial spirit througliout the State. 

When the Second Regiment was mustered out. Col. Terry 

1" In value, upwards of two hundred tliousand dollars. 

I'' " This service was performed in thirty-six hours ; during which time they were 
entirely without food, and drenched in the tremendous rain that raged without inter- 
mission." — N. Y. Times. 



100 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

presented gold medals, for bravery on the field, to Color- 
Sergeant Austin P. Kirkham of Derby, and Sergeant Robert 
Leggett of New London. 

The men of these regiments re-enlisted almost without an 
exception, and jive hundred of them afterwards held com- 
missions in the array. Of these, about one hundred and 
eighty were from the First Regiment, two hundred from the 
Second, and one hundred and forty from the Third. Three 
became major-generals, four brigadier-generals, and more 
than eighty field and staff officers. 




CHAPTER VII. 

The Effect of the Defeat at Bull Run. — Second Uprising. — The Fifth Regiment goes to 
Harper's Fen-y. — Six Regiments begun. — A Squadron of Cavalry. — Peace-Flags 
and Peace-Meetings. — Seymour's Resolutions. — Concurrent Action. — Goshen, 
Bloomfield, Darien, Easton, Cornwall, Sharon, Prospect, North Guilford, Stoning- 
ton. — A New Sayhrook Platform. — New Fairfield. — The Bridgeport Farmer. — 
How Stepney stopped the War. — The Farmer Office sacked. — Gov. Bucking- 
ham's Proclamation. — Life and Character of Gen. Lyon. — His Bravery and De- 
cision. — His Heroic Death. 

UR defeat at the battle of Bull Rim corrected, as 
nothing else could have done, an extravagant 
estimate of our own strem»;th. It taug;ht us 
that the rebels had no respect for the national 
authority, except just so much as could be en- 
forced at the point of the bayonet: it swept awa}^ our "ninety- 
days' " optimism, and showed us that what we had mistaken 
for an April shower was to be a long storm, and a hard one.^ 

The wonderful uprising which followed the fall of Sumter 
was repeated after our bewildered volunteers surged back 
upon Washington. If the second rally was less ardent than 
the first, it was more deliberate and determined. Instead 
of a brief military recreation, men felt it to be a struggle for 
life ; and every town in the State renewed its patriotic reso- 
lution, and every neighborhood responded to the recruiting 
drum.^ The Fifth Regiment, now a splendid body of men, 
and ably officered, left for the seat of war a week after the 
repulse ; and, within two weeks thereafter, companies were 
started in more than half the towns in the State. War- 
meetings were held, and the enthusiasm rose to the level of 

1 The Lost Cause says, " The victory of Manassas was the greatest misfortune that 
could have befallen the Confedei-acy." 

- Congress, the day after the battle of Bull Run, authorized the president to call out 
five hundred thousand men for three years. 

101 



102 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the emergency. Within a month, volunteers had poured 
into the recruiting centres so rapidly, that six additional regi- 
ments were begun, from the Sixth to the Eleventh inclusive. 

About this time it was proposed to organize a regiment of 
cavalry for the regular service, to be formed of six squadrons 
from as many States. William H. Mallory of Bridgeport, who 
had served during the three-months' service in Duryea's Zou- 
aves, received authority to recruit a squadron in Connecticut. 
He was aided by Thomas B. Thornett and L. H. Southard of 
Hartford, and Marcus Coon of Waterbury, the latter a captain 
in the First Regiment; and the squadron was recruited in thir- 
teen days. Edward W. Whittaker of Ashford went out in this 
squadron as sergeant, and was soon lieutenant. Hartford fur- 
nished thirty men ; Canton, New Britain, and Berlin had ten 
men each ; and half the towns in the State had one or two. 
The squadrons rendezvoused in New York ; and, that State 
furnishing six companies, the regiment was assigned to New 
York as a State regiment, and became the 2d New-York or 
" Harris Light Cavalry." 

During the passage to Washington, Sept. 8, the rebel engi- 
neer tried to throw the rear cars from the track by a high 
rate of speed. Sergeant E. L. Lyon, a nephew of Gen. Lyon, 
assisted by others, manned the brake, and, in attempting to 
stop the train, was thrown off and killed. William A. Ger- 
man of Collins ville met the same fate. Lyon was buried 
with all honors by the side of Gen. Lyon on Sept. 13. 
His brother-in-law, Harvey Copeland, took his place in the 
ranks immediately, though leaving a wife and five children. 

The regiment went into camp on Arlington Heights, re- 
maining for several months. Corporal Cornelius H. Bailey 
of Waterbury was killed by accident at Washington in 
October, and was buried at home with military honors. 
Capt. Thornett said of him, " I never saw a better soldier, or 
a more active and faithful man. The influence of his splen- 
did conduct on his comrades was most beneficial." 



The men who opposed resistance to the South when the 
war began had been awed into apparent acquiescence by 



THE CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE. 103 

the first .angry response; but as soon as the patriotic out- 
break had lost its novelty, and our soldiers had met with 
slight reverses, this faction gathered courage again, and 
came forth in a series of " peace " demonstrations, in which 
white flags were unfurled, and speeches made demand- 
ing a withdrawal of the loyal armies from the field. Some- 
times they went so far as to charge the absent soldiers with 
cowardice, and ridicule their officers for incapacit}^, while 
eulogizing rebel officers and exaggerating rebel success. 
Even the insignificant affair of Big Bethel was the occasion 
of exhibitions of this sort. 

As early as June 22, one Andrew Palmer had raised a 
peace-flag at his house in Goshen. A large crowd assembled ; 
and after considerable parleying and a slight contest, in 
which one peace-man was wounded, the obnoxious emblem 
was captured, and the star-spangled banner displayed upon 
the pole. Palmer swore allegiance to it, and some of his 
confederates were taken to jail. This was the first of a series 
of similar demonstrations. 

The "peace" movement in Connecticut seems to have 
originated in the May session of the legislature at Hartford. 
Ex-Gov. Thomas H. Seymour had there offered a resolution 
urging the Crittenden Compromise, the preamble of which 
assumed that disunion was a fixed fact. He prefaced this 
with a speech, of which the following extract indicates the 
tone: "There seems to be a radical mistake on the part of 
many people. They appear to think the South can be con- 
quered. Sir, this is impossible ! You may destroy their 
habitations, devastate their fields, and shed the blood of their 
people ; but you can not conquer them." The resolution re- 
ceived eighteen ayes, a hundred and seventy-three noes. 
This was the first platform of the " peace-party ; " and these 
eighteen represented its political strength. It soon became 
obvious that this was part of a concerted movement. It 
was expected that the " Breckinridge party " of the previous 
fall would form the nucleus of the forces. The utterances 
of Breckinridge and Vallandigham in Congress supplied am- 
munition. Mr. Breckinridge in person opened the campaign 
which was to "revolutionize the North" in a speech at Balti- 



104 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

more, Aug. 9. He was received by such a tumultuous out- 
break of indignant patriotism, that he was deterred from a 
further advance, and turned across the rebel lines ; but the 
movement had already acquired a momentum in Connecticut 
that carried it throuo;h the month. 

The name most prominently connected with the " peace- 
meetings " of this period is that of William W. Eaton, a suc- 
cessful lawyer, able debater, and prominent politician, of 
Hartford. A meeting was held at Bloorafield, whereat reso- 
lutions were passed " in favor of establishing a suspension of 
hostilities," after an argument by Mr. Eaton, and harangues 
by others, intended to show that the insurgents could never 
be conquered. 

The stampede at Bull Run made the peace-party bolder 
and more demonstrative ; but the Republicans and war 
Democrats were constantly alert, tearing down their flags, 
and gathering thousands of young men in war-meetings. 
One Stephen Raymond of Darien actually fired a cannon in 
rejoicing over the rebel victory at Bull Run ; but his cannon 
was promptly captured, and tumbled into the river. At Ridge- 
field, a man who expressed his joy at the defeat was drenched 
at the town-pump, and compelled to take the oath of allegi- 
ance under the stars and stripes. At Easton, Cornwall, 
Prospect, Podunk, New Britain, North Guilford, East New 
London, Madison, and some other places, peace or Confede- 
rate flags were raised, but were hauled down and destroyed 
almost as soon as discovered. The General Assemblj^, at its 
recent session, had forbidden the raising of the hostile flag, 
on penalty of imprisonment for thirty days and a fine of a 
hundred dollars ; but it does not appear that the law was 
ever enforced.^ Peace meetings and displays seemed to be 
preconcerted throughout the State. 

Aug. 8, there was a peace-meeting at Cornwall Bridge, at 
which resolutions were passed looking to " peaceful separa- 
tion," declaring that " the American Union is forever de- 

^ This law also provided, — Sect. 3. — Such Aug or device so exhibited, with the 
apparatus connected therewith, shall bo deemed a nuisance; and any constable, or justice 
of the peace, of the town in which the same shall be so exhibited, or the sheriff or a 
deputy-sheriff of the county in which the same shall be so exhibited, taking suflScient 
assistance therefor, may seize and destroy the same. 



THE STAES AJSTD STE^IPES. 1()5 

stroyecl," and calling on other towns to take ground " against 
a fiu-ther continuance of this bloody spectacle." 

At Sharon, a meeting (E. P. Whitney, secretaiy) Resolved, 
" That the cost of this unnatural war will entail upon the 
people a system of taxation too intolerable to be borne." 
Aug. 16, similar meetings were held at Canaan, William S. 
Marsh in the chair; and at Danbury, A. A. Heath presiding. 
On the same day, the Hartford Times said, " We are op- 
posed to this war. It has already driven the border States 
out of the Union : it can never bring them back. It is 
crushing out the Ufe-blood of New England." 

There was a peace-meeting at Stonington, Aug. 9, Luther 
Ripley in the chair. Resolutions against the war were of- 
fered, and, to the astonishment and dismay of the signers 
of the call, were voted down. Finding themselves in a minor- 
ity, they seized the lights, and retreated amid some confa- 
sion and violence. A Union meetmg was inunediately or- 
ganized, George E. Palmer in the chair; and war-resolutions 
offered by John F. Trumbull, jr., and supported by him in 
an eloquent speech, were adopted. 

On Aug. 16, several hundred peace-men assembled at Say- 
brook to hoist " a Federal flag, with nineteen stars on it," in- 
dicating that fourteen slave States were out of the Union. 
W. W. Eaton was announced as the orator of the day. A 
pole was raised in front of Gilbert Pratt's house, and on it 
was tacked a handbill, headed by the device, " War is dis- 
union." Hundreds of war-men gathered spontaneously from 
Saybrook and surrounding towns. They called for '•' the 
flag," and a speech from the orator of the day ; but, neither 
appearing, the familiar flag of stars and stripes was produced, 
and run up. Two or three peace-men were roughly handled 
while defending the pole. Capt. J. R. Hawley was called 
out. He deprecated violence at the meeting, but made a 
war-speech, contending, that, in the emergency, war was the 
most efiicient handmaid of peace ; and that the thousands in 
loyal blue, who loved quiet and order so well, that they 
would take the field for it, were the truest peacemakers. 
Capt. Morgan and John J. Doane also made stirring speech- 
es. So the Unionists had a jubilee, and dispersed with cheers 

14 



106 COKNTECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

for the flag ; while many young men quietly resolved to join 
the next regiment, and fight for it. 

A white flag had been put up in New Fairfield ; and thirty 
or forty war-men from Danbury, attempting to take it down 
were attacked by a much larger number of " peace " men 
with spades and axes, and Andrew Knox,^ John Allen, 
and Thomas Kinney, badly injured. Two of the peace-men 
were also dangerously wounded ; but they held their ground, 
and the flag remained. The Danbury men re-organized for 
another assault the next day ; but the flag was taken down 
and hidden by its friends. 

The Bridgeport Farmer was the most outspoken and 
ultra champion of the anti-war doctrines ; and most of the 
kindred demonstrations were within the range of its circula- 
tion. 

It fearlessly declared that the rebels were true patriots, and 
openly wished them success. A quotation or two will illus- 
trate its position. On the 5th of August, referring to Bull 
Run, the Farmer said, with a manifest feeling of exulta- 
tion, — 

"The 'grand army' marched on the 17th, as the Standard man has 
iuformed ns. It also ran back on the 21st, as the Standard man did not 
iaform us.: On the 17th, the heart of the Abolition party leaped for joy at 
the hope of a speedy crushiag-out of the life of the Southern whites and the 
early freedom of their negroes. On the 21st, the heart of the Abolitionists 
heaved with sorrow at the blasted prospects of their fanaticism, and the 
diminished hope of a speedy gratification of their bloody will." 

This was followed up by the definite declaration, — 

" The rebel soldiery, as you term them, are not fighting for money. 
Like our Revolutionary fathers, they are fighting for their just rights. In 
the Revolution of 1776, the forces of King George were the ones who 
fought for money : in the Revolution of 1861, the forces of the despot Lin- 
coln are the ones who are fighting for money. Men who fought for their 
constitutional rights in 1776 did not want to be hired to do it ; neither do 
the men who are fighting for their constitutional rights iu 1861." 

Emboldened by this disloyal attitude in a journal which 
they had long accepted as their political gospel, its readers 
of Fairfield and Litchfield Counties showed the white feather 
extensively, rallying in peace-meetings under their blanched 

* Knox afterward became a captain in the First Artillery. 



STAMPEDE OF "PEACE" MEN. 107 

banner. In Hattertown (Redding), a handsome and expen- 
sive white flag was suspended across the street ; but, being 
menaced, it was taken down, and buried by its proprietor to 
preserve it. 

In Monroe they were bolder in the display of their banner, 
even if the sequence shows they were not braver in its 
defense. A peace mass-meeting was called at Stepney, in 
that town, for Aug. 24, to declare against the war. The three- 
months' soldiers, just mustered out of service, were in no 
mood to tolerate what they regarded as incipient treason, and 
resolved to disperse this assemblage. On the morning of the 
appointed day, two or three omnibus-loads of Capt. Frye's 
company. Third Regiment, armed with revolvers, made their 
way out of Bridgeport, accompanied by a long procession of 
citizens. There was an immense gathering of peace-men at 
Stepney. Families had come from all the towns around to 
"stop the unrighteous war." A very tall hickory pole was 
raised at the head of the green ; and to its top were run up 
two flags, — one an ancient Jackson war-flag, with thirty 
stripes ; and the other the pale emblem of their patriotism, 
bearing the word " Peace " in large letters. The flags were 
vigorously cheered ; and a multitude of armed peace-men 
rallied around the strange bunting, and swore to defend it 
against all comers and to the last dire extremity. The plat- 
form under the flags was then occupied by Ellis B. Schnable, 
already notorious as an opponent of the war ; E. B. Good- • 
sell, late postmaster at Bridgeport ; Gen. Judson Curtis, 
a neighborhood celebrity; and D. H. Belden, a Newtown 
lawyer, who were to expound the doctrines ; and Mr. Charles 
Smith, an intermittent preacher of the vicinity, who proceeded 
to ask the blessing of the Lord on the movement. He had not, 
however, progressed so fjxr as this in his supplication, when he 
slightly opened his eyes, and beheld, to his horror, the Bridge- 
port omnibuses coming over the hill, garnished with Union 
banners, and vocal with loyal cheers. This was the signal for 
a panic : Bull Run, on a small scale, was re-enacted. The de- 
vout Smith, and the undelivered orators, it is alleged, took 
refuge in a field of corn. Thg^ procession drove straight to 
the pole, unresisted, the hostile crowd parting to let them 



108 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

pass ; and a tall man, John Piatt, amid some mutterings, 
climbed the pole, reached the halyards, and the mongrel 
banners were on the ground. Some of the peace-men, rally- 
ing, drew weapons on " the invaders ; " and a musket and a 
revolver were taken from them by soldiers at the very 
instant of firing. Another of the defenders fired a revolver, 
and was chased into the fields. Still others, waxing bellige- 
rent, were disarmed ; and a number of loaded muskets, found 
stored in an adjacent shed, were seized. The stars and stripes 
were hoisted upon the pole, and wildly cheered. . P. T. Bar- 
num was then taken on the shoulders of the boys in blue, 
and put on the platform, where he made a speech full of 
patriotism, spiced with the humor of the occasion. Capt. 
James E. Dunham also said a few words to the point. Schna- 
ble, emerging from the cornfield, gave the speaker the lie ; 
when he was set upon by the crowd, and, says a newspaper of 
the day, " he was somewhat severely kicked." The Star- 
spangled Banner was then sung in chorus, and a series of 
resolutions passed, declaring that " loyal men are the rightful 
custodians of the peace of Connecticut." Elias Howe, jr., 
chairman, made his speech when the crowd threatened to 
shoot the speakers : " If they fire a gun, boys, burn the 
whole town, and I'll pay for it ! " After giving the citizens 
wholesome advice concernino; the substituted flas;, and their 
duty to the government, the procession returned to Bridge- 
'port, with the white flag trailing in the mud behind an om- 
nibus. The soldiers threatened a descent on the Farmer 
office ; but, being appealed to by the leaders in the raid on 
Stepney, they promised to desist. They were received at 
Bridgeport by approving crowds, and were greeted with con- 
tinuous cheers as they passed along. 

As evening fell, the crowd increased, swarming through 
the streets ; so that the vicinity of Main and Wall was com- 
pletely blocked up. Five to eight thousand were out. A 
glee-club, on the balcony of the Sterling House, sang patriotic 
songs. The Stepney affair was eagerly commented on.^ 

5 At a meeting in the evening, a prudential committee was appointed, consisting of 
Hanford Lyon, Gideon Thompson, Frederick Wood, P. T. Barnum, S. B. Ferguson, 
Horace Nichols, A. P. Houston, B. K. Mills, Monson Hawley, Russell Tomlinson, George 
S. Sanford, E. P. Abernethy, William H. Noble, and Stephen Lounsbury. 



GOV. BUCKINGHAM'S PEOCLAMATION. 109 

The Union, the songs, and the soldiers were cheered ; and 
the contiguous Farmer newspaper received hearty de- 
nunciation. At length, the enthusiasm of the citizens and 
the rage of the soldiers culminated in a descent by the latter 
on the establishment. Down Wall Street they rushed with 
the cry, " To the Farmer office ! " A warm reception was 
anticipated ; for it was believed that Messrs. Pomeroy and 
Morse had a large number of friends on guard : but the 
" watchmen " were away, and the assailants, after forcing an 
entrance, met no opposition. They threw every thing portable 
— paper, types, and machinery — out of the window ; and the 
angry crowd below scattered them through the street. The 
newspaper and job presses were broken and destroyed. " A 
number of recently-occupied bunks, and two hundred turned 
clubs for defense, were found in an adjoining room." When 
the soldiers entered, Mr. Morse fled to the roof, whence, by 
neighboring buildings, he escaped. He was sheltered by 
political sympathizers ; but after remaining in the State a 
few days, hooted, groaned, and insulted wherever he ap- 
peared in public, he " fled from persecution," and, via Canada, 
joined his fortunes to those of his rebel friends and co- 
laborers in Augusta, Ga.*^ 

A peace-flag having been unfurled in Morris, Litchfield 
County, a meeting was called for Aug. 28, duly to dedicate 
the emblem with appropriate oratory. Mr. Eaton was ex- 
pected, also the redoubtable Schnable. The former failed to 
arrive. Schnable made an inflammatory speech to his friends, 
armed to defend him. After the meeting adjourned, the 
orator was arrested by Deputy-Sheriff* Edward 0. Peck of 
Litchfield, delivered to United-States Marshal Carr, and by 
him consigned to Fort LaDiyette. 

In order to put an end to these collisions. Gov. Buck- 
ingham, about the 1st of September, issued the following 
proclamation : — 

" Eleven States of the Union are now armed and in open rebellion 
against Federal authority. They have paralyzed the business of the nation, 
have involved us in civil war, and are exerting their combined energies 

^ There he edited a paper, until the insatiate Sherman thrnst his sword-blade through 
the vitals of the Confederacy, when he again became a mai-tyr for his principles. 



110 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

to rob us of the blessings of a free government. The greatness of their 
crime has no parallel in the histoi-y of free governments. 

" At this critical juncture, our liberties are still further imperiled by 
the utterance of seditious language ; by a traitorous press, which excuses 
or justifies the Rebellion ; by secret organisations, which propose to resist 
the execution of the laws by force ; by the public exhibition of peace-flags^ 
falsely so called ; and by an effort to redress grievances, regardless of the 
forms and officers of the land. 

" The very existence of our government, the future prosperity of this 
entire nation, and the hopes of universal freedom, demand that these out- 
rages be suppressed. 

" The Constitution guarantees liberty of speech and of the press, but 
holds the person and the press responsible for the evils which result from 
this liberty ; it guarantees the protection of property, but regards no prop- 
erty as sacred which is used to subvert governmental authority ; it guaran- 
tees the person from unreasonable seizure, but it protects no individual from 
arrest and punishment who gives aid and comfort to the enemies of our 
country ; it provides by law for the punishment of offenders, but allows 
no grievance to be redressed by violence. 

" I therefore call upon the citizens of this State to support and uphold 
the government, and to abstain from every act that can tend to encourage 
and strengthen this conspiracy ; and I call upon the officers of the law to 
be active, diligent, and fearless in arresting, and instituting legal pro- 
ceedings for the punishment of, those who disturb the public peace, of 
those who arc guilty of sedition and treason, and of those who are em- 
braced in combinations to obstruct the execution of the laws ; so that peace 
may again be restored to our distracted country, and the liberties of the 
people be preserved." 

This prompt manifesto, and the overwhelming popular 
sentiment, immediately put an end to public demonstrations 
against the war. A few in^epressible " peace " men for a 
while expended their surplus energy in visiting camps, 
and advising; volunteers to desert : but even this was made 
perilous by a pablic notice from United-States Marshal Carr, 
that all persons detected in such attempts would " be sum- 
marily dealt with ; " and the " peace " agitation entirely 
subsided. 

These eruptions were thought, at the time, to discour- 
age enlistments : but it now seems rather, that, acting as 
a counter-irritant, the movement stimulated volunteering; 
patriotic ardor being increased by the very means used to 
allay it. Certain it is, that at no other period of the war 
was recruiting so rapid as while Messrs. Schnable, Eaton, and 
Morse were appealing to the young men not to participate 
in " the wicked war of subjugation." 



DEATH OF GEN. LYON. HI 

Connecticut had now two regiments in the field, both for 
three years. On Aug. 15, the governor called for four 
more regiments ; and with such alacrity did volunteering go 
forward, that, within two weeks, the Sixth and Seventh 
Regiments were full ; and, before another call was out, twenty- 
four companies offered themselves for tlie Eighth Regiment, 
and eleven for the Ninth (Irish). 

On Aug. 14, the natiou was thrilled and saddened to 
hear of the death of the heroic Brig.-Gen. Lyon, slain four 
days before in the battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri, He 
was the first Union general killed in the war;^ and the loyal 
people already looked upon him with hope and enthusiasm, 
as one of the stanchest of their defenders. Had he lived, 
he would have attained a high command ; for he had the 
modesty and the obstinate persistence of Grant, and the dash 
and boldness of Sheridan. 

Nathaniel Lyon was born in that part of Ashford which 
is now Eastford, Conn., July 14, 1818. It is not surpris- 
ing that he early showed a bent for military life ; for he 
was a grandson of Lieut. Daniel Knowlton of the Revolution, 
of whom Putnam said, " Such is his courage, that I could 
order him into the mouth of a loaded cannon." He pre- 
pared himself in the district schools for West Point, where 
he graduated in 1841. As lieutenant, he fought through 
the Seminole War; and subsequently through the Mexican 
War, where he was brevetted captain for gallant conduct. 
For four years he was stationed on the Californian frontier, 
an experience full of hardship and perilous adventure. 

The year 1861 found Capt. Lyon in command of the 
arsenal in St. Louis. When it seemed possible that Fort 
Sumter was to be surrendered without a struggle, he 
wrote, — 

" I would rather see the country lighted up with the flames of war, from 
the center to its remotest border, than that the great rights and hopes of 
the human race expire before the arrogance of secessionists. Of this, how- 
ever, there is no danger. They are at war with nature and the human 
heart, and cannot succeed." 

■^ It is a noticeable fact, that Connecticut furnished the first four martyrs of the war 
of the rank of general, colonel, major, and captain, — Lyon, Ellsworth, Winthrop, and 
Ward ; the 'first four men, also, whose heroic deaths gave a marked impulse and momen- 
tum to the war-s])irit of the North. 



112 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION^. 

Though assigned by order to the arsenal, Capt. Lyon's 
vigilance included the whole State of Missouri ; and outwit- 
ting the traitorous Gov. Jackson in council, and outgeneral- 
ing him in the field, the Union cause grew strong through the 
overmastering strength of its champion. A secession mob 
gathered around the arsenal to appropriate the large amount 
of arms and ammunition there stored : Lyon decoyed the 
mob away, and, placing all that was valuable on board a 
steamer in the night, transported it to IlHnois. The rebel 
governor, Jackson, demanded a withdrawal of United-States 
troops from all territory outside of the arsenal : Lyon refused 
compliance. A rebel camp of instruction named after the 
governor, and its streets named in honor of Jefferson Davis 
and Beauregard, was established outside the city ; and there 
several thousand young traitors were assembled under 
command of Gen. Frost, and armed with muskets stolen from 
Baton Rouge. Instead of waiting to be attacked, Capt. 
Lyon, on May 10, surrounded the camp with several thou- 
sand raw^ volunteers, and compelled it to surrender in thirty 
minutes. St. Louis, thereupon, became a furnace of rage and 
riotous tumult. Lyon quelled it by promptness and sternness, 
under which a few of the traitors lost their lives. The timid 
Secretary of War, thinking him too precipitate, superseded 
him by Gen. Harney; but one week of the . one-sided 
'^ neutrality " of Harney was enougli even for Cameron, and 
Lj^on was reinstated as brigadier-general. 

On June 11, Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price sought an in- 
terview with Gen. Lyon ; but their attempt to inveigle him 
into the Harney neutrality trap was a total failure. They 
were crafty ; but he was wise : and he not only firmly re- 
jected their proposal that the home-guard should be dis- 
persed, but demanded the nullification of all the recent 
State law^s which impeded the free action of the United- 
States forces, or in any way qualified the loyalty of Missouri. 
Gov. Jackson, failing in his diplomatic treachery, now had 
resort to open war ; and next day he issued his proclamation 
from the capital, exhorting " the brave-hearted Missourians," 
to the number of fifty thousand, to " rally to the flag of 
their State," and " drive out the invaders who had dared to 



GEN. LYON IN MISSOURI. 213 

desecrate the soil." Lyon was the first man to respond ; for 
the very next day he started for Jefferson City with two 
steamers and fifteen hnndred men. The valiant governor 
fled at his approach, and retreated forty miles to Booneville. 
Lyon issued a proclamation to the people, fidl of kindness 
and dignity, but breathing his own resolute purpose. 
Ke-inforced by five hundred men, he followed next day to 
Booneville, and, with two thousand men, attacked the rebel 
camp of not less than thirty thousand ill-armed adherents 
of Jackson.^ The assault was so determined and rapid, 
that the rebels broke in twenty minutes, and threw away 
their muskets in a panic, which ended in a rout. The 
camp-equipage, provisions, ammunition, horses, and guns 
fell into Lyon's hands ; and the enemy was completely 
dispersed. 

The vigor of Lyon had restored the authority of the 
Union in Missouri ; the rebels only appearing in the south- 
western corner of the State, where Price and McCulloch 
industriously rallied the defeated armies. As soon as he 
could form his trains, he marched rapidly on Springfield. 
The whole distance of two hundred miles, includintr the 
crossing of two swollen rivers, was accomplished in eleven 
days; and the last fifty miles was made in twenty-four 
hours, — a celerity of movement almost without parallel. 
Here he was re-inforced by three thousand men ; but these 
were the last : and henceforth his little command grew 
weaker day by day. Meantime, the foe were gatherino-. 
Lyon resolved to defeat them in detail ; and, during the 
next week, fell upon and dispersed large bodies of rebel 
troops, under Gen. Rains, at Dug Springs and at McCulloch 
Springs, twenty miles from Springfield. He retired again to 
that city, and called earnestly for re-inforcements ; for the 
four rebel armies, under Price, McCulloch, Pierce, and 
McBride, were already united at Wilson's Creek, only ten 
miles distant, the combined forces numbering not less than 
twenty-three thousand men.^ His calls were unheeded. 
Promises came to Lyon, but no soldiers; and he felt that 

8 Vide Life of Gen. Lyon. 

^ Pollard, in the Lost Cause, acknowledges only thirteen thousand. 
15 



114 COIS^NECTICUT DIJEING THE EEBELLTO]!?". 

he was left to defeat.^" As a last desperate resort, he con- 
ceived the bold design of marching forth by night with his 
little army of five thousand, and surprising the rebel camp. 
" By striking a sudden blow, he hoped to inflict so deep a 
wound as to paralyze the enemy till he could be relieved by 
re-inforcements, or retreat in safety." ^^ He left Springfield 
Aug. 9 ; and at night came in sight of the hostile fires, 
and rushed upon the camp at dawn, leading one column 
against the north side, while Sigel led another against the 
south. Nothing prevented the surprise from being complete 
and overwhelming, except the singular circumstance that 
McCulloch had simultaneously planned a night-attack on 
Springfield ; and the men, with no pickets out, were sleeping 
on their arms. Lyon's little army was within musket-shot 
before it was discovered; then it plunged through the camp; 
and McCulloch fled from the breakfast-table, and led the 
bewildered rebels to the adjacent hills. But they took their 
arms. The ensuing conflict was one of the most skilfully- 
managed and resolutely-contested, not only of this war, but 
of any war. 

The battle raged for six hours ; and how terrible were the 
onsets may be learned from the fact that the rebels acknowl- 
edged a loss of over five hundred killed, while Lyon's loss 
was two hundred and fifty killed and a thousand wounded 
and missing.-^^ Early in the engagement. Gen. Lyon's horse 
was shot under him, and he was three times badly wounded. 
The closing scene of his gallant life is graphically described 
by his biographer. Dr. A. Woodward : — 

" Mounting another horse, he rode back to the front in order to rally 
the thinned and bleeding but not disheartened lines for a fresh attack. He 
now directed the fragments of one or two regiments to charge the enemy 
Avith the bayonet. Many of their officers were disabled, and they called 
ior a leader. With countenance blanched fi'om the loss of blood, and hag- 
gard from anxiety, Gen. Lyon threw himself to the head of the column, 
and, with hat waving, cheered it onward. Inspired with aJmost superhu- 

1'^ Gen. Fremont, in command of the Department of the North-west, was widely 
censured lor failing to give Lyon proper support. 

11 Woodward's Life of Gen. Lvoii, p. 307. • 

1- Major Sturgis, in his official' report of the battle, said of Surgeon Sprague (of Dan- 
iclsonville. Conn.), that " he attended the wounded with as much selt-possession as if no 
battle were raging around him, and not only took charge of the wounded brought to him, 
but found time to use a musket with good effect against the enemy." 



FUNEEAL OF GEN. LYOX. X15 

man energy by the heroism of their chief, the men rushed forward, scat- 
tering the enemy like chaff. But in that charge the brave Lyon fell. Our 
country, in the crisis of her darkest peril, lost that hour one of her clearest 
heads and stoutest hearts. He placed no value upon repose, comfort, or 
even life, when the land that he loved with all the devotion of his gener- 
ous soul demanded their sacrifice." 

When he fell, the battle ended : no other leader could so* 
inspire the soldiers. Sigel took up a reluctant retreat to 
Rolla ; but the enemy were so badly crippled, that they could 
not pursue. 

In the confusion of the retreat, the remains of Lyon 
were left behind. Mrs. Phelps, wife of Col. John S. Phelps, 
member of Congress for the district, and an unqualified 
Unionist, caused the body to be incased in a coffin hermeti- 
cally closed, then concealed it in an old cellar under some 
straw. Finally, fearing it would be disturbed by the rebel 
soldiers, she had it taken out and buried in the night. When 
Danford Knowlton of New York, and John B. Hasler, rela- 
tives of Lyon, arrived, she assisted them to recover the 
body. To this lady the thanks and honors of the nation 
are due ; for she gave her time and expended her fortune 
in the relief of sick and Avounded Union soldiers. 

Gen. Lyon's remains were brought to Connecticut, to be 
buried at Eastford, tenderly greeted all the way by tearful 
multitudes strewing the choicest flowers on the brave man's 
coffin. At St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, and 
Hartford, the body lay in state. It was estimated that ten 
thousand attended the funeral at Eastford. From all Wind- 
ham and the adjoining counties they came ; for he repre- 
sented the soul of the loyal North ; and it was felt, that, in a 
season of timidity and inefficiency, he had borne aloft in his 
own hands the tjag and the hope of the nation. The services 
were held in the Congregational church at Eastford, Ex-Gov. 
Chauncey F. Cleveland presiding. Judge Elisha Carpenter 
delivered an historical address, and Hon. Galusha A. Grow of 
Pennsylvania (both natives of Eastford) an oration, which elo- 
quently enforced the lessons of the hour. Remarks were 
also made by Gov. Buckingham, Gov. Sprague, Senator Fos- 
ter, Major-Gen. Casey, Mayor Deming of Hartford, and 
others; and the remains of the hero were affectionately con- 
signed to earth with military honors. 



116 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

In a marked and peculiar sense, Lyon was the Leonidas of 
the war; so able in council, and so brilliant in battle, as to 
extort reluctant praise even from his enemies ;^^ so patriotic, 
that he bequeathed all his property, as has been currently re- 
ported, to the United-States Government; so daring, that he 
•inspired raw firmer-boys to fight like veterans. He was not 
constitutionally courageous, but timid, yet he was as brave a 
soldier as ever drew a sword, and gave his life joyously to his 
country like a gallant knight; he was not religious, yet his 
honesty of purpose was proverbial, and he had a high up- 
rifditness of soul which even religion sometimes fails to con- 
fer ; he was not a statesman, yet the schemes of wily trai- 
tors, outnumbering him ten to one, dissolved at his touch. 

In Congress, Senator Pomeroy eulogized Lyon's heroism, 
and commended it as an example for emulation ; and resolu- 
tions were passed, declaring that " the country to whose ser- 
vice he devoted his life will guard and preserve his fame as 
a part of its own glory." 

At the dedication of a handsome monument to Gen. Lyon, 
by the State of Missouri, at Jefferson City, Senator Brown 
delivered a biographical address, and Lieut.-Gen. Sherman 
recalled some interesting reminiscences. He said of L^'on, — 

" He did not wait till the meshes and trammels which were being plot- 
ted for him were perfected. He was the first man in this country that 
seized the whole question, and took the initiative, and determined to strike 
a blow, and not wait for the blow to be struck. That he did not succeed at 
Wilson's Creek was no fault of his, but the result of causes which he could 
not control. The act itself was as pure and god-like as any that ever char- 
acterized a soldier on the field of battle. I wish he could have lived; for 
he possessed many of those qualities which were needed in the first two or 
three years of the war, and his death imposed on the nation a penalty 
numbered by thousands on thousands of lives, and millions on millions of 
dollars." 

I'' Pollard, in the Lost Cause and his Soutliern History, says, "Lyon was an 
undisguised and fanatical abolitionist.* He was, undoubtedly, an able and dangerous 
man, — a man of the times, who appreciated the force of audacity and the value of quick 
decision. No doubts or scruples unsettled his mind. A Connecticut Yankee, without a 
trace of chivalric feeling ; t small in stature, wiry, active, of dark complexion, and brave 
to a fault. The fall of such a man was a serious loss to the Federals in Missouri." 

* Yet he voted for Franklin Pierce. 

t The rebels insisted tliat no man would fight against treason who was " chivalric." 




CHAPTER VIII. 



The Foui-th in Maryland. — Dissatisfaction and Insubordination. — The Fifth on the 
Potomac. — Recruiting active. — The Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth. — Towns repre- 
sented. — Departure. — Sixth and Seventh at Washington and Annapolis. — Eighth 
on Long Island. — "The Sons of Connecticut." — Ninth Regiment organized. — 
"All Full Companies" accepted. — The Tenth. — Towns represented. — Eighth and 
Tenth at Annapolis. — Meetings and Social Intercourse. — The Eleventh. — Recruit- 
ing. — Towns represented. — The Regiment embarks for Annapolis. — Port-Roval 
Expedition. — Landing of the Sixth and Seventh. — First Union Troops in South 
Carolina. — Tyler appointed Colonel of the Fourth. — The New Discipline. — Expo- 
sure and Privations of the Fifth. 

N the mean time, the Fourth and Fifth Regiments 
were at the front. All the next day after its 
departure (June 10, 1861), the Fourth waited 
at Jersey City for transportation ; then made a 
night-trip to Phihidelphia, eating the oranges 
Mrs. Sigourney had thoughtfully provided ; and took a pleas- 
ant morning-ride along the Valley of the Susquehanna. 
Next evening they arrived at Chambersburg, where, after 
their novel and fatiguing experience, they wrapped them- 
selves in their .blankets, and tumbled down in the clover to 
sleep, — their first bivouac. Here they pitched their camp, 
and tarried four days, brigaded with the 11th Pennsyl- 
vania and the 1st Wisconsin; the latter commanded by Col. 
John C. Starkweather, formerly of Norwich, and a native of 
Preston, Conn. The next week they made a camp at Ha- 
gerstown, Md., where they staid until July 6, behaving so 
well, that the citizens petitioned to have them remain. 

At midnight, June 17, the long-roll was beaten; and the 
excited men were hurried off on the double-quick for Wil- 
liamsport, " to meet the rebels, only six miles off." There 
were wild rumors that they had crossed the Potomac for an 
invasion of Pennsylvania. Forty rounds of ammunition had 

117 



118 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

been dealt out; and the men were eager to test their valor. 
"Now or never," they thought, "for the triumph of republi- 
can institutions ! " On arriving, it appeared that the enemy 
had been seen across the river, but had drawn off on the 
approach of our troops. They then returned to the camp 
at Hagerstown ; but, on the 4th of July, advanced again 
to Williamsport, relieving other regiments in holding this 
frontier. Here, while the antagonists were measuring each 
other's strength in Central Virginia, the Fourth had a quiet 
time, occupying a charming and comfortable camp until 
Aug. 16. Officers and men seem to have been great favorites 
with citizens wherever they were stationed. 

The regiment was next encamped near Frederick City, at 
the White-oak Springs. Here the dissatisfaction which had 
been silently gathering came to a crisis. They had not been 
paid; their clothes were so worn in three months of service, 
that " scarce two men had hats or shirts alike ; coats had long 
been discarded ; and many were obliged to appear, even on 
dress-parade, lightly and airily attired in simple under-clo- 
thing." ^ So bitter was the discontent, that, on Aug. 23, 
about two hundred men, including Company K, marched out 
with their arms, and formed in line, facing the camp, an- 
nouncing that they were going home. The colonel directed 
Capt. Kellogg to arrest them. " Shall I fire on them if neces- 
sary ?" asked the captain. " Take your own course," was the 
reply. Capt. Kellogg ordered his men to load, marched 
them out, and formed line, facing Company K, within two 
rods. He bluntly ordered Company K to " shoulder arms." 
They sullenly refused. " You'll shoulder arms, or be shot ! " 
growled he. " Company B, ready ! " The muskets came to 
the shoulder before the order to fire was given ; and the 
men were marched into camp, and the ringleaders taken to 
Banks's headquarters as prisoners. Active resistance was 
quelled ; but discontent continued. AVithin a week, there 
were eighteen desertions, ten of them from Company K. A 
week later came pay-day. 

About this time, a temperance meeting was organized, 
of which Lieut.-Col. White was chairman, and Sergeant 

^ Anniversary Address by Chaplain E. A. Walker. 



THE riFTH REGIMENT. 119 

Twining secretary. Remarks were made by Major IT. W. 
Birge, Chaplain Walker, Capt. D. W. Siprell, Lieuts. E. H. 
Mix, J. A. Turner, D. R. Hubbard, and George Harmon, and 
Sergeant H. J. Hubbard ; and a pledge was numerously 
signed by officers and men. 

Sept. 6, the regiment was turned over to Gen. Banks, and 
started to report to him at Darnestown, where they met the 
Fifth Connecticut. Three days later. Col. Woodhouse re- 
signed his commission, his continued ill health having long 
prevented him from taking a vigorous part in the drill and 
discipline of the regiment. There is no doubt that it was, 
at this time, an inefficient body of men, poorly instructed 
both in evolutions and the manual of arms ; and this became 
more apparent by contrast when they found themselves in 
camp with twenty-five thousand soldiers. 

The Fifth left Hartford on the cars, July 29, escorted to 
the depot by a vast concourse of citizens. At New Haven, 
they embarked upon the Elm City for Elizabeth, N.J. ; 
where they arrived next morning, and took the cars to Balti- 
more. Here they were transferred to the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, for the Upper Potomac. Going westward from 
the monumental city, the soldiers spent a dismal, gloomj^ 
uncomfortable night in the freight-cars. A terrible storm 
broke upon them ; and the darkness was relieved only by the 
lurid lightning, that occasionally cast a momentary pallor 
over their faces, and showed through the apertures that they 
were being whirled across a densely-wooded country. Most 
of the men were weary with two nights of travel, and dis- 
pirited with scant quantities of dry rations, and the rest so 
inspirited by frequent potions of Baltimore lager as to be in 
no very amiable mood. 

At last, after much discomfort, they came to a stop about 
a mile east of Harper's Ferry, where they left the cars, 
marched two miles north, and made their camp on a stubble- 
field. They were first included in the brigade of Col. George 
H. Thomas, afterwards renowned in Tennessee ; and around 
them were twenty regiments of Banks's division. The Fifth 
was soon sent out on picket, in detachments ; and in this ser- 
vice it was kept employed, marching and counter-marching 



120 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

in cold and rain, between Edwards' Ferry and Hancock. It 
had no established camp, and the men suffered greatly from 
the constant exposure and privations. They were frequently 
alarmed to meet an attack, and several men were captured 
while on picket. Aug. 19, Lieut. Putnam Day, of Putnam, 
died. He was a manly soldier, respected and esteemed by 
all his associates. 

About the middle of August, the Fifth marched to Jeffer- 
son, crossed the mountains, and encamped for a few days at 
Point of Rocks, Md., on the Carroll Manor, a fine estate of 
thirteen thousand acres, formerly owned by Charles Carroll 
of CarroUton. 



Aug. 15, the governor issued general orders, directing that 
volunteers be accepted for the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and 
Ninth, three-years' regiments, a part of the quota of Connec- 
ticut under the recent call. Cols. Chatfield and Terry, effi- 
cient commanders of three-months' troops, were appointed 
colonels respectively of the Sixth and Seventh ; and those 
regiments were ordered to rendezvous at New Haven. The 
camp was located in commodious barracks on Oyster Point ; 
and there squads and half-formed companies already raised 
in different parts of the State immediately reported. Many 
who had been in the three-months' service joined these regi- 
ments either as officers or privates. By the same order, the 
Eisfhth ReGfiment was directed to rendezvous at Hartford. 

The romance of soldiering had passed away, the fervor 
which followed the first call to arms had somewhat abated, 
the dream of taking Richmond without a struggle was suc- 
ceeded by bloody realities, the day of large bounties had 
not come ; yet the patriotic purpose of the people was still 
so earnest, that the four regiments were quickly raised. Meet- 
ings were held in the different towns, at which the citizens 
flocked to listen, to applaud, to encourage enlistments, and 
to contribute to the volunteer fund. Immense mass-meet- 
ings were held in the cities, — the largest and most excited 
gatherings ever seen in the State. 

During the last days of August, most of the companies for 



THE SIXTH KEGIMENT. 121 

the Sixth and Seventh had arrived at the barracks. Sept. 3, 
a Windham-county company was mustered into the Sixth, 
followed next day by the Waterbury and New Britain 
companies. On the 5th, three more were mustered ; also 
the Hartford, Danbury, and Norwich companies of the Sev- 
enth. The rest were added in a day or two. About this 
time, the first fractional companies of the Eighth began to 
move to their camp, — the grounds the Fifth had vacated, — 
just outside of Hartford. Drilling, which had generally begun 
at the places of original enlistment, was continued vigorously 
in the camps. Nearly all the officers, and some of the pri- 
vates, had seen service ; yet at least three-fourths were raw 
volunteers, who knew no difference between " reverse arms " 
and " right-shoulder-shift." The three-months' veterans put 
their awkward comrades sternly through the manual, and 
exercised them in company and battalion drill, morning, 
afternoon, and evening. Every squad made the most of the 
few days remaining, and instruction proceeded rapidly. The 
three resriments received Enfield rifles, the two flank com- 
panics of each being armed w^ith Sharpe's ; and succeeding 
regiments were generally furnished with the same admirable 
weapons, and the same proportion of each. 

The field and stajff officers of the Sixth Regiment, Col. 
John L. Chatfield, Lieut.-Col. William G. Ely, and Major John 
Speidal, were from New Haven, New London, and Fairfield 
Counties; and the regiment chiefly enlisted from the south- 
ern part of the State. Company A, Capt. Thomas K. Bates, 
was from the north-eastern towns of Windham County; 
Putnam furnishing thirty-one, Killingly twenty-three, and 
Thompson, Woodstock, and Plainfield the rest. Company B, 
Capt. Benjamin F. Prouty, was officered by Hartford ; and 
the privates were from twenty towns. Company C, Capt. 
Daniel Klein, was mainly from the Germans of New Haven; 
twelve being from Norwich, and six from Waterbury. Com- 
pany D, Capt. Lorenzo Meeker, was from Stamford ; thirteen 
being from Greenwich. Company E, Capt. Edward P. Hud- 
son, was mainly from Waterbury and Prospect ; neighbor- 
ing towns contributing a few. Company F, Capt. Lewis C. 
Allen, was recruited in New Haven. Company G, Capt. John 

16 



122 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

M. Tracy, was mainly from New Britain ; New Haven fur- 
nishing a first lieutenant and four men, and twelve being 
from Farmington. Company H, Capt. Henry Biebel, another 
German company, received its officers, and fourteen men, 
from Bridgeport : Meriden furnished twenty-four, and New 
Haven twenty-three. Company I, Capt. Thomas Boudren, 
was mainly from Bridgeport : ten were from Trumbull, and 
a squad from adjoining towns. New Haven furnished the 
officers, and most of the men, of Compan\^ K, Capt. Henry 
G. Gerrish : eight were from Hamdeu. 

The Seventh Regiment represented every county of the 
State. Of Company A, Capt. Daniel G. Francis, the first two 
officers, and ten men, were from Hartford ; twenty-five men 
from Southington ; the second lieutenant, and seven men, 
from New Britain; and twenty more from contiguous towns. 
The first two officers, and eight men, of Company B, Capt. 
Daniel C. Rodman, were from Hartford ; the second lieuten- 
ant, and seven men, from Vernon ; and the rest of the com- 
pany hailed from Farmington, Middletown, Portland, Som- 
ers, \Yethersfield, and Bolton. Wallingford had eight men 
in the Meriden company (C), Capt. Oliver S. Sanford. Com- 
pany D, Capt. Benjamin F. Skinner, was from Danbury, 
Bethel, and Norwalk. Company E, Capt. Charles E. Palmer, 
was from Winsted (Winchester) and New Haven; a few 
men being furnished by Goshen, Norfolk, Orange, Colebrook, 
and Canton. Company F, Capt. Theodore Bacon, was officered 
in New Haven ; that city also furnishing a third of the pri- 
vates : the rest were from Derby, ^yaterbury. ^Yoodbridge, 
and other towns of the county, with a little squad from 
North Canaan. The officers and half the men of Com- 
pany G, Capt. Edwin S. Hitchcock, were from New Haven; 
and Salisbury and Canaan sent sixteen. In Company' H, 
Capt. John B. Dennis, Norwich furnished the officers and 
twenty-three men ; Windham had thirteen ; Sprague. elev- 
en ; and Montville, Bozrah, Eastford, and Griswold, twenty 
more. The captain (Gray) and second lieutenant of Com- 
pany I, and eighteen men, were from Bridgeport : Middle- 
town was represented by a first lieutenant and eleven 
men; Canaan, by nine men; East Haddam, eleven; and 



DEPAETUEE OF THE SIXTH EEGIMENT. 123 

Colchester, six. In Company K, Capt. Tourtellotte, the 
captain and twenty-four men were from Killingly, the first 
lieutenant and nine men from Putnam^ the second lieuten- 
ant and twenty-eight men from Woodstock, and eight from 
Thompson. 

Col. Alfred H. Terry, colonel of the Second, was made 
fjr^ colonel of the .rSrastii, Joseph R Hawley lieutenant-colonel, 
and Georsre F. Gardiner major. 

Sept. 17, amid the usual patriotic demonstrations by the 
assembled citizens, the Sixth took steamer for Jersey City, 
where it was transferred to cars for Washington. It arrived 
without unusual incident, and pitched its tents on the salu- 
brious grounds at Gleiiwood, formerly occupied by the three- 
months' troops. Next day it was joined by the Seventh; 
• and both were brigaded under Gen. H. G. Wright, a native 
of Clinton, New-Haven County, afterwards distinguished as 
the able com'^ander of the Sixth army corps. It was under- 
stood that they were to be assigned to Gen. Thomas W. 
Sherman'^ division, soon to make a descent upon the South- 
Carolira coast; and the officers vied wath each other in a 
thoivugh discipline of their commands. They w^ent to An- 
napolis, Oct. 5, there to await the assembling of troops and 
t2ie mustering of the great squadron. 
-—•"By Sept. 15, the Eighth was full; and, on the 21st, the 
Danbury, Norwich, and Stonington companies were mustered 
into the service, the rest being soon added. Edward Harland 
of Norwich, a popular captain in the Third Regiment, was 
made colonel, and was presented with an expensive sword by 
the New-London County bar. Capt. Glasson's New-Hartford 
company had been presented with a good library by Lucius 
Barbour. 

Company A, Capt. Henry M. Hoyt, received two officers 
and nine men from Hartford, a lieutenant and eight men from 
Bridgeport, and the rest from East Windsor, Manchester, Nau- 
gatuck, and other towns. Company B, Capt. Patrick K. Ruth, 
took its officers and seventy-eight privates from Enfield, and 
a few from Suffield, Simsbury, and East Windsor. Company 
C, Capt. Charles W. Nash, was mainly from New Hartford ; 
about twenty-five coming from Granby, Colebrook, Enfield, 



124 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Torrington, and Canton. Norwich furnished the officers and 
thirty-three men of Compan>^ D, Capt. John E. Ward ; Leba- 
non, twenty-two ; and Windham, fourteen. The officers and 
twenty-six men of Company E, Capt. Martin B. Smith, were 
from Waterbary ; twenty from Litchfield ; and the rest from 
Rocky Hill, Woodbury, and Cornwall. Plainfield furnished 
half of Company F, Capt. E, Y. Smith ; the other half repre- 
senting Canterbury, Griswold, Brooklyn, and Sterling. In 
Company G, Capt. Hiram Appelman, were seventy-seven 
from Stonington, and fifteen from Groton. Company H, 
Capt. Douglass Fowler, was mainly from Norwalk ; though 
Danbury, Ridgefield, Wilton, and Redding furnished a few. 
New Milford furnished twenty-nine men in Company I, Capt. 
F. W. Jackson ; and Brookfield, seventeen ; Newtown, Wash- 
ington, and Danbury, twenty more. Company K, Capt. 
Charles L. Upham, was mainly from Meriden. 

The Eighth was well equipped, and an excelhnt reo-iment. 
It was assigned to Gen. Burnside's force, soon to depart for 
North Carolina ; and, on Oct. 17, it left Camp Buckino-- 
ham for Annapolis. As it passed towards the river, ^he de- 
parting soldiers were greeted with waving flags and resciund- 
ing cheers from proud relatives and friends, and grateful 
strangers, who only knew them as a part of the grand Union 
army going eagerly forth to offer vicarious atonement for 
the sins of the nation. The regiment proceeded by boat to 
Jamaica, L.I., where it made a temporary camp. The tents 
were not at hand ; and they w^ere obliged to sleep on the 
ground, covered only by their blankets and the autumnal 
sky. Many favors were received from the hospitable citizens, 
amono- whom Ex-Gov. John A. King; and Dr. Shelton are 
prominently named. The regiment attended church in a 
body. Soldiers and citizens also turned out to a lecture by 
Chaplain J. J. Wooll}-, at which a collection of forty dollars 
was made for a regimental library. 

On Sept. 25, 1861, the citizens of Connecticut resident in 
New York met at the Fifth-avenue Hotel to organize for 
the purpose of receiviijg and entertaining our regiments pass- 
ing through the city. Organization was effected by the 
choice of Robert H. McCurdy, president ; W. H. Gilman, 



THE NINTH REGIMENT. 125 

treasurer; Charles Goulcl, secretary One of their first acts 
was to visit the Eighth Connecticut in a body, and present 
a very handsome regimental flag. Gen. Prosper M. Wetmore 
made the presentation speech, briefly responded to by Col. 
Harland. From this time forward, during the entire war, the 
" Sons of Connecticut " were unremitting in vigilance and 
eflbrt in extending a cordial hospitality to every soldier of 
this State in the city. 

The Ninth Regiment, recruited at Camp English, New 
Haven, was composed of men of Irish birth or parentage. 
Col. Thomas W. Cahill had been long connected with our 
State militia as captain of the Emmett Guards, and was a 
capable officer. His immediate assistants were Lieut.-Col. 
Eichard F. Gibbons and Major Frederick Frye, both of 
Bridgeport. During the last week of September, seven 
companies were mustered in. From this until November, the 
time was employed in obtaining recruits, and acquiring the 
discipline of the service. The State and regimental colors 
were presented, Oct. 30, in an impressive speech by Hon. E. 
K. Foster. One flag was the gift of C. D. De Forest ; the 
other, of the patriotic ladies of the city. 

The regiment was recruited chiefly in the cities and large 
towns in the lower part of the State. Company A, Capt. 
John Dnfly, contained sixty-seven from New Haven; while 
Hartford sent eight, and Danbury four. Company B, Capt. 
Patrick Garvey, received thirty-five from Meriden, nineteen 
from New Haven, and twelve from Cheshire and Middletown. 
Company C, Capt. Michael McCartin, had sixty-eight from 
New Haven, and eight from Norwich. Company D, Capt. 
Thomas C. Coats, received fortj^iine from Bridgeport, and six 
from New Haven. Company E, Capt. James P. Hennessey, 
was wholly from New Haven and Derby. Company F, Capt. 
John Foley, represented Waterbury alone. Company G, 
Capt. William Wright, had thirty from Hartford and vicinity. 
Company H, Capt. Silas W. Sawyer, contained eighteen from 
Norwich. Company I, Capt. Elliott M. Curtiss, was made 
up in Fairfield County ; and Company K, Capt. John A. 
Nelson, in Hartford. 

The four regiments called for were organized. Enlist- 



126 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ments continued, apparently without abatement ; and, ac- 
cordingly, Gov. Buckingham issued orders to accept all full 
companies offering. By Sept. 18, the members of the Tenth 
had begun to arrive at Camp Buckingham, Hartford ; and, on 
the 21st and 22d, two New-Haven companies were mustered 
-in. Within another week, the first companies for the 
Eleventh had reported at Camp Lincoln, near the arsenal, 
Hartford. Enlistments and drillino; continued through Oc- 
tober. Capt. Charles L. Russell of Derby, who, with Pardee 
and Jepson of New Haven, had recruited a company for the 
Eighth, was offered the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Tenth, 
but declined it, except on the condition that his company 
could be transferred with him. His j)i'oposition was soon 
accepted by the governor; and his company exchanged 
places with Capt. Ruth's Enfield company of the Tenth. 
Gov. Buckingham sought for the colonelcy a regular army- 
officer; but, the position being declined by Capt. Frederick 
Myers, Lieut.-Col. Russell was, before the regiment left, pro- 
moted to be colonel. Col. Russell and Lieut.-Col. Albert W. 
Drake were both thorough soldiers, good disciplinarians, and 
enthusiastic in their 'military spirit. They had choice mate- 
rial to deal with, and they infused their own zeal into the 
entire mass. Before the regiment left Hartford, its members 
had attracted much attention for their soldierly behavior. ■ 
Of Company A, Capt. Benjamin S. Pardee, twenty-six 
were from New Haven, fourteen from Derby, and the rest 
from most of the other towns in the county. Company B, 
Capt. Philip W. Hudson, was from Manchester, Marlborough, 
Coventry, Glastonbury, and other towns in Hartford County. 
Company C, Capt. E. D. S. Goodyear, was a consolidation of 
squads from the two counties; New Haven, Branford, and 
Bristol furnishing a majority. Company D, Capt. Lewis 
Judd, was mainly from the north-western corner of the State. 
Company E, Capt. Henry A. Wells, hailed from Hartford 
County. Company F, Capt. Joseph W. Branch, was mostly 
raised in the town of Sprague. Company G, Capt. Isaac L. 
Hoyt, was a union of a company of fifty from New Canaan, 
and one of thirty from Darien and Stamford. Company H, 
Capt. Robert Leggett, was from New-London County. Com- 



THE TENTH IIST MOTION. 127 

pany I, Capt. Thomas R Mead, was raised entirely in the 
town of Greenwich Company K, Capt. Edwin B. Munson, 
represented most of the towns of New-Haven County ; New 
Haven, East Haven, and Bethany leading off. 

This regiment also was assigned to Gen. Burnside's expe- 
dition. The Eighth had already arrived at Annapolis, after 
a tedious passage of four days; and, Oct. 31, the Tenth 
broke camp, with orders to proceed at once to the rendezvous. 
Before the departure, a beautiful State flag was presented 
by Thomas R. Trowbridge of New Haven, made for the regi- 
ment by his wife and daughter. Then taking the steamers 
Granite State and Mary Burton, and hailed by the cheers 
of thousands, the Tenth was fairly off for the war. 

They were received at New York next morning by the 
Sons of Connecticut, and breakfasted at the Park Barracks. 
The national colors Avere presented by S. B. Chittenden, 
Arriving at the City of Brotherly Love next morning, 
they were again cared for with great hospitality. In 
due time, the regiment found itself at Annapolis, snugly in 
camp, about a mile and a half from the town. The Sixth 
and Seventh had left; but the Eighth was located near: and 
the two regiments cultivated each other's acquaintance, and 
prepared themselves, by constant drill on the same field, for 
that severe service they were destined to share together. 
Among tlie uncertain conveniences of the camps was the 
" stove," consisting of a hole in the ground, with the earthy 
sides pounded hard, or lined with stone, and a subterranean 
passage leading from the bottom of it to a pipe or rude 
chimney outside. These contrivances were expected to 
work on the plan of a tobacco-pipe, but, in some cases, per- 
sisted in drawing at the wrong end, changing the tents into 
smoke-houses. 

There was heartiness and unity in the work of prepara- 
tion for battle. Strict discipline was enforced. A school of 
instruction and a board of rigid examination were oro-anized. 
Drills w^ere almost constant, and the regiments steadily 
gained in compactness and soldierly bearing. Some officers 
left on account of ill health ; a few were dismissed ; " others," 
w^rote an officer, " strong men physically, found themselves 



128 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLIQN. 

entirely unfitted for the profession of arms, and bore the 
mortification of resio-nino; that others mi^rht take their 
places. This was real patriotism and true courage." 

The morale of the regiments was correspondingly raised. 
Gambling and liquor-selling were suppressed ; offenders 
being severely punished, and their stakes and stock confis- 
cated for the regimental fund. Profanity was rebuked. 
Unnecessary Sunday labor was avoided. Religious meetings 
were frequent ; and, in the Tenth, an officers' special prayer- 
meeting was held at the tent of Col. Russell. Each regi- 
giment also organized and supported a Sunday school, that 
of the Tenth attaining two hundred and fifty members. 
Companies had weekly prayer-meeting. The Eighth held 
a regimental prayer-meeting every Sunday night at their 
chapel, — '' an enclosure of trees and earth, with walls six feet 
high, and no roof" Just before sailing, about fifty partook of 
the communion here. The Sunday-evening meeting of the 
Tenth was held in a clearing. Of these exercises, Capt. 
B. S. Pardee gave a vivid picture in a letter : — 

"There, at the souud of the bugle, the men assemble, and engage with 
mai'ked interest and solemnity in the services. The sight is picturesque, and 
to the Christian mind impressive, especially at night. Then the bright camp- 
fire throws out in strong relief the figures of chaplain and men, and writes in 
grotesque characters upon the dense surrounding thickets. Occasionally, a 
fresh log thrown on causes showers of sparks to mount in glistening eddies 
skywards, and fall in fading glory among the worshipers. The men are 
grouped about in easy postures, and their mobile features express clearly the 
emotions of the hour. Close on one side rushes by the heavily-laden train, 
jarring the earth in its passage ; on the other comes from a camp the 
steady, monotonous drum-bear. The bayonets of our sentries glitter coldly 
in the moonlight ; and white and frosty, as if snow-clad, shine the long 
lines of the encampment. Solenm prayer goes up to heaven for strength 
in the hour of trial, and earnest prayer for protection from temptation's 
power ; comrades press home upon their fellows the necessity of safety in 
Christ ; tearful eyes and softened hearts attest the fervor with which all 
unite in the petition for dear ones left at home- And so the hour passes 
almost unnoted, and men are surprised when the chaplain pronounces the 
benediction." 

The Tenth was brigaded with Massachusetts troops, under 
Gen. Foster. The Eighth v/as brigaded with some New- 
York and Pennsylvania regiments, and Col. Harland com- 
manded the brigade much of the. time. Details were made 



THE ELEVENTH EEGIMENT. 129 

to assist in patrolling the city, now under martial law. All 
the Connecticut regiments occasionally held patriotic meet- 
ings around the camp-fire, at which songs were sung and 
speeches made, graced with reminiscences of the pleasant 
home-life, and foreshadowing the battles and victories to 
come. 

Henry W. Kingsbury of Lyme was commissioned to be 
colonel of the Eleventh; but he declined the position to ac- 
cept a command in the 14th regulars, and was succeeded 
by Lieut.-Col. T. H. C. Kingsbury of the Fifth. All through 
October and November, recruitino; for the regiment continued 
active. In every county of the State engaged in enlisting 
volunteers were embryo officers, their shoulder-straps de- 
pending on their success. Sometimes the officer made his 
headquarters at a tent, sometimes in his office or at a hall ; 
while, not unfrequently, he rode in a buggy from town to 
town, holding impromptu war-meetings at schoolhouses or in 
other convenient rooms, and summoning the young farmers 
from the harvest to the tented field. The growth of each 
company was rapid or slow, according to the influence of 
friends, the efforts made by advertising, and the activity 
and popularity of the proposed officers. At last the regiment 
was declared full, and the activity of drill was redoubled. 
Charles Mathewson of Pomfret was lieutenant-colonel, and 
Capt. Griffin A. Stedman was transferred from the Fifth to be 
major. 

Capt. George M. Southmayd's company (A) was from 
Danbury, New Fairfield furnishing sixteen. Capt. Timothy 
D. Johnson's company was mainly from Stafford ; Ashford 
sending sixteen, and Ellington and the Windsors a dozen 
more. C, Capt. William Moegling, was recruited from the 
Germans of New-Haven and Fairfield Counties. D, CajDt. 
Edwin R. Lee, contained nineteen from Hartford, nineteen 
more from Canterbury and Winsted, and the rest from the 
northern range of towns. E, Capt. John H. Dewell, received 
thirty-five men from Norfolk ; Winsted, twelve ; Salisbury, 
eight ; Canaan, six. F, Capt. William Clapp, was made up 
from Killingly, Pomfret, Eastford, Brooklyn, and neighboring 
towns. In G, Capt. William I. Hyde, were represented Plain- 

17 



130 CONNECTICUT DTJEING THE REBELLION. 

field, twenty-three ; Newtown, thirteen ; Thompson, eight. 
H, Capt. Albert E. Daniels, was raised mainly in Windham 
County. I, Capt. John Griswold, was contributed by North 
Canaan and adjoining towns in Litchfield County. K, Capt. 
Charles S. Denison, was raised mainly in the towns at the 
mouth of the Connecticut; Danbury furnishing ten. 

The regiment left Hartford for Annapolis, Dec. 16 ; having 
also been assigned to the Burnside Expedition. They arrived 
at New York next morning, and partook of a substantial 
breakfast, provided .by the liberal sons and daughters of 
Connecticut, residents of the city, whose organization has 
been mentioned. Speeches of encouragement and approba- 
tion were made by Gov. Buckingham, Gen. Wetmore, Col. 
John H. Almy, and others. A handsome set of regimental 
colors was presented in the Park during the day ; and the 
regiment embarked on a steamer for Annapolis. While going 
down the bay in the evening, a revenue-cutter fired a blank 
shot across the bows of the crowded transport to bring her 
to. The captain, feeling that he was on patriotic service, 
failed to round to ; when Fort Hamilton fired a solid shot, 
striking the vessel, and obliging the captain to stop and ex- 
plain himself The boys of the Eleventh were somewhat 
startled to find themselves attacked so soon. 

On the second day they arrived at their destination, and 
pitched their tents. The Eighth and Tenth were still there, 
and had established a very picturesque camp, its streets orna- 
mented with young pines. The sokliers shaded their tents, 
and constructed arches over the company-streets, in which 
the company-letter, shields, stars, and other devices, were 
neatly worked in evergreen, with red berries set among the 
wreaths. The Eleventh showed a spirit of emulation ; and, 
though they had but three weeks to remain, they laid out a 
camp, and went vigorously at work to build a log- village after 
the model of the 24th Massachusetts, lying near. The 
Massachusetts boys also took hold, and rendered brotherly 
assistance. One more flag was unfurled over the soil of Mary- 
land, borne to the breeze upon a tall, straight pine pole ; and 
the Eleventh began to make itself at home. Here, drilling, 
visiting, and trjang to keep comfortable, the three regiments, 



BRILLIANT NAVAL BATTLE. 131 

. with fifty others, waited while Burnside mustered his fleet 
of war. 

On Oct. 20, the Sixth and Seventh Connecticut, and fifteen 
regiments from other States, assembled at Annapolis, and 
embarked on thirty-three transports for the long-talked-of 
expedition to South Carolina under Sherman. There were 
tedious delays, and the squadron finally left Fortress Monroe 
Oct. 29. Two days out from Hampton Roads, there was a 
terrible south-east storm, in which the fleet was thoroughly 
scattered, and two of the vessels sunk. The ships which car- 
ried the Sixth and Seventh came only within speaking-dis- 
tance, so that the men could hail each other durin"- the storm. 
The squadron re-assembled off" Port Royal Bar on Nov. 4. 
On the 7th was the brilliant naval battle by the ships under 
Com. Dupont, resulting in the capture of Forts Walker 
and Beauregard ; while the troops lay two miles off" watching 
the splendid bombardment.- The Connecticut troops were 
selected to land first. It was thoug;lit that the rebels mio;ht 
rally, and contest the possession. The Sixth, under Lieut.-Col. 
W. G. Ely, was on board the steamer Winfield Scott ; the 
Seventh, under Col. Terry, on boats in tow. Standing in near 
Fort Walker, the steamer ran aground : the crews of the boats 
rowed past ; and the companies of the Seventh jumped into 
the water, and formed on the beach. The Sixth immedi- 
ately debarked, and joined them. Lieut.-Col. Hawley, in a 
letter to the Press, said, — 

" Our Seveatli Regimeut lauded first, and had the honor of taking charge 
of Fort Walker over night. The companies of Capts. Francis and Rodman 
did the advanced picket-duty for the night. Friday the regiment was sent 
about five miles in a westerly direction, on an armed reconnoissance to 
Seabrook's Landing. We caught no rebels, but found a large quantity of 
provisions and other property. The rebels ran in the extremest fright, 
abandoning almost every thing but the clothing on them. It is as warm as 
June. I have oranges in my pocket picked at Seabrook's. The palmetto 
is plenty about us ; the leaves are green on all the trees ; the cotton-fields are 
white, waiting for the second picking ; and sweet-potatoes are plenty. There 
is scarcely a white man left on the island. The negroes greet us with great 
pleasure, and are wonderfully hearty in crying, ' God bress you, mass'r.' " 

Gov. Buckingham immediately issued a proclamation, 

^ Lieut. William S. Co2:swell, of the Fifth Connecticut, commanded a detachment 
of the signal corps at Port Koyal ; and the success was so marked, that Col. Meyer men- 
tioned it in the general orders. 



132 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

cong;ratulatino; the State and her soldiers that " the two regi- 
ments from Connecticut were the first to land on the hostile 
shore ; and, after the stars and stripes, the flag of Connecti- 
cut was the first to wave above the traitorous soil of South 
Carolina." 

The Connecticut troops also made the first advance from 
Hilton Head. The Sixth, under Lieut.-Col. Ely, was sent 
out to Graham's plantation, where it found and sent in large 
quantities of corn and other supplies. The Seventh made 
a reconnoissance to the lower end of the island, some fifteen 
miles off, and took possession of the rebel batteries there. 
These they held, unspiking the guns, and blazing away at 
Fort Pulaski in the distance. On the 20th, they reconnoi- 
tred to Dawfuskie Island, in the direction of Savannah, 
Capt. Rodman made his headquarters at a deserted planta- 
tion, while Capts. Palmer and Gray occupied the residence 
of Rev. Mr. Lawton. A letter of that date says, '• Oysters 
and fish are abundant, wild hogs run in the jungles, the men 
sleep under shelter ; and, on the whole, it is quite a jolly 
soldier life down there at Braddock's Point. Contrabands 
come over as rapidly as they can ; their masters watching 
the coast, breaking up boats, and shooting the fugitives 
The negroes glorify us into saints. Let men in high places 
or low do what they please, and be as cowardly as they 
please, this army will not fight for slavery ; and the war is 
a war for liberty." 

Lieut.-Col. El}' of the Sixth, with three companies, had a 
skirmish with rebels on the west side of the island. The 
detachment brought in two fine brass howitzers, with a val- 
uable pair of horses, seventy other horses, six mules, six 
wngons, two yoke of oxen, and other property, of a total 
value of fifty thousand dollars. "For this," says one of the 
company officers, "we never received a particle of credit, 
— not even a quartermaster's receipt." In December, the 
men were detailed to construct the new fortifications, and 
in three weeks moved their camps to the rear of them, and 
took turns at working the guns. 



CAMP-LIFE IN VIRGINIA. 133 

At Darnestown, during September, the Fourth received 
a competent commander in Col. Robert 0. Tyler of the regu- 
lar army, formerly from Hartford, and a nephew of Gen. 
Daniel Tyler. With hifn their true " army life " began. 
Of this undisciplined crowd of Connecticut boys he was to 
make soldiers. The vigor with which he went to the task 
indicated how thoroughly he meant to do it. He assisted 
at guard-mounting, and inspected every musket and every 
man. " There were no uniform coats, and few presentable 
pants, in the regiment ; but, whenever an effort at neatness 
was made, the colonel's eye perceived it, and a compliment 
was sure to follow. Even the man who put a coat of black- 
ing on his bare feet was thus rewarded for his pains, and, 
though destitute of pantaloons, marched off with the air of 
a major-general." ^ Within a week, new uniforms were re- 
ceived, and the old ones thrown away ; and the regiment was 
marched to Washington. Oct. 9, it crossed Long Bridge, and 
took formal possession of Fort Richardson, pitching its tents 
temporarily on the slope below, near the river-bank. 

Company A was detailed for the fort : the rest imme- 
diately began " stump-grubbing " about the fort, Col. White 
superintending with untiring energy ; and this recreation 
was continued until ten acres was reclaimed from the wilder- 
ness of a Virginia forest, and made smooth as a parlor floor. 
Here a matchless camp was set, overlooking Washington and 
the Potomac. The rest of the winter was spent in constant- 
ly rigid discipline ; but the days were without any exciting 
incident beyond an occasional review. Chaplain Walker, 
writing of this time, said, — 

" Looking back over the five months spent at Fort Richardson, the 
mind is confused with details that struggle for expression. Time has not 
yet toned down these memories into their relative light and shade. We 
see them as in kaleidoscopic vision, — long lines of snow-white gloves, of 
glistening bayonets,, of polished brass, and spotless uniforms, mixed up 
with carriage-loads of ladies, officers on horseback, flags, and cannon- 
smoke ; and, with these, soberer bits of glass in the shape of sling-carts, 
statuary, and spread eagles ; and again, stumps, picks, shovels, and the 
like, set off by mud and cold and wind ; and these again relieved by gor- 
geous sunrises and sunsets, lovely days and nights, and the ever-changing, 

2 Anniversary Address, Chaplain Walker, p. 49. 



134 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

ever-charming views from the summit of the hill. Turn the glass, and 
again we have the same things in different combinations. But in every 
scene may be detected the vigilant eye of our commander, scrutinizing 
every thing, approving every soldierly act or trait, and punishing with 
rigor each minute offense against perfect military discipline." 

A correspondent of the Philadelphia Press said, " It is 
a picturesque camp, a model of military neatness. Com- 
fort, economy, and discipline are marked. These Yankees 
are a great people. They carry their good order and steady 
habits everywhere. In every thing, there is the precision of 
the regular army. I have seldom seen a finer body of men." 

During these last months of 1861, the Fifth was still 
engaged in the most arduous and disagreeable duty known 
to a soldier's life, — holding a long picket-line in the face 
of an alert enemy, exposed to snow and sleet, without any 
winter-quarters, and without comfortable tents. In October, 
it moved from Darnestown to re-inforce Gen. Stone. March- 
ing all night, it reached Edwards' Ferry the morning after 
the disastrous battle of Ball's Bluff; and was ordered to 
cross the river, and renew the attack. The order was 
countermanded, and the regiment went into temporary 
camp at Muddy Branch. Dec. 19, a company crossed the 
Potomac, and burnt the mill being used by the rebels at 
Dam Number Five. The regiment came near losing Col. 
Ferry, prostrated in Washington with fever ; but he re- 
turned in three weeks, and was warmly welcomed. During 
the winter, we find the Fifth successively at Darnestown, 
Rockville, Frederick, Monocacy, Edwards' Ferry, Williams- 
port, Harper's Ferry, Jefferson, Hagerstown, Hancock, and 
in detachments at all the fords intervening. The first of 
December, their discomfort was materially modified by the 
receipt of a full set of Sibley tents. The winter was spent 
in ceaseless movements along the river, in which a degree of 
celerity was exhibited, which won for the Fifth the sobri- 
quet of " the foot cavalry." 



CHAPTER IX. 



Extra Session of the Legislature. — Governor's Message. — A Carte Blanche. — More 
Eegiments authorized. — Gen. Butler and the Twelfth. — A Light Battery and a 
Battalion of Cavalry. — At Meriden. — Off for the War. — The Ninth badly 
equipped. — Twelfth in Camp at Hartford. — Thirteenth in BaiTacks at New Haven. 
— Ninth and Twelfth at Ship Island. — Blockading. — The " Stone Fleet." — Effect 
on the Harbors of the South. 




HEN Gov. Buckingham issued orders in Septem- 
ber, 1861, for the formation of the Tenth Regri- 
ment, he had reached the limit set by the 
General Assembly at its May session. He 
therefore issued his proclamation on the 25th, 
convening; the Assemblv to consider what more the arrow- 
ing power of the Rebellion demanded from Connecticut, and 
to provide for the payment, by the State, of its proportion 
($308,214) of the direct tax imposed by Congress at its 
July session. 

The legislature met on the 9th of October following. 
Mr. Brandagee being disabled by illness, Hon. Henry C. 
Deming of Hartford was elected speaker pro tern, by accla- 
mation ; the Republican majority thus testifying their respect 
for a gentleman, who, elected as a Democrat, forgot all 
partisan feelings when he deemed his country in danger. 

The message of the governor was terse and earnest. In 
referring to the war, he said, — 

" Instead of inquiring how much we have done, shall we not inquire 
what more we can do ? It is a privilege to live in a day like this ; to take 
a bold and energetic part in the conflict which is now raging between law 
and anarchy, and during this revolution, which, in the onward progress 
of events, is to accomplish the wise designs of an overruling Providence, 
to exert an influence which shall aid in advancing this nation to such a 
position of strength and moral power, that every citizen may safely, fully, 

135 



136 CONNECTICUT DURING THE KEBELLION. 

and speedily enjoy the blessings of freedom-. This is a high honor within 
our reach, a rich privilege which we may enjoy, and a solemn duty which 
God calls on us now to perform." 

A law was passed authorizing the governor to enlist, or- 
ganize, and equip, according to his discretion, an unlimited 
number of volunteers ; and directing the treasurer to issue 
additional bonds of the State, to the amount of two million 
dollars, to meet whatever expenses might be incurred. 
This liberal action, in appropriating four million dollars in 
a single year, and intrusting its disbursement to a single 
man, evinced an uncalculating patriotism, and a confidence 
in the judgment and fidelity of the Executive almost with- 
out parallel. 

Appropriations were made for the assistance of the fami- 
lies of those three-months' men who had been retained as 
prisoners ; and the governor was authorized to pay the di- 
rect tax due the General Government by crediting the amount 
on the claims of the State. 

A resolution was passed (the Republicans and one Demo- 
crat voting for it) instructing the comptroller to remove the 
portraits of Ex-Govs. Toucey and Seymour from their places 
on the walls of the senate-chamber.^ 

The assembly adjourned Oct. 16, after a session of only 
one week. 

In September, it was announced that Gen. Butler had re- 
ceived authority to recruit one regiment from each New- 
England State for a secret expedition of great importance. 
He visited Hartford during the special session of the General 
Assembly, was presented to both houses, and received with 
great enthusiasm. 

He counseled with the governor and prominent citizens, 
among them his old Democratic friend Hon. Henry C. 
Deming, then Speaker of the House of Representatives 
(elected by acclamation in a house largely Republican). 
Mr. Deming accepted a coumiission as colonel of a regiment 
to be raised for this service, and to be called " The Charter- 
oak Regiment." The other regiments were to take State 

1 The resolution provided that the comptroller might restore the portraits to their 
frames when he was satisfied of their loyalty. They were replaced before the meeting of 
the General Assembly in 1867. 



BATTERY AND BATTALION. 137 

appellations ; as " The Pine-tree State," " The Granite State," 
*' The Bay State," and " The Green-mountain Boys." ^ 

The regiment thus decided on became, in the order of re- 
cruiting, the Twelfth Connecticut Volunteers, and was gen- 
erally so designated. 

About the middle of September, the Secretary of War sig- 
nified to Gov. Buckingham his readiness to accept a battery 
of artillery and a battalion of cavalry from Connecticut. The 
governor immediately gave authority to proper persons to 
recruit for one company of cavalry in each congressional 
district, and to several persons in different parts of the State 
to enlist men for the battery. Both organizations were pop- 
ular from the first, and volunteers were rapidly enrolled. 

Oct. 22, the battery went into camp in West Meriden 
(Hanover District) with about a hundred men. On the 
26th, the men were mustered into the service of the United 
States for three years. The same day, they elected Selden 
T. Porter of Andover, and John S. Cannon of New Haven, 
first lieutenants ; and William T. Seward of Guilford, and 
George T. Metcalf of Hartford, second lieutenants. Guns 
and horses were soon furnished them for temporary use, and 
artillery practice at once began. 

Recruiting-officers for the cavalry battalion were appointed, 
with the intention of raising one company in each congres- 
sional district ; but the district-lines were not at all observed. 

Oct. 23, the battalion, numbering about three hundred 
men, encamped beside the battery. The men were soon 
equipped and mounted, and spent the bright days of autumn 
in learning camp and guard duty and cavalry tactics. They 
were at once the kings and pets of the town. The people 
opened their doors and their hearts, visited the camp with 
admiring curiosity, and rarely failed to leave some " creature 
comfort" as a token of cordial interest. 

Religious meetings were frequent, and well attended. A 
sentence from a discourse to them by Rev. E. Warriner, after- 
wards their esteemed chaplain, recalls a conception of battle 

"^ In making up the force of Gen. Butler, the original plan was departed from, and he 
received several regiments from each State; from Connecticut, the Ninth, Twelfth, and 
Thirteenth. The Ninth and Thirteenth were not recruited with a view to tlii^ special 
service. 

18 



138 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

then shared by both, but which both would now smile at. 
It is this : " When you swing your saber over the head of a 
rebel, pray, ' God have mercy on your soul ! ' and then strike ; 
and don't you pray too long either, for fear you may not 
hit him." The jDrayerfid Cromwellian style of fighting was 
more popular in early theory than common in later practice. 

The army-regulations make no provision for a chaplain to 
any organization smaller than a regiment ; but the Legisla- 
ture of Connecticut passed a special act for the commission 
and pay, by the State, of a chaplain to this battalion. Rev. 
Mr. Warriner was appointed ; and he proceeded to organize 
a church on a simple basis of Christian brotherhood. Sects 
and creeds vanished. Christian faith, and a renunciation of 
sin, became the test of a hearty fellowship, which survived 
all the vicissitudes of camp and field, increased with the 
growth of the battalion to a regiment, and continued fresh 
and earnest to the final muster-out. It is, perhaps, worthy 
of record, that of the fourteen who originally united in the 
declaration of faith, though thej^ were among the most de- 
voted and daring men, all save two were preserved through 
countless perils to the end of the conflict. Capt. Elbridge 
Colburn and Sergeant William P. Traganza died in the faith 
they professed. 

Similar church-organizations were formed in nearly all the 
regiments of our State, and kept up with more or less ear- 
nestness ; flourishing or decaying with the presence or ab- 
sence of a chaplain, the nature of the service, and the char- 
acter of officers and men. 

The members of the battalion, as a rule, were men of su- 
perior intelligence and charactei". Still the chaplain is sorely 
exercised to find very soon one of those anomalous and 
versatile characters, occasionally met with, who "makes 
flaming speeches ; and the next we hear of him, he is playing 
cards, swearing, shearing horses' tails, and then living on 
bread and water in the guard-tent." 

Drill was industriously continued in both the battalion and 
battery; and recruiting went on through October and Novem- 
ber, when the men were mustered into the service. The 
cavalry battalion had three hundred and forty-six men, some 



THE BATTERY BREAK CAMP. 139 

from almost every town in the State. Company A, Capt. An- 
drew Bowen, had eleven from Woodstock, and eleven from 
Hartford : the rest were mostly from towns in Tolland and 
Windham Counties. Company B, Capt. Charles Farnsworth, 
was recruited in New Haven, Derby, and adjoining towns. 
Company C, Capt. William S. Fish, received seventeen men 
from Stonington, the rest from New-London and Middlesex 
Counties. Company D, Capt. L. A. Middlebrook, was recruited 
in Bridgeport, which furnished thirty ; many towns in Fair- 
field and Litchfield Counties being represented. Major Henry 
Boardman, whose reputation as commander of the govern- 
or's Horse Guards had greatly accelerated the recruiting, was 
appointed major of the battalion. He resigned Nov. 18 ; 
and Judson M. Lyon was appointed to succeed him, on peti- 
tion of the citizens of Woodstock and neighboring towns. 

The battery was raised to a hundred and fifty-six men ; 
Hebron having twenty-nine, and Guilford twenty-seven. 
Early in December, they received four bronze six-pounder 
James rifled guns. With these they learned artillery drill 
practically during the ample leisure of midwinter. In fact, 
both cavalry and artillery men found it necessary to exercise 
to keep warm. They were not inured to exposure, and had 
not yet learned how to make the best of their accommoda- 
tions ; so that it is not surprising, that, living in a village of 
tents in this high latitude, the soldiers suffered as much from 
cold as at any subsequent time. 

They were impatient for active service ; and at last the 
welcome order came. Jan. 13, 1862, the battery, with full 
ranks and equipments, complete in every particular, broke 
camp for the seat of war. The destination was not definitely 
announced until they had turned their backs upon a dis- 
mantled camp, and looked upon the receding shores of 
Connecticut ; when they learned that they were to follow the 
Sixth and Seventh to the original Secessia, — the island-shore 
of South Carolina. 

Feb. 20, the mounted men of the battalion also spoke their 
reluctant good-bys, and, full of spirit and hope, set out for 
Wheeling, Va. 



140 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Meanwhile, the Ninth Regiment, at New Haven, had been 
fining slowly. Recruiting for it, though carried on with the 
same auxiliaries, seemed to be less successful than for some 
other organizations. At no time did it attain the minimum 
number required. 

The men were in camp for two months in New Haven ; yet 
they received no muskets nor any general outfit. One suit 
of blue, of poor material, constituted their entire equipment. 
The regiment bavins^ been turned over to Gen. Butler, Gov. 
Buckingham considered that all further responsibility was as- 
sumed by the Federal Government. The officers prosecuted 
their drills, and enforced discipline, under every disadvantage ; 
and neither ofl&cers nor men felt much of that military pride 
which accompanies the possession of the burnished arms 
and handsome uniforms that make a display possible. Feel- 
ino- sorely the apparent indifference of the government, 
quite a number were induced by their friends to desert, 
leaving the regiment with little more than six hundred men. 
In this condition, and with these feelings, they departed 
for Lowell, Mass., on Nov. 4 ; signalizing their progress 
through the State with conduct unusually boisterous and 
reckless. They went into camp by the side of the 26th 
Massachusetts, which was splendidly equipped in every 
particular. Here they resumed drill ; but few of the expected 
recruits were added. No arms or uniforms were received. 
Their pantaloons were beginning to assume various degrees 
of dilapidation. 

On Thanksgiving Day, the Ninth embarked, numbering 
about six hundred men, ragged, unarmed, and dispirited, 
accompanied by the 26th Massachusetts and a battery, on 
board the steam-transport Constitution, to do battle for the 
Union in the extreme South. At Fortress Monroe, Gen. 
Phelps was taken on board. After an uncomfortable voyage, 
they neared the long, low, white level of Ship Island, off the 
coast of Mississippi. Here they landed, Dec. 3, — the first of 
Butler's expedition, designed for the capture of New Orleans, 
Muskets and tents for the Ninth had been brought down, and 
were now distributed. The men were still wretchedly clad, 
and it was midwinter. Nearly half of them were without 



THE TWELFTH EEGIMENT. 141 

shoes, and as many more without shirts. Several had no coats 
or blankets. Some drilled in a primitive attire of blouse and 
cotton drawers. The tents were hardly capacious enough to 
cover them. There was no straw to sleep on. They were 
without transportation, and were obliged to bring the wood 
for their fires four miles. This was made into rafts ; and men 
almost naked, in water up to their arms, floated it down to 
camp. Chips were precious during the winter j and not a 
shaving was burned, except for necessary cooking. The 26th 
was equipped with warili blankets, ample tents, and two uni- 
form suits of clothing per man ; and to them the members 
of the Ninth furnished a contrast, which would have been 
amusing, if it were not humiliating. With the buoyancy of 
the Irish character, the men were hopeful, and, during these 
severe months, sent to their families not less than twenty 
thousand dollars, — almost their entire pay. 

The Ninth were daily detailed to the performance of 
fatigue-duty, including the unloading of vessels, &c. One 
day. they came upon a stock of canvas shoes consigned to 
the post-sutler. These Col. Cahill immediately appropriated, 
receipting for them on his own account, and distributing 
them among his barefoot command. Gen. Phelps could find 
nothincr in the regrulations authorizing- such an act ; but the 
colonel found sufficient justification in the paramount law 
of necessity. In this service, and in this state of discomfort, 
the Ninth awaited the approach of spring. 

Enlistments had continued for the Twelfth, and recruiting 
now assumed a thorough and systematic form. The bounty, 
National and State, was yet only a hundred and thirty 
dollars ; and patriotism was still the main reliance. Individ- 
uals offered inducements to volunteers. Some towns voted 
small bounties. Many young men rode from house to house, 
in localities where they were known and esteemed, and made 
personal application to the young men at their homes, first 
rousing their martial ardor (generally an easy task), and then 
appealing to fathers and mothers to send forth their sons, 
with their parental blessing, to fight for freedom and the 
Union. These were the most successful recruiting-officers, 
and they gathered in the noblest and sturdiest volunteers. 



142 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

The Twelfth was rather a favorite regiment from the first, 
and especially popular with the young war-Democrats, who 
rose up in every county to affirm, on the battle-field, that our 
country is not a confederacy, but a nation. Yet ten thou- 
sand men had already gone from the State within six months, 
and enlistments were slower. It was Nov. 18, when Com- 
pany A pitched its tents about two miles east^of Hartford, 
on a smooth field owned by Mr. Hamilton, sloping to the 
south-west, and affording abundant room for evolutions. 
Eight companies were on the grouiid, and mustered in by 
the 20th; though several were not full. By Dec. 2, the other 
two had taken their places. The camp was named Camp 
Lyon. 

Company A, Capt. George N. Lewis, was designated as the 
Colt Guards ; Company B, Capt. Samuel H. Granniss, the 
Peck Rifles ; Company C, Capt. L. A. Dickinson, the Deming 
Guards; Company F, Capt. Sidney E. Clark, the Bnshnell 
Rifles; Company G, Capt. Lester E. Braley, the Lyon Rifles; 
Company H, Capt. Foy, the Colburn Guards ; Company I, 
Capt. John W. De Forest, the Putnam Guards. These high- 
soundino; titles soon fell into disuse. 

The fancy of naming each company after some martyr of 
the war, or, oftener, after some philanthropic benefactor, pre- 
vailed in all the regiments ; but, in all cases, these were soon 
displaced by the company-letter. 

The towns which furnished the most men for Company A 
were as follows : Hartford, thirty-six ; South Windsor, six ; 
Glastenbury, six ; Middletown, five. Company B, New Ha- 
ven, forty-five ; Branford, seven ; Ashford and Madison, four 
each. Company C, Hartford, eleven ; New Haven, twenty- 
four ; Windsor Locks, eleven ; Brooklyn, six. Company D, 
Capt. N. Frankau, New London, thirty-five ; Waterford, thir- 
teen ; the Lymes, ten. Company E, Capt. Byxbee, Norwalk, 
thirty-eight ; Danbury, ten ; New Canaan and Brookfield, 
six each. Company F, New Haven, sixteen ; Westbrook and 
East Haddam, twelve each ; Chatham and Saybrook, six 
each. Company G, Windham, twenty-two ; Voluntown, 
Sprague, and Canterbury, nine each. Company H, Canton, 
twenty-six ; Hartford, eighteen ; Simsbury and Avon, seven 



THE THIETEENTH REGIMENT. 143 

each. Company I, Bridgeport, thirty-two ; Southington, 
twenty-three ; New Haven, thirteen. Company K, Capt. E. 
K. Abbott, Stonington, t^venty-four ; Ledyarcl, ten ; Canter- 
bury and Norwich, ten. 

It was late in the fall before the organization of the Thir- 
teenth Regiment was begun; and, on Nov. 2, Major Birge 
was transferred from the Fourth to its command. Within a 
month, at least the nucleus of every company was at the 
barracks (Durham & Booth's carriage-factory), corner of 
Chapel and Hamilton Streets, New Haven. " The regiment 
was the last to be raised under the call for five hundred 
thousand men. The State had been closely canvassed by 
a hundred recruiting-agents, and the companies filled up 
slowly. 

Company A, Capt. Henry L. Bidwell, entered the barracks 
as the Buckingham Guards ; and it was raised mainly in New 
Britain, Farmington furnishing fourteen. Company B, Capt. 
ApoUos Comstock, was recruited by officers from New Ca- 
naan ; and its ranks represented almost every town in Fair- 
field County. Company C, Capt. C. D. Blinn, was known as 
the Lyon Guards; and ten of the men w^ere from Cornwall, 
thirty-six from Kent, seventeen from Sharon, eight from 
Goshen ; and Canaan, Salisbury, and New Milford made 
up the rest. Company D, Capt. C. E. Prindle, the Litchfield- 
county Rifles, had twenty-one from New 'Hartford ; and the 
rest were picked up through the central part of the State. 
Company E, Capt. E. Tisdale, was called the New-England 
Guards, and was raised in Thompson, Killinglj^, and adjacent 
towns in the eastern part of the State. Company F, Capt. J. 
J. McCord, known as the Catlin Rifles, was a consolidation 
of fractional companies from Norwich and Hartford. Com* 
pany G, the Hebron Rifles, Capt. S. G. Gilbert, contained 
eight men from Hebron, fourteen from Marlborough, and 
seventeen from East Haddam. Company H, Capt. H. B. 
Sprague, was raised as the Welch Rifles, mainly in New 
Haven. Company I, Capt. H. L. Schleiter, was a consolida- 
tion of companies from New London and Litchfield. Com- 
pany K, Capt. A. Mitchell, the Knowlton Rifles, was raised 
in New Haven and vicinity. 



144 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Gov. Buckingham made it a matter of duty to visit every 
regiment organized in the State, and address to its officers 
words of affectionate counsel respecting their duties, rights, 
and responsibilities. " I remember their substance well," 
says an officer. " After telling us what a noble band of men 
we had the honor to command, and of the high motives 
which had actuated them to leave their homes for scenes so 
full of hazard and suffering, he told us that we could do 
much both to promote their usefulness and to relieve their pri- 
vations. ' Remember,' said he, ' that the government, though 
sorely pressed, makes ample provision for its defenders. 
Study well the Regulations : in them you will find your 
duties and your privileges clearly defined. Whatever the 
government provides, that your men are entitled to receive. 
See that they are thus provided. If, through the carelessness 
of officers on the higher staffs, such provision is not made, do 
not hesitate to make your complaints until the grievance is 
remedied. If you cannot get redress otherwise, then write 
me the facts fully, and I will apply to the highest power in 
the land for you.' Then, after an earnest appeal to us to 
seek divine guidance and protection, he bade us farewell. 
I saw, during my connection with the regiment, frequent 
evidences that the words of his Excellency were warmly 
remembered by many of the officers." 

The Twelfth was* rapidly taking shape as a first-class regi- 
ment. Its ranks were full. Officers and men were diligently 
exercised in drill : nothin'ji: but a severe storm was allowed to 
interfere. Snow was cleared away or trodden down. " Lieut- 
Col. Colburn was enthusiastic in his drill. His experience 
in the State militia, and as major of the Second Connecticut 
(three-months' troops), fitted him well for his post. Some- 
times he was so engaged as not to hear the recall. The pri- 
vates usually did."^ 

The tents were of the James patent, like the Sibley in 
shape, having a vertical shaft of hollow iron in the centre, 
which served as a chimney : into this was fitted the pipe of 
a small sheet-iron stove, by which the tent was readily 
warmed. A board floor, rude tables and chairs, and beds 

^ Chaplain J. H. Bradford, Connecticut War Record, p. 134. 



DEPARTURE OF TWELFTH REGIMENT. 145 

of straw, made the tents quite comfortable on pleasant 
days ; and, though the men thought them hardly habi- 
table, they lived to long for them again, and wonder that 
they had ever had such luxurious accommodations. 

The winter was unusually cold and stormy, and the men 
were sometimes pinched and uncomfortable ; but they were 
much healthier than the Thirteenth in the barracks at New 
Haven, and the hardier for their exposure. The measles had 
quite a run, and in two cases proved fatal. 

The camp was much frequented by friends and citizens, 
and was complimented by military visitors for its neatness 
and good order. The regiment was thoroughly equipped 
by the United States, through Gen. Butler. 

The privations in Camp Lyon were few compared with a 
soldier's experience in the field. The winter months came 
and passed, with little to disturb the ordinary routine except 
an occasional presentation of some equipments to an ofhcer 
by friends at home. A few will recall the occasion of the 
presentation of an elegant sword and attachments to Lieut. 
Stanton Allyn by his fellow-townsmen of Ledyard. The 
company were drawn up in line, and the gifts presented by 
Ledyard Bill with an appropriate speech, which was fittingly 
responded to by the young officer. Similar scenes occurred 
at every camp throughout the State. 

Feb. 24, the order for departure was promulgated; and, 
on the following morning, they turned fi-om their disrobed 
camp to say good-by to their assembled friends. It was a 
clear morning, after a hard snow ; and the men, in marching 
to the depot and loading their baggage, were chilled by the 
searching wind. At New Haven, they took the steamer 
Elm City ; whence, on arrival at New York, they were trans- 
ferred, still shivering, to the steam-transport Fulton, in 
whose capacious hold they found warmth and rest. Am- 
munition was the next day dealt out to the troops ; and, 
about noon of March 1, the Fulton steamed down the harbor. 

A quiet passage of eight days, with little sea-sickness, 
brought them to the low sand-beach of Ship Island. Foui- 
regiments had already arrived. There was nothing to eat 
except army-rations. An expedition to Horn Island prom- 

19 



146 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION". 

ised fresh beef; but the cattle captured were so poor that they 
were not eaten with any reHsh, even by hungry men. Early 
in April, sixteen regiments were reviewed, and the Twelfth 
was especially complimented. It was unusually well drilled, 
and made a fine appearance. 



The Confederate leaders were, at this time, obtaining their 
main army-supplies from their English friends by blockade- 
runners. In October, the government resolved on a novel 
plan of closing, temporarily at least, the ports of Charleston 
and Savannah, from which then chiefly the long, low, swift 
craft plied their trade. 

The Navy Department, after consultation with many gen- 
tlemen familiar with shipping, committed the whole business 
of purchasing, loading, and sending out the vessels, to E-ichard 
H. Chappell of New London, giving him general instructions, 
and leavinof all matters of detail to his discretion. 

The first order was for twenty-five vessels, of from two 
hundred to four hundred tons each. Before these were 
loaded, twenty more were ordered ; making a fleet of forty- 
five sail, to be dispatched at once. The entire coast of New 
England was traversed to find forty-five suitable vessels at 
prices within the limits named by the government. Mr. 
Chappell availed himself of the services of J. H. Bartlett & 
Sons of New Bedford, and Vernon H. Brown of Boston. 
Ships, barks, and brigs were purchased in New York, Fair- 
haven, New London, Mystic, Sag Harbor, New Bedford, Nan- 
tucket, Boston, Gloucester, and Portland. A large part of 
them were old whale-ships. 

Great dispatch was required : the vessels were concen- 
trated for needed repairs, and for the better facility of 
loading and clearing, at New London, New Bedford, and 
Boston. Large numbers of workmen were employed at 
these ports in stripping, loading, and rigging ; and numerous 
teams engaged in hauling stone to the docks. The founda- 
tion-rocks of several New-England farms were speedily 
shipped to a Southern market. Masters, mates, and seamen 
eagerly accepted a chance to go down and see the edge of 



THE STONE FLEET. 147 

the Rebellion. For a time, all was activity and bustle : even 
the teamsters caught the spirit of the enterprise, carried the 
American flag at the head of a line of teams, and sang patri- 
otic songs in chorus. The arrangements for prompt sink- 
ing of the vessels when in the right position consisted of 
a large hole under the stern, made before loading, stopped 
by an outer and an inner plug secured by an inside screw. 
This screw could be instantly withdrawn, and the vessel 
would fill with water in a few minutes. 

The first fleet of twenty-five sailed from their respective 
ports Nov. 21, 1861 ; while the second fleet of twenty fol- 
lowed on the 11th of December. Thirteen of these went 
from New London ; the commodore for the cruise being the 
veteran Capt. John P. Rice, well known as a competent 
shipmaster. One or two of the fleet put back from accident ; 
but nearly all were delivered to the naval commanders off" 
Charleston and Savannah. A majority were used as at first 
designed, and, with their masts cut away, were, for a time, 
ugly customers for the keel of a blockade-runner to en- 
counter as she tried to dodge in or out on a dark night. 
Some were used by the Navy Department as store-vessels in 
various places ; others constituted the foundation for tem- 
porary wharves at Port Royal, or in the inlets where our 
navy was employed : not one, it is believed, " lived " to 
return. 

Foreign sympathizers with the Rebellion denounced this as 
an act of vandalism more atrocious than the bombardment 
of a city. In the results, the moral effect was evidently greater 
than the physical : the rebels and their friends were badly 
frightened, and this " feeling of the enemy " drew their fire. 
In a few months, the obstructed channels were replaced by 
new courses for the water ; and probably, at the present day, 
hardly a trace of the stone fleet remains. Blockade-running 
was checked, driven to Wilmington and other ports, and 
rendered less safe and profitable. Mr. Chappell's account 
of disbursements was accepted by the government, and set- 
tled at once ; and he was thanked for the promptness, integ- 
lity, and efficiency he had displayed. 




CHAPTER X. 

Patriotic Benevolence. — The Regiments in the Field supplied. — Sewing and Knitting. 
— Thanksgiving Day. — Soldiers'-aid Societies. — Systematic Effort. — Alfred 
"Walker. — Thirteenth at New Haven. — A " Dandy Regiment." — Off for Ship 
Island. — The Ninth. — Dash at Biloxi and Pass Christian. — Victory. — Trophies, 
and Thanks of Gen. Butler. — Capture of New Orleans. 

HE generous beneficence of our people had now 
subsided from the sudden flash to the steady 
glow. Our women, with eyes ever towards the 
front, were quick to discern wherein their first 
spasmodic exertions had been well and wherein 
ill directed, and went forward more thoughtfully to wiser 
efforts. 

For the Fourth and Fifth Regiments, the proper authorities, 
having time to act, provided uniforms, with tolerable quar- 
ters and rations, and left little for citizens to do in these re- 
spects. That which was done in other respects for the first 
three regiments was done for them, less profusely, but more 
judiciously. 

With these regiments, the making of havelocks ended ; 
the soldiers having found that green leaves in the hat were 
more convenient, and quite as serviceable. 

The friends of the Fourth promptly supplied the regi- 
mental hospital with every thing which affection suggested 
and good judgment approved ; sent many boxes to the 
" boys" in the various companies ; and in the autumn supplied, 
for a time, nearly all the clothing and shoes wdiich the regi- 
ment had. The Fifth reached Harper's Ferry on Aug. 4 ; 
and by the 10th a large consignment of miscellaneous 
supplies had been sent by the people of Southbury and 
Woodbury to the Woodbury company, — enough, in fact, 

148 



KNITTING-CIRCLES THROUGHOUT THE STATE. 149 

distributed with a soldier's generosity, to scatter some 
comfort through the entire regiment, as is indicated by a 
grateful acknowledgment from Col. Ferry. 

This was but the first of many welcome boxes and barrels 
from these and other towns. 

The hospital of the regiment was provided with bedding 
of every sort ; with niedicines, fruits, jellies, wines, for the 
sick and the convalescent. The hospitals of the regiments 
in camp in the State were similarly provided, so far as was 
necessary. Those who fell sick were generally sent to 
their homes to recover, except in cases of contagious mala- 
dies ; and the ladies promptly provided every thing they 
could to alleviate these cases. As soon as cold weather 
came on, knitting-circles were formed. Among the earliest 
were those at Norwalk, which met on Tuesday and Friday 
evenings of each week, at different houses conveniently situ- 
ated. On Dec. 20, one hundred and eight were present, all 
busily rattling the nimble needles. A box of mittens and 
stockings to the Fifth Connecticut Volunteers, and another 
to the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers, were early fruits of 
their diligent labors. Many boxes followed. 

Soon, in circles, or at their houses, women all over the 
State were knitting. This method of manifesting practical 
patriotism was particularly popular among the old ladies. 
Mrs. Abiah Cady of Plainfield, the widow of a Revolutionary 
soldier, then ninety-four years of age, finished, in six weeks, 
ten pairs of stockings for the boys from that town. Mrs. 
Prudence Stoddard of Norwich, then almost a century old, 
was almost constantly busied in the same way. She had 
knitted stockings for soldiers in three wars. 

Hon. Henry S. Sanford of Derby, our minister at the 
court of Holland, and one of the most accomplished repre- 
sentatives of America abroad, sent home, as a present to the 
State, two handsome steel cannon. His patriotism was 
shown in similar gifts to some other States. 

When Thanksgiving approached, a goodly quantity of 
poultry and pumpkin-pies were dispatched from various 
towns to the men in the Fourth and Fifth in the field, and to 
the Eighth and Tenth at Annapolis. The happy recipients 



150 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

did their best to enjoy the day in New-England style ; and 
the remenil:) ranee made their hearts warm and grateful, in 
spite of the f;xct, that, in many cases, the uneasy chickens 
and pumpkin-pies had performed a good many revolutions. 

The ladies of Meriden bountifully supplied the First Cav- 
alry and First Battery in Camp Tyler (at Hanover) ; the 
citizens of other places sent in a considerable quantity of 
provisions suitable to the day for troops encamped in their 
vicinity ; while Mr. B. F. Mansfield of New Haven, then 
United-States commissary ^ for this State and Rhode Island, 
supplied deficiencies in all the camps at his own personal 
expense. The Thirteenth Regiment, in barracks at New 
Haven, passed, as a regiment, enthusiastic resolutions of 
thanks to Mr. Mansfield ; and other regiments, through their 
officers, handsomely acknowledged his welcome donations. 

The Sixth and Seventh Regiments had received, before 
their departure for Hilton Head, hospital-supplies, packages 
of books and papers, and a large number of boxes sent hy 
friends to individual soldiers. 

The Eighth and Tenth Regiments, which remained longer 
at Annapolis, received large donations of books, papers, cloth- 
ing, and delicacies, both for the hospital and for general dis- 
tribution, from Norwich, Mystic, Bridgeport, New Haven, 
Norwalk, Washington, and other towns. 

The ladies of Bridgeport organized a soldiers'-aid societ}' 
on the 15th day of April, and those of Middletown on the 
20th, and those of a very few other towns about the same 
time. 

But during the summer the work for soldiers was chiefly 
in disconnected efforts, by families or groups of families, for 
a soldier or squad from their own neighborhood, or in re- 

1 Mr. Jlansfiekl, as a militia-officer, was somewhat acquainted with military methods. 
Col. Loomis, the United-States mustering-officer, who was a total stranger in New Haven, 
finding him thoroughly competent, immediately requested him to prepare the camps of 
the three-months' regiiiients, and then to provide rations and all kinds of supplies. This 
he performed foithfuily, without com]icnsation, until the three regiments left for the field. 
Col. Loomis recommended him to his successor, and also to Col. Tomkins and others in 
New York, who secured his permanent services as deputy commissary for Connecticut 
and Rhode Island. In this capacity, he supplied, hesidcs many other troops, all the regi- 
ments raised in our State, until a regular United- '-tates post was established at Grape-vine 
Point in the latter part of 1863. 

He made numerous journeys to the army on business of ihc supply department, carry- 
ing and bringing always messages and packages by the hundred, and distributing often, 
at'eithcr end^of his journey, much more than had b^en put into his hands. 



SUPPLIES FOR THE SOLDIERS. 151 

sponse to some general appeal. In the latter case, the efforts 
of a large number of communities were sometimes directed 
to a single point ; and superabundance and waste ensued, 
while sufiering at other points was unrelieved. But our 
women, as thej had learned what to send, soon began to 
learn how to send ; and system was gradually evolved. 

On the 9th of June, the Sanitary Commission was organ- 
ized, and issued its first circular from Washing-ton on the 3d 
of Jul}^ The response to the call was not very general or 
liberal. 

The Commission had not yet a sure foothold in the army 
hospitals; and was, in fice of English experience in the Cri- 
mean War, scouted and opposed by the medical department 
at Washington. Besides, the attention of the people was 
fixed on the camps and regimental hospitals. The general 
hospitals had yet comparatively few patients. 

We find, however, that the ladies of New Haven sent, on 
the 5th of August, several large boxes of supplies to Miss 
Dix for the hospitals at Washington. There were other 
small contributions from individuals, and occasionally from 
sewing-circles. The circular issued on the 5th of October. 
" To the Loyal Women of America," produced a much greater 
impression. Supplies of value were forwarded during the 
month of November from Hartford, Mystic, Stonington, and 
other towns. Women now resolved to accumulate supplies 
for coming exigencies. Societies were everywhere formed 
for regular continued labor. The larger number of these 
ultimately became auxiliaries of the Sanitary Commission. 

About the 10th of October, Alfred Walker of New Haven 
gave public notice that he would receive at his furniture 
store, and pack and forward, whatever the people saw fit to 
contribute for the Sanitary Commission.- Many smiled at 
the idea ; and some sterling patriots told him that he would 
not get five boxes. His own estimate, though higher than 
that, is yet revealed by the fact that he set out to keep his 
records on the last leaves of an old ledger; devoting the last 

■^ The effort arcw out of the appointment, at an informal meeting in October, 18G1, of 
A. C. Twining, Alfred Walker, Charles Carlisle, S. 1). Pardee, Thomas R. Trowbridge, and 
Moses C. White, as a committee to aid in furnishing supplies for siek and wonmlcd 
soldiers. The other members of the committee assisted from time to time ; but the burifen 
of care and labor was borne from the first by Mr. Walker. 



152 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

two pages to the cash account, and the preceding four to the 
record of articles received and forwarded. 

On the 17th, he collected twenty dollars from E. Salisbury, 
ten each from James Brewster, James M. Hoppin, and N. B. 
Ives, to pay for freight. 

On the 19th, he sent the first box ; on the 23d, the seventh ; 
by Nov. 6, he had filled the four blank pages, ending with 
box No. 28, — twenty-seven bottles of wine ; and, wisely writ- 
ing backwards from that time, he notes, early in February, 
the hundredth box ; and in November, 18G2, his record shows 
that he had forwarded from eighty-six localities, including 
New Haven, three hundred and seventy one boxes and bar- 
rels to the Sanitary Commission, and forty-four boxes to 
Connecticut regiments ; the whole bearing a value, at mode- 
rate estimate, of more than twenty-five thousand dollars. 

Seeing the rising tide, Mr. Walker, in November, 1861, 
secured free transportation by boat to New York, and thence, 
with government freight, to Baltimore and Washington. The 
records and accounts were kept gratuitously by himself and 
others in his store. His employes, assisted by ladies who 
volunteered, packed the goods free of charge. By these means, 
the entire cash expenditure for assorting, packing boxes, 
and freight, for the entire year, was but $1,242.01, of which 
he collected $1,232.03. The entire task was conducted by 
Mr. Walker with the exactness and system of his own private 
business. 

The name of every article was four times written out, — 
once when received (and this time with the name of the 
town, and often of the individual donor), a second time for 
publication in the daily paper, again when packed, and a 
fourth time in an invoice forwarded with the box. Of the 
labor thus incurred, we may form some idea from the fact, 
that at the time of a partial report in April, when about one- 
third was done, 16,098 separate articles had been received.^ 
These minute statements indicate the nature and value of 
materials sent : Box No. 3 contained twenty-nine woolen 
blankets, thirty-three bed-quilts, thirtyrthree cotton sheets, 
thirty-eight pillows, thirty-eight pairs of pillow-cases. Box 

'^ Accompanying this report of five months' work is the tabular statement on p. 153. 



ARTICLES FOE THE SICK AND WOUNDED. 



153 



No. 34 had thirty-five pairs sheets, fifty-seven pairs pillow- 
cases, thirty-one papers corn-starch, eight pounds crushed 
sugar, seven wrappers, seven bowls of jelly, nine bottles 
of wine, one bottle sherbet, one bottle brandy, one bottle 
peppermint, one bottle catchup, nineteen towels, sixteen 
pairs pillows, twenty-four pairs socks, six pairs cotton socks, 

Tabular View of Articles for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers ; sent 

THROUGH the AgENCY AT NeW HaVEN, FROM DIFFERENT ToWNS. 







"O 




o 
















■a . 


n; 






NAMES OF TOWNS. 


1 . 
! 1 

5 


a 

M 

E 


s 

CO 


s 

'2 

3 

o 

•a 
a 

e 

o 


i 

3 

CO 




5 


•a 

§ 

is 
P 


1 

a 
1 

n 




1-1 


i 

o 


11 

a a> 


bo 

& 

a 



'3 
1 


i 







o 




!U 


1 












>-] 









New Haven 


236 


328 


223 


450 


288 


105 186 


762 


196!644 


205101 


1200 


126 


386 


$242.75 


East Haven 


18 


22 


19 


73 


15 




7 


45 


6115 




5 


1 


2 


13 


2.00 


West Haven 


19 


32 


42 


62 


33 


4 


19 


12 


8 


18 


10 


1 


57 


2 


10 


3.00 


North Haven 


3 




2 










6 




10 






6 




68 


5.00 


Fair Haven 


5 


17 


32 


16 


lio 




15 


115 


8 


39 


10 


5 


160 




5 




Woodbridge 


5 


15 


15 


8 


14 




6 


12 


4 








16 








Westville 


12 


9 


6 


13 


2 


3 


10 


22 




8 


6 


6 




3 


3 




Waterburv 


22 


31 


37 


27 


22 










8 






i 




6 




Wliitneyville 


5 


2 


5 


1 








2 










2 


3 


12 




Wallingford 


26 


47 


58 


101 


90 




48 


61 


18 


39 


14 


io 










Prospect 


5 


7 


32 


42 








5 


2 


19 




2 


12 


2 


23 


2.35 


Southbury 


18 


35 


23 


27 


2 






41 




6 


19 








44 




Merideu 


5 


11 


15 


27 


46 




27 


45 




36 






6 


4 


26 




Orange 


10 
3 


13 


40 


49 
2 


15 

15 




27 
2 


21 

4 


4 


16 
1 


5 


10 


50 


17 


20 


14.20 


Branford 




Oxford 


12 

15 


G 
39 


13 
63 


IG 
16 


30 


i 

11 


i4 


8 
68 


••1 4 
12197 


28 


35 


36 
150 


5 
185 


13 

125 




Cheshire 




Milford . . ... 


45 
3 


8 
21 


90 
11 


59 
41 


47 


4 
1 


43 


41 
34 


5142 




io 


20 


6 


5 
1 




North Branford .... 




13 




North Guilford 




1 


1 


65 








1 


















Naufatuck . . . 




26 


70 


24 


20 
« 5 


7 

12 

2 


5 
15 


26 

4 

53 


21 


io 

18 
54 


15 

i 


li 

6 


12 
12 


41 

1 

12 


17 
19 
14 




Guilford . . ... 






Durham 


12 


41 


27 


21 




Sevmour 


18 


41 


47 


53 


3 




12 


21 


3 


16 


14 


25 


420 


7 


11 




Wolcott 


17 


22 


16 


19 


1 


2 


1 


6 




13 






30 


5 


63 


2.50 


Bethanv 


6 


25 


33 


53 


12 




2 


18 


3 


33 




8 


1 


4 


30 


12.00 


Mt. Carmel 


7 


26 


13 


14 


12 


8 


17 


38 


3 




4 


6 


14 




101 


1.75 








11 
11 


"s 


29 


12 


6 
4 


23 
29 


'8 


82 


3 




'3 


ii 


43 

8 




Rockville 


2 


11 




Woodbury 


12 


26 


20 


31 


10 


1 


9 


73 


1 


3 


3 


5 


36 




14 


102.00 


Huntington 


13 


30 


52 


42 






12 


28 


1 


1 






4 




34 




Plvmouth Hollow . . . 


5 


36 


23 


6 


10 


9 


6 


13 




24 




4 


30 


24 


38 




Farmin2;ton 


3 


47 


55 


22 


14 


10 


23 


125 


9 


45 


6 


8 


29 


4 


31 




Northfield 




4 

7 

25 


10 

2 

23 


17 
6 
6 


16 

6 

12 


11 
6 


16 

5 

25 


41 
11 
26 


3 


2 

9 


i 


4 
17 


6 

18 
68 


4 
12 
16 


8 

2 

33 




Darien . . 


14 
3 




Unionville 




Jewett City 




13 


7 


23 


2 






80 




3 






12 




23 










|574 


1024J1177 


1388 


782 


210 


533 


1890 


320 


919 


344 


269 


2275 


552 


1312 


$387.55 



Total Number of Articles 



13,098. 



Since this table Avas made up, a large and valuable donation of articles has come from 
Essex and North Woodbury ; and it is proper to add, that we are still sending an average 
of six boxes each week. 

20 



154 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

six skeins of yarn, two rolls linen, six rolls cotton, five bags 
of fruit, one pair of slippers, three cans sweetmeats, two 
backgammon-boards, one checker-board, needles, thread, but- 
tons", books, cups, pans, soap, tallow, beeswax, &c. No. 232 
was packed with forty-one jars of jelly; 237, with seventeen 
kegs of pickles; 239, with fifteen jars of currant-jelly ; 295, 
with eighteen gallons of pickles and a box of jellies ; while 
314 was a half-barrel of barberry-jam. These examples are 
selected with a view to variety, not superiority ; and are 
little, if at all, above the average value. 

These records show, too, how this vast quantity came, un- 
asked, by items, from the homes of soldiers' friends. The list 
of contributors from out-of-the-way towns with sterile soil 
and scanty wealth is particularly impressive. From hill}^ 
Prospect, containing hardly sixty families, are donations from 
fifty-five persons, nearly all ladies ; from Wolcott, not much 
larger or richer, came offerings from sixty-seven inhabitants. 
From these towns came pillows, pillow-cases, blankets, feath- 
ers, old linen, bandages, sheets, towels, handkerchiefs, dried 
blackberries, raspberries, currants, and apples, jellies, pickles, 
loose gowns, woolen blankets, books, papers, music-books, 
quilts, stockings, cushions, grape-wine, currant-wine, flannel 
sheets, corn-starch, thread, needles, buttons, cotton-cloth, 
and yarn, with small amounts of cash ; the variety showing 
that the houses had been searched from garret to cellar to 
find all that could be sparer!, and the qualitj^ proving that 
nothing was deemed too good for the soldier. And the sol- 
dier acquainted with the families in such towns reads with 
moistening eye the familiar na.mes, in these dull lists, of 
patient wives, of well-remembered comrades killed in battle, 
and other names of those, who, out of deep penury, have 
given that which cost them great selfdenial, perhaps actual 
suffering. These records, kept then as a matter of business- 
habit, will be hereafter "-arnered as an historic treasure. 



The barracks occupied by the Thirteenth at New Haven, 
during the winter of 1861-2, were poorly warmed and ven- 
tilated. Small-pox made its appearance ; but a knowledge 



THE BE AVE THIRTEENTH. 155 

of it was kept from soldiers and citizens. The infected 
were quietly removed to a pest-house. It was rumored that 
the patients absent and unaccounted for had deserted ; and 
so generally was this believed, that the afflicted wife of one 
of the nurses left her home in Norwich, and returned to her 
native Scotland ! Before the regiment left to join Butler's 
expedition, ten or twelve had died of diseases engendered 
within the unwholesome walls. But the barracks were not 
always gloomy. They were in the city, and patriotic men 
and women constantly brought the soldiers comforts and 
luxuries. Quartets came and sang to them, and orators 
lectured in their chapel. Prayer-meetings were numerously 
attended. A temperance society was formed, and large num- 
bers signed the pledge. In this connection, the soldiers 
mention Rev. Mr. Dudley with gratitude. 

Col. Birge was a strict if not severe disciplinarian, an 
accurate drill-master, proud of his men, and possessed of a 
quick military mind. He especially enjoined neatness, clean- 
liness, and martial bearing. Every belt, shoe, and box must 
be neatly polished ; every gun-barrel and bayonet must shine 
like a mirror ; every hand must wear a glove of spotless white ; 
every form must be erect and manly. So much attention was 
given to appearance, that it is related, that, while marching- 
through New Orleans, they were amused by the frequent 
comment of spectators, " This regiment is composed only of 
rich men's sons ! " And Parton, in his Butler in New 
Orleans, styles the Thirteenth " a dandy regiment." Col. 
TI. B. Sprague, in his excellent history of the regiment, 
says, " Many prophesied that our soldiers would prove 
parlor-soldiers, fit only to 

' Caper nimbly in a, lady's chamber 
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute ; 

and that those fine clothes would never tarry to be riddled 
by bullets. A year or two afterwards, at the close of a hot 
battle, Capt. Sprague reminded Col. Birge of these predic- 
tions. 'Well,' he replied, 'I notice they didn't run away 
like some of those dirty regiments!'" Drill was very con- 
stant through the winter. The men were mustered in by 



156 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

squads, at irregular intervals, from Dec. 17 to the date of 
departure, and the officers on Feb. 18. England was just be- 
ffinnino; to take sides with the Confederates : so the muster- 
ino--officer, in addition to the usual oath, bound the men to 
serve " against England or any foreign power that may wage 
war ao:ainst us." 

Orders soon came to leave for Ship Island in the Gulf; 
and, on March 17, the life at the barracks ended. Mothers, 
brothers, wives, sisters, and '• another not a sister," hastily 
assembled to give a farewell word of cheer and blessing, and 
see their loved ones march away upon a proud mission. 
There w^as a rush and a shout of eager citizens, a streaming 
of bright, new banners, a roll of jubilant drums, a moment- 
ary vision of blue uniforms ; and ,the Granite State steamed 
down the harbor, and was gone. 

While in New York, the Sons of Connecticut paid the regi- 
ment many attentions ; and Col. Birge was presented with an 
expensive pair of pistols by Robert H. McCurdy, the con- 
stant friend of our troops. 

On March 18, the regiment was transferred, in New-York 
Harbor, to the ship City of New York, which, after five 
days' waiting, weighed anchor to join Farragut and Butler 
at the mouth of the Mississippi. The voyage was meager of 
notable incident. They had evening theatricals, participated 
in by Sergeants Gardner of H, and Gardner of K, Corporal 
Devereaux Jones, and Private Charles Raf&le, — all expe- 
rienced actors ; and songs by Jeremiah Keefe, James McAl- 
lister, Vv^illiam B. Bragg, and Company A's accomplished 
Glee Club. The ship encountered a storm off Hatteras ; 
touched, with some peril, at Florida Keys ; sighted a rakish- 
looking steamer, and showed fight, with Sergeant Merrill and 
Private Thomas Harrison at the single cannon ; and, on 
April 13, disembarked on Ship Island, which had just been 
swept by a terrible storm. 

Assistant Surgeon John B. Welch of the Twelfth, from 
Winsted, died while the regiment remained at Ship Island, 
after brief but faithful service. 



A NAVAL BATTLE. 1^'J 

During the latter part of March, the Ninth was relieved 
from the monotony of its discomfort by a raid upon the 
enemy. A boat with a little girl in it being found adrift, and 
brought to Ship Island, Gen. Butler sent it to the nearest 
town, Biloxi, under a flag of truce, in charge of Major 
Strong, his chief of staff While returning to the island, 
Major Strong was fired upon from the shore, — an act of bar- 
barism which so incensed Gen. Butler, that he ordered the 
Ninth to cross the sound, and burn the town if the outraire 
was not promptly apologized for. The force went ashore in 
a steam-transport, convoyed by the gunboat New London* 
and another ; and the landino; was the sig;nal for the flio-ht 
of rebel soldiers and citizens in great terror. Skirmishers 
were sent into the country, and brought back the fugitive 
mayor, who made atonement by declaring that the treachery 
of the morning was the act of straggling ruffians over whom 
he had no control. 

Col. Cahill took possession of the town. Next day it was 
rumored that there were eighteen hundred rebels at Pass 
Christian, twenty miles farther west, and that they were 
about to move on Biloxi. Col. Cahill and Major Strong con- 
sidered the situation, concluded that the rebels would proba- 
bly leave half their force at Pass Christian, and resolved 
immediately to sail down and attack the place, relying qn 
success to justify them before their commander for exceed- 
ing instructions. 

They went quietly aboard at dark, and started rapidly 
down the coast. The transport Lewis was a small, old, 
rickety craft, with a wheezy engine ; but she carried two 
smart three-inch Sawyer guns in the bow. Col. Cahill had 
gone on board a gunboat to arrange the plan; when just at 
daylight, off Mississippi City, three rebel gunboats attacked 
them furiously. The two gunboats replied sharply. A 
naval officer advised Col. Cahill to hurry to the transport, 
and run her into shoal water, so that, when she sunk, the 
men could get ashore. He started at once, and returned in 
an open boat through the midst of the fire. A gunboat 

* The New London v/as formerly a propeller running between New London, Conn., 
and New York, now altered to a screw gunboat with five guns. She was commanded by 
Lieut. Abner Reed, and captured many blockade-runners. 



158 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

was plying savagely, with shot and shell, the crowded 
transport. Several shots took effect. One passed through 
the wheelhouse ; one crashed through the cabin, turning 
Father Mullen, the chaplain, suddenly out of his berth. The 
greatest excitement and confusion prevailed. 

As soon as the colonel was within hailing distance, he 
shouted to his men to fire ; and the saucy little pieces in- 
stantly replied to the enemy's guns. The rebel w^as now 
near, and broadside to. The officers of the Ninth super- 
intended the firing. • One lucky shot shattered the rebel 
pilot-house ; another cut the tiller-rope. The Lewis had all 
steam on, and was backing towards shore. Soon the over- 
matched rebel gunboats made off, rapidly pursued by our 
own. 

The Ninth effected a landing at Pass Christian, and 
passed quickly through the town. Two miles beyond, the 
4th Mississippi was drawn up in line of battle. It kept 
up a constant fusilade as the Ninth advanced ; but the lat- 
ter fired one volley, and charged with an Irish " Ya-a-a-a-ah ! " 
when the defenders of the soil broke, and ran to the woods. 

The victors scattered through the comfortable camp, and 
made themselves at home. Capt. Lawrence O'Brien ^ found 
in the commander's tent a dispatch to Gen. Lovell at New 
Or]eans : " The Federals are landing in force. I shall 
delend the place. Have eight hundred infantry, two com- 
panies cavahy, and two batteries." The ink was not dry 
when he was retreating, demoralized, in the direction of the 
force that had gone to recapture Biloxi. 

The camp was well provided and amply furnished ; the 
officers' quarters even possessing a piano. They abandoned 
tents and equipage, arms and ammunition, food, and every 
thing else ; and the Ninth loaded the transport with as much 
as they could carry back to the island. Next morning, they 
again embarked ; and, before leaving, a committee came 
down, and expressed the thanks of the citizens for the good 
conduct of the soldiers during the night. The regiment 

" Under the name of Osborne, Capt. O'Brien appeared, in 1867, as a Tenian officer in 
Ireland. He was captured and confined in Clonmel jail, one of the strongest in the 
island, but, to the astonishment of the English, escaped the first night. He was a brave 
and efficient officer, and fertile in exjjedients. 



THE NINTH AND TWELFTH REGIMENTS. 159 

returned to the island in high spirits, bearing among their 
trophies sundry wrought-iron bowie-knives (one of them 
marked " Yankee exterminator") and a beautiful silk flag 
(the colors of the 4th Mississippi), carried off in spite of the 
tearful protestations of the fair rebels who made it. 

It was not difficult to obtain the forgiveness of Gen. But- 
ler for acting without authority. He issued, before going to 
New Orleans, the following order : — 

Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, April 12. 

General Orders, No. 10.^ — The major-general commanding desires 
publicly to testify his appreciation of the gallant courage and good conduct 
of the Ninth Connecticut Volunteers, Col. Cahill commanding, and a sec- 
tion of the 6th Massachusetts Battery, on a recent expedition to Biloxi 
and Pass Christian. 

Of their bravery in the field he felt assured ; but another quality, more 
trying to the soldier, claims his admiration. After having been, for 
months, subjected to the privations necessarily incident to camp-life upon 
this island, these well-disciplined soldiers, although for many hours in full 
possession of two rebel villages filled with what, to them, were most 
desirable luxuries, abstained from the least unauthorized interference with 
private property, and all molestation of peaceful citizens. This behavior 
is worthy of all praise. 

The general commanding commends the action of the men of this expe- 
dition to every soldier in this department. Let it be imitated by all in the 
towns and cities we shall occupy, a living witness that the United-States 
soldier fights only for the Union, the Constitution, and the inforcement of 
the laws. 

By command of Major-Gen. Butler. 

George C. Strong, Adjutant-General. 

Farragut being ready to attack the forts on the Missis- 
sippi, Butler embarked his forces, and moved up to the 
passes. There was difficulty in getting on board the trans- 
ports; and the Twelfth went to work at the old sunken 
hulk of a vessel, got it afloat, and used it as a lighter. Then, 
taking the ship E. W. Farley, it started in advance of the 
troops. The Ninth took the steam-transport Matanzas, 
The vessels proceeded up the river near the gunboats, and 
witnessed the first day's bombardment and the burning of 
the wood-work of Fort Jackson. They were ordered down 
the river, and lay at the head of the passes for two weeks, 
where they ran a gantlet of rebel fire-ships and other 
perils. One night, about midnight, the men of the Twelfth 
were startled by a terrible crash ; and the ship careened so 



160 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

as to throw the men out of their berths. When order was 
restored, it was found that the vessel had been struck by a 
sunken gunboat. After the forts surrendered, the Twelfth 
was ordered to garrison Fort Jackson, with Col. Deming in 
command : but the order was changed ; and the regiment 
was the first to ascend the river, arriving off New Orleans on 
the evening of April 30, a day before any other troops. 
The 31st Massachusetts Regiment, with Gen. Butler and 
staff, coming up next day, heartily cheered the Twelfth 
Connecticut upon the Farley, that lay at anchor before the 
city. The first night, they bivouacked on a wharf; there- 
after, in Lafayette Square. Col. Deming immediately went 
to Washington with dispatches from Gen. Butler. 

The Ninth were huddled upon a single transport, with a 
company of pioneers and a battery, — in all, some eight 
hundred men. There was accommodation for only two 
hundred and sixty below decks. The men were so crowded, 
that they could only sleep by reliefs, — a part at a time. 
The Matanzas took in tow the ship Great Republic, drifting, 
without a rudder, with three thousand men on board, and 
towed her about for several days before going up the river. 
On arriving at New Orleans, the Ninth was ordered to 
Camp Parapet, an abandoned rebel camp on the left bank 
of the river, twelve miles above the city, where it was 
joined by the Twelfth and other regiments. The guns 
had been spiked, and the gun-carriages burned, by the women, 
of the neighborhood. The Ninth soon proceeded to Baton 
Rouge. The Twelfth remained at Camp Parapet, attracting 
much notice for its high state of discipline. Lieut.-Col. 
Colburn was in command of the regiment. He mounted 
guns along the parapet, and thoroughly policed the old 
rebel camp, cleansing and renewing it throughout. He 
insisted upon company-drills every morning, and brigade- 
drills every afternoon, with frequent exercise with the light 
and heavy artillery. 

The Thirteenth remained for three weeks on Ship Island, 
making itself familiar with its simple topography and geolo- 
gy, drinking its sulphur-water, and going through battalion 
movements upon its snowy expanse of sand. They heard 



THE THIRTEENTH AT NEW ORLEANS, 161 

the cannonading and bombardment at Farragut's passage of 
the forts, and learned of the tame surrender of the city. May 
4, they re-embarked for New Orleans. 

All the way up the river, the whites glowered savagely at 
them, and the blacks capered with excess of joy, and shouted 
'' Welcome ! glory to God ! " Arriving at the city, the sec- 
ond mate threw ashore the looped end of a cable. " Boy," 
said he to a youth of a dozen years, who wore a Confederate 
artillery cap, — "boy, won't you just put that 'ere rope over 
that post ? " — " No, I'll be damned if I will ! " was the instant 
reply. The regiment got ashore, however, and went into 
temporary quarters in a cotton-yard near by ; but, as CoL 
Sprague says, " Gen. Butler's eye soon rested on it," and 
he assigned it the post of honor at the Custom House, — the 
army headquarters. It was undoubtedly a handsome regi- 
ment ; and it was much admired as it passed through the 
streets, even when it sang " John Brown " in concert. It 
was declared to be " the finest-looking regiment that ever 
entered New Orleans."*^ Soon its ranks were filled with new 
recruits, loyal men of Louisiana ; and a band of seventeen 
professional musicians was organized. About the middle of 
June, a gang of burglars was discovered, including a member 
of Company F of the Thirteenth, They went about the 
city robbing the people, under pretense of military authority. 
They were caught, and four of them tried by Gen. Butler, 
and hanged at the parish prison. 

Col. Sprague says that " Butler, at first, tried hard to pacify 
the people. For about three weeks, he used his influence, 
and, in one instance at least, his authority, to cause fugitives 
to be restored to their masters." In this purpose he was 
constantly thwarted by the New-England soldiers gathered 
about him. The Thirteenth early won the reputation of " an 
abolition regiment ; " its officers and men persistently favor- 
ing the efforts of the negroes to leave their masters. 

^ Col. Sprague's History. 
21 




CHAPTER XI. 

The Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh leave Annapolis. — Storm off Hatteras. — Suffering 
and Depression. — Battle and Capture of Roanoke Island. — Death of Col. Charles 
L. Russell. — Another Movement. — Battle of Nevrberne. — Death of Col. A. W. 
Drake. — Incidents. — Siege of Fort Macon. 

HE Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh at Annapohs 
waited patiently the great expedition under 
Burnside, in which they were to take a part; 
and the cold morning-air of Nov. 6, 1861, re- 
sounded with the last reveille at that venerable 
capital. Three days' meat-rations had been cooked, and am- 
munition distributed ; and now tents were struck and rolled, 
and the last article of private baggage compactly stowed 
away. 

Then the men stood in melting snow around their fires 
again, and waited marching-orders. At evening, orders came 
to embark ; and wearily and tediously the companies plodded 
through slush and mire, huddling here and there in groups 
waiting their turn. The Eighth was divided ; six companies 
taking the bark J. P. Brookman, and four the steam-trans- 
port Chasseur. Eight companies of the Tenth embarked 
on the steamer New Brunswick. The Eleventh was stowed 
away in the propeller Sentinel and bark Voltigeur. Before 
morning, most of the regiments were on board. Each vessel 
was expected to carry from two hundred to a thousand men. 
The following extract from a letter of Lieut.-Col. Pardee 
of the Tenth shows the accommodations of soldiers in 
transports : — 

" In the lower cabin were six hundred men. To accommodate all these 
soldiers, bunks had been built of unplaned boards, and ran in tiers, both 
against the sides and through the center, leaving narrow passages between. 
162 



A STORM OFF HATTERAS BAR. 153 

Into one of these spaces, six feet long, thirteen inches wide, and eighteen 
inches high, a soldier is expected to stow himself, his knapsack, gun, and 
accouterments . " 

Companies B and I, of the Tenth, were crowded into the 
filthy hold of a small schooner where coal had recently been 
freighted, and had neither bunks nor straw. 

The Eighth was no better off. There were no berths on 
the Brookman. The men slept in their blankets, on deck 
or in the hold, where the air was stiflino- with the odor of 
bil2:e-water. The Eleventh were huddled tos-ether in the 
same way. No adequate ventilation was possible, even with 
a windsail rigged down the forward cabin. It was supposed 
by the projectors of the expedition that the troops would 
certainly be less than a week upon these transports; and 
that, for so short a time, they might be able to endure, with- 
out material injury, the discomforts of the close crowding. 

Nov. 9, the signal rocket gave notice for the departure of 
the fleet. Next day, most of the vessels rendezvoused at 
Fortress Monroe. Here the soldier-passengers bought fifty 
thousand postage-stamps, indicating that they expected to 
have something to write about. - 

Nov. 11 and 12 they put to sea, to assemble again off 
Hatteras. The evening showed " a golden sunset, a long, 
peaceful twilight, a calm sea, from which the glories faded 
only to give place to the mirrored stars. These bright smiles 
of Nature were looked upon as harbingers of a speedy voy- 
age and brilliant triumph." But next morning, with little 
premonition, a fearful storm broke upon the fleet, increasing 
in violence from day to day. Many of the frailer craft were 
lost. For three weeks, the heljDless fleet lay tossing in the 
storm on either side of Hatteras Bar ; and the effect of the 
detention on both the health and spirits of officers and men 
was injurious in the extreme. 

" The history of this expedition so far," wrote the same 
officer, after a week or more of this inaction, " may be 
stated in brief thus : ' Delay, misfortune.' We have been 
drifted, tossed,- bumped, blown, sea-sicked, and so on, 
through all the varied exigencies of sea-service. We have 
long waited for the moment that should take us towards the 



164 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE BEBELLION. 

foe : but the bar between the inlet and Pamlico Sound has 
proved an insuperable object to most of the fleet ; and so we 
still wait." ^ " Vessels are being lost every day," wrote Col. 
Russell of the Tenth, a little later in his diary ; " and 
things begin to look gloomy and unsatisfactory. Little prog- 
ress has been made that is visible, and all are getting low- 
spirited and dejected." A member of the Eleventh wrote to 
the Palladium, Jan. 14, " The boys feel gloomy enough, 
boxed up in this tub with the sick. The stench is almost 
suffocating." 

Many in every regiment were on the sick-list ; some died ; 
and others became permanently invalids, contracting disease 
which only ended with death. Capt. Pardee, writing of those 
long weeks on the swash, said, '•' How can I describe them ? 
Days of weariness and danger ; no news to cheer us ; disas- 
ters all around us ; the skies black and unpromising ; the 
surf beating sullenly the solemn requiem of the lost ; sick- 
ness on all the vessels ; epidemics rapidly extending ; deaths 
frequent ; no comforts for the sick ; scanty food for the well ; 
water, tainted with kerosene, served out in limited quanti- 
ties ; our expedition a seeming failure ! Oh ! the darkness 
of those days, and the gentle, uncomplaining faithfulness 
of those men, none can describe. I heard no murmur or 
regret. All looked for bright signs, and talked more hope 
than they felt. The noted grumblers were for the time the 
stanchest in their words of cheer." The days were passed 
with charades, concerts by Jepson's glee-club, theatricals, 
eucher-playing, reading, writing, songs, and frequent prayer- 
meetings. 

During the last days of January, 1862, the vessels all 
passed over, seventy-two remaining afloat there out of the 
one hundred and twenty that had left Fortress Monroe. 
Bearing five hundred of the Eleventh, with Col. Kingsbury, 
the Voltigeur was beached near Hatteras, and no tug 
came to the rescue. They lay there twenty-three days in 
great distress, and finally got ashore, and the vessel went to 
pieces. Here the regiment lay, to its own great dissatisfac- 
tion, while its comrades pressed on up the sound. 

1 Capt. B. S. Pardee's Letter. 



THE EIGHTH AND TENTH AT ROANOKE ISLAND. 165 

The fleet now cautiously approached Roanoke Island, held 
by three thousand rebels under Gen. Wise. On the 7th our 
gunboats attacked the rebel gunboats, and bombarded the 
fort. In the night, a landing was effected ; Connecticut's 
motto of faith and fortitude, " Qui Trans. Sust.," following 
the flag of Massachusetts ashore. The point of debarkation 
was a kind of marsh, described by Lieut. H. W. Camp as " soft, 
slimy mud, several inches deep, with pools and ditches thickly 
sprinkled in." Having struggled through this, the rebels 
falling back before them, the men spent the remainder of 
the night around camp-fires in the woods or the adjacent 
cornfield, shivering with cold, drenched with rain, and with- 
out blankets ; those in the cornfield adroitly balancing them- 
selves on the rows, to keep out of the water which filled the 
furrows. 

Half an hour before sunrise next morning came the order 
to "fall in;" and, shivering from their comfortless vigils of 
the night, the men sprang with alacrity to their places. It 
still rained ; but the men were full of spirit for the fight, and 
heartily cheered' Gens. Burnside and Foster as they rode 
past. 

The Eighth was posted on an old road leading towards 
the right flank of the main battery, by which the enemy 
might turn the left of our advancing forces. The position 
was one of considerable responsibility, and Gen. Burnside 
ordered them to hold it at all hazards ; but no attack was 
made. 

The Tenth took its place in the 1st Brigade as it moved 
down the beach, and, by a wide detour, into the swampy 
road that bisected the island and led to the rebel position. 
Before going a mile, the enemy's skirmishers were met, and 
pushed slowly back. 

A letter of Capt. Pardee, written at the time, says, — 

" A second mile was passed ; heavy guns boomed ; rifle-shots shrieked. 
We heard cheering. By and by, the woods showed more light. "We heard 
balls among the leaves ; we saw men hurry by with medical stores towards 
the front ; we met men exhausted by the roadside. An aide came to us 
with the order, ' Advance the Tenth ! ' Col. Russell pressed his lips firmly 
together, and said, ' We are going under fire, captain. Forward, solidly, 
quickly ! ' Men came by with stretchers, carrying the brave Massachu- 



166 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

setts boys, frightful with bleeding wounds. We saw the dead lying beneath 
the trees on either side. Surgeons were busy at their vocation. We halted 
on the edge of a great clearing, and deployed to the right by companies. 
We saw the smoke and flashes from the redoubt. At last, we were under 
fire. 

" We had been pursuing an embowered path through the woods : sud- 
denly it entered a broad clearing, where thick bushes (like the Avhortle- 
berry) and tangled vines netted the marshes. Evergreen trees, pi-incipally 
pines, were on either side ; and three hundred yards in front of us was the 
famous redoubt of which we had been told weeks before in Hatteras Inlet. 
When we debouched from the road into the cleared way, it brought us 
rio'ht in front of the rebel guns, and in perfect range. They had three 
pieces of artillery fronting and commanding this clearing ; and large num- 
bers of riflemen perched in trees, behind the turfed walls, and under all 
possible covers." 

The Tenth, being ordered forward to relieve the 25th 
Massachusetts, advanced, and formed its first battle -hne 
witli precision and coolness, under a terrible fire. The left 
wing was held in reserve. The right commenced firing with 
a will ; and it was immediately opposite this point that the 
rebels met their heaviest loss. " The firing on both sides 
was now terrific. The right wing stood' up and fought 
nobly. They suffered severely."^ "For an hour we fought 
on, not a man shrinking from his post. Other regiments 
were marched into the woods on our right and left ; but we 
kept our position. Balls came thicker and faster. We were 
ordered to lie down under the bushes, and stop firing. Down 
the boys piled themselves, and sought cover of logs, stumps, 
and whatever, else furnished protection. Col. Russell for a 
long; time refused to lie down. A ball whizzed close to him. 
Capt. G. M. Coit called out,' Colonel, that was meant for you : 
lie down ; do lie down !' The colonel stood quietly watching 
for the appearance of troops on the flank of the enemy. 
Aa^ain Coit entreated him to lie down, and this time success- 
fully. We had been thus covered ^or a few minutes, when 
a shot came lower than usual : it entered his shoulder, and 
pierced him to the heart. It was to him an instantaneous 
death. His body was carried to the rear, and we lay still ! " ^ 
" Bullets and grape-shot flew thick over the men as they lay. 
There was a constant ' Hst, list ! ' as the musket-bullets whis- 

2 Lieut.-Col. Drake's Diary. ^ ^ Capt. Pardee's Diary. 



THE GALLANT TENTH. ]67 

tied past, cutting twigs from the bushes not two feet above 
their heads, or striking the trees behind which they were 
sheltered." ^ 

By direction of Gen. Foster, Lieut. I. 0. Close of Company I 
was sent forward to reconnoiter, accompanied by Private 
Alexander Henderson of Greenwich, whom Lieut. Camp 
mentioned as " one of the bravest fellows and best shots in 
the company." They went oat to the front of the battery on 
their dangerous errand, came back and reported ; and the 
general ordered an advance by the regiments in front and 
on both flanks. The movement was executed so rapidly and 
resolutely, that the rebels left their battery, and fled ; while 
our men stormed into it with a cheer, and planted their 
colors on the works. There was little more fighting, though 
the Confederates fired a few Parthian shots into Foster's 
pursuing columns before the final halt and surrender. 

The Tenth had borne itself nobly, and henceforth officers 
and men knew that they could fight. The regiment was 
ordered immediately forward to gain possession of the Pork- 
point Battery ; but it was found to be abandoned. 

Gen. Foster, in his general orders next day, after commend- 
ing the " coolness and steadiness " of all the troops under 
fire, said, "The manner in which the Tenth Connecticut 
formed in line of battle under fire of the enemy, particularly 
deserves mention." " The gallant Connecticut Tenth," wrote 
a member of the Eighth Connecticut,^ '' was in the advance, 
and evinced a determination and heroism worthy of their 
cause and State." A correspondent of " The New- York 
Commercial " wrote, " The Connecticut men maintained their 
position with the fortitude of veteran troops." The Tenth 
was supposed by the rebels to belong to the regular army, 
on account of its superior steadiness ; and this impression 
was strengthened by the exhibition of gray satinet over- 
coats, which, at that time, distinguished Connecticut regi- 
ments from those of other States. 

Charles Lambert Russell was born in the year 1828, in the 
parish of Northfield, town of Litchfield. At the age of ten, 
he removed with his parents to Derby, and, at the proper 

* Lieut. H. W. Camp's Diary. ^ Rev. Jacob Eaton. 



168 CONTSTECTICUT DURING THE REBELLIOISr. 

time, was apprenticed in a tack-factory, where he toiled faith- 
fully until the breaking-out of the war. He sought every 
opportunity for moral and mental improvement ; was a 
constant and active member of the village lyceum, and 
placed himself in reach of intellectual influences. He was 
first a private, and then captain of the Derby Blues, and 
afterwards an efficient commander of the Wide-Awakes. 
He was earnestly opposed to slavery, and early saw that it 
was menacing the nation's life. At the first cannon-roar, 
Russell promptly volunteered, and was selected by Col. 
Terry as adjutant of the Second ; and he was mentioned by 
that officer for gallantry at the battle of Bull Run. The 
writer of this found Russell in Derby during the summer of 
'62, raising his company for the Eighth. His step was quick, 
and his face flushed with the work before him. " Yes, I'm 
going to see this thing through," he said with a serious man- 
ner. " We must defend the principles we have professed. 
Every young Republican ought to go to the front." Russell 
was moved by the same deep purpose that impislled Ellsworth : 
indeed, he called his company " The Ellsworth Guard." 
When promoted to the colonelcy for merit and military 
genius, he devoted himself conscientiously to the welfare of 
his men and the equipment of his regiment. The circum- 
stances of his death, and the fact that he was the first 
regimental commander from Connecticut who fell, gave un- 
usual prominence to his personal career, and secured marked 
honors to his memory. His remains were received at New 
Haven with public honors. His funeral, at Derby, was 
largely attended by public officials and military and civic 
organizations. In general orders, his death was lamented by 
his brigade and department commanders ; and Fort Defiance, 
one of the captured redoubts, was rechristened Battery Rus- 
sell in his honor. The presentation of his sword to the 
State, by his widow, called out a special message from the 
governor to the legislature, which was the occasion of elo- 
quent eulogies in both Senate and House, subsequently pub- 
lished by the legislature in a pamphlet. At the time of 
Col. Russell's death, his father, Samuel S. Russell, then sixty- 
two years of age, was a musician in the Sixth. One of his 



A SUNDAY AT ROANOKE ISLAND. 169 

brothers was in the Tenth, and another had been a captain 
in the Second, The following lines* were read at the re- 
union of the Tenth in 1867 : — 

O brave and generous Russell ! well we know 

Thou sought no vulgar fame or poor applause : 
The sword leaped to thy hand to strike a blow 

For equal justice and the good old cause. 
And now thy voice, as sweet as bugle-notes, 

Drops clear and pleasant through the liquid skies, 
Till thus we catch the message as it floats : 

" The cost was nothing ; for behold the prize ! 
Behold free nations waking into birth ! 

Behold the hope of tyrants tottering down ! 
For, lo ! the cynosure of all the earth, 

Our loved Republic, wears her laurel crown ; 
And, from the clod where crimson rivers ran. 
The unchained helot rises up a man ! " 

Lieut. Henry M. Stillman was one of four brothers in the 
Union army. He had been a teacher in the Sunday school 
of the St. John-street Methodist Church, New Haven ; and 
was a modest, quiet. Conscientious man. "For months before 
the battle, he had a strong presentiment of death, and de- 
clared that he should fall in his first battle. So decided was 
this, that some of his brother-officers urged him not to go 
forward ; but he refused to shirk, and did not allow his pre- 
monitions to affect his cheerfulness or efficiency." 

Company A, of the Tenth, was detailed to guard the cap- 
tured rebel officers — one hundred and forty in all — until 
they were sent to be exchanged. 

The next day after the battle was Sunday, which was oc- 
cupied by the soldiers, after religious services, in making 
themselves comfortable. An inquiry of Gen. Burnside, as 
he rode past them, as to their " prospects for fresh pork," 
was construed into a license to kill any of the hogs running 
at large over the island ; and their indiscriminate slaughter 
was at once commenced. Popping rifles and dying squeals 
were heard on every side ; until it seemed as if Pork Point 
covered all of Roanoke, instead of being one of its projec- 
tions. 

Next day, many of the men re-embarked ; and for a month 
the fleet of transports was quiet, occasionally making feints 
towards Albemarle Sound, or coasting along the mainland. 
22 * By w. A. c. 



170 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

Week after week the Connecticut regiments, with the rest 
of Burnside's force, waited impatiently upon the transports, 
drifting lazily up and down Croatan Sound, along the shore 
of Roanoke Island. All sorts of rumors prevailed, and the 
weary days dragged. When the order came, March 11, 
for an advance on Newberne, this entry of Col. Drake of 
the Tenth, in his diary, doubtless expressed the general feel- 
ing: "Started in the rain down the sound, away from 
Roanoke Island, of which we shall ever retain, I have no 
doubt, very disagreeable impressions. Good-by, dirty, muddy, 
swampy, brackish, diseased, and deathful Roanoke ! " On 
the 12th, the entire fleet stood down the sound, and that 
night anchored in the Neuse River, off the mouth of Slo- 
cum's Creek, some eighteen miles from Newberne. • 

" This morning, early," wrote Col. Drake on the 13th, 
" came the signal, ' Get ready to land ! ' then, almost immedi- 
ately, the second signal, ' Pull for the land ! ' . . . Our big iron 
barge and the remaining boats were loaded the first of any 
in the brigade or the fleet. A little tug came and took us 
in tow ; and away we started for the shore, the shells of our 
gunboats showering the woods along the bank." Other regi- 
ments were similarly arranged in boats astern, like flocks 
of ducks. "From the transport-fleet to shore, the boats 
sailed in a long, graceful sweep, with flags flying, bands play- 
ing, and five thousand bayonets flashing in the sunshine that 
now streamed over the flotilla. The picture was really beau- 
tiful ; while the solemn nature of the business before us 
lent to the pageant an air of grandeur peculiar to itself" ^ 
Casting off from the tugs when near the shore, " each little 
boat and launch strove first to reach the land. Nearly every 
boat of any size grounded within from five to twenty rods 
of shore; and then what jumping into water, in some places 
up to the waist! and all, enthusiastic, pressing for the 
beach." ^ Some of the boats of the Eighth landed on the 
wrong side of the creek, and had to return. 

The land below Newberne is a level, swampy tract, thickly 
wooded, with occasional clearings, and small, bankrupt plan- 
tations. The road is simply a path cut through woods, with 

6 New- York-Tribune Narrative. '' Col. Drake's Diary. 



HARDSHIPS ENDURED. 271 

rarely a bridge, or a rod of corduroy. Along this road, 
soaked with spring rains, splashed the regiments. The gun- 
boats moved up the river, abreast of the head of the column, 
flinging shot and shell into the woods in front, driving back 
in terror the rebel vedettes and pickets. These gunboats, 
as dreadful to the rebels as Attila, " the scourge of God," was 
to the Romans, were simply light-draught, stern-wheel tow- 
boats, or common ferry-boats, with a heavy gun at the bows, 
and sometimes another amidships. 

All day long the weary men toiled on ; and at eight o'clock 
at night, twelve miles from the point of landing, the regi- 
ments filed off into the woods, until the line was substantially 
parallel to the rebel work in front, and stretched from the 
river to the Beaufort Railroad. A picket-line was soon estab- 
lished, and the force was in bivouac for the night. The rain 
fell steadily : but fires were quickly started, and the woods 
were brilliant with the glaring light, and weird with moving 
forms ; while the dense smoke, rising slowly into the thick 
pines, formed a lurid and ever-shifting canopy. Many weary 
ones sank immediately to sleep on the wet ground ; others 
cooked a little pork and coffee, and dried first one side, then 
the other, at the fire, stirring at intervals the waning em- 
bers, and watching the soaring sparks ; still others, wrapped 
in their blankets, leaned against the trees, and dozed away 
the dismal night. The bivouac was within range of the rebel 
works ; but all night the rebel pickets watched the illumi- 
nated woods, and were silent. 

Next morning, our troops were early astir. " Men rose 
from the ground, where, with faces turned towards the tree- 
tops, they had lain all night, the big, pitiless drops pelting 
them, the icy cold ground spread like a frozen sponge under 
them, and they sleeping deeply, heavily, through the long 
hours, till daylight roused them. I believed at least a 
hundred men would grace the sick-list that morning ; on the 
contrary, not one, that I am aware of: and they uttered not 
a murmur." ^ 

Gen. Burnside promptly ordered an advance of the entire 
division. A massive battery, with casemates and heavy guns, 

* Col. Drake's Diary. 



172 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

on the bank of the river, formed the left of the rebel works, 
which stretched across the high land southward, in breast- 
works, for half a mile to the railroad, and thence in rifle-pits 
to a swamp deemed impenetrable. In front was an irregu- 
lar abatis. Behind the intrenchments were seven thousand 
rebels. 

" Gen. Foster's brigade was ordered up the main country 
road to attack the enemy's left ; Gen. Reno up the railroad 
to attack their right ; and Gen. Parke to follow Gen. Foster, 
and attack the enemy in front, with instructions to support 
either or both brigades." ^ The Eleventh Connecticut formed 
the rear of the column ; and the regiment was soon detailed 
to bring up the boat, howitzers, and guns which had arrived 
during the night.^° After this service, it acted temporarily 
with Gen. Foster's brigade. " It had been quiet as the morn- 
ing of a rainy New-England sabbath ; and the only sounds 
were the low moan of the woods, the dull tramp of the weary 
troops, and the occasional plash, plash, plash, of a mounted 
aide ; . . . when the roar of a great gun close at hand startled 
us, and the crash of a huge limb which a rifled ball had lopped 
off told us that a hidden enemy was near." ^^ " We took an 
oblique direction, and hadn't gone a hundred rods, when a 
loud, swift whiz went through the air, sounding as if some 
one had torn a thousand yards of canvas from one end to 
the other at a single pull." ^^ 

The Eighth Connecticut had deployed to the left, near the 
railroad ; and Capts. AjDpelman's and Upham's companies 
were thrown forward, under a heavy fire, to the edge of the 
wood as skirmishers. The Tenth and Eleventh were farther 
to the rig;ht. The Tenth had been ordered to the left of the 
23d Massachusetts ; and the Eleventh, to the right of the 
same regiment, deployed upon both sides of the road. The 
line advanced, under a constant fire, up the slope, in plain 
sight of the rebel batteries, with their flaunting flags, and 
approached to within three hundred yards before returning 
the fire. Then a long line of unwavering musketry, broken 
here and there by howitzers, flashed and roared in angry 

9 Gen. Burnside's Report. ^*^ Vide Gen. Parke's Report. 

1^ Capt. Pardee's Letter. 

^ Lieut. Camp's Letter in the Knightly Soldier. 



BRAVEEY OF THE EIGHTH AND ELEVENTH. I73 

response. The line pressed up so close, and the fire was so 
well sustained and deliberate, that the rebel gunners were 
shot, or driven from their work at the field-pieces ; and the 
rebel infantry only here and there showed a head above 
the parapet. Burnside now pressed forward the troops both 
on the right and left. 

Col. Harland had moved the Eighth, by the flank, along the 
railroad, and quietly through the bushes to the open ground ; 
and now, with a clear, shrill voice, and the emphasis of com- 
ing victory, rang the orders, "By company into line!" An 
advaiicing front of forty men appeared before the astonished 
rebels. "Fix bayonets!" It was done at a rapid walk. 
" Forward into line ! " Up the embankment, and across the 
railroad, dashed the rear companies, coming into line within 
a hundred paces of the works. " Steady, guide center, for- 
ward, double quick ! " 

The Eleventh, which had been firing rapidly, some of the 
men assisting to man the howitzers, also now advanced. 
" The order to charge was given, when from the curtain of 
the woods up sprang thousands of blue-coats, — a glittering 
wave of steel flashing in front, — and rushed forward with 
loud huzzas, an invincible line." ^^ 

Only two other regiments mounted the ramparts as early 
as the Eighth and Eleventh. " The 4th Rhode-Island crossed 
first," says Gen. Foster in his report, " where the enemy's 
fire had much slackened in consequence of a steady and 
constant fire ken^" ujd by the 23d Massachusetts and Tenth 
Connecticut." jjj^> b Eighth Connecticut, 5th Rhode-Island, 
and Eleventh ! "^^otiecticut, coming up to their support, the 
rebels fled with pi>9cipitation, and left us in undisputed 
possession." " s- 

The Eighth conimiei the claim of the 4th Rhode-Island 
to having first enterea the enemy's works ; and it is certain 
that the flag of the Eighth was first displayed therein. 

" We fired," wrote Col. Drake, " until they were dead 
silenced, — not a gun in reply. In less than ten minutes 
afterwards, we saw the American flag coming along the left 

13 Lieut. J. H. Converse's Letter in Hartford Press. 
1* Kettell's History of the Rebellion, p. 339. 



174 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

into their battery. It went in, and was planted there. 
Whipped, poor traitors ! " " We were still firing rapidly," 
wrote Lieut. Camp, " when cheering rose loud in front ; and, 
in a moment more, our flag appeared waving from the para- 
pet. They cheered on the right, and they cheered on the 
left, and they cheered before us, and we cheered, and had 
hardly finished cheering when the order came to resume our 
march." Gen. Foster, in his report of the battle, said, "I 
must mention in my brigade, where all behaved bravely, with 
particular praise, the 24th Massachusetts and the Tenth 
Connecticut.' . . . The latter advanced close under the 
enemy's fire in line of battle, fired with the most remark- 
able steadiness, and stood steadily up, giving and taking the 
most severe fire." 

Our forces are ordered forward at once in pursuit of the 
routed army. The boys soon come upon the cosy barracks 
where servants are preparing dinner for the rebels, expected 
to return victorious. They pick up the hot corn-dodger, 
snatch the half-broiled steak, seize hats, swords, guns, trophies 
of every kind, and rejoin the column in the wild race for 
Newberne. The rebels are demoralized by shells from the 
pursuing gunboats. Many are captured. Their main body, 
however, impelled by fright, won the race, crossed the Trent, 
burned the bridges, set the city on fire, and continued their 
flight to the interior. By this victory, we captured forty-six 
heavy guns and eighteen field-pieces, a large number of small 
arms, two steamboats, several sailing vessels, the rebels' entire 
camp equipage, a large quantity of amm^^ ntion and general 
stores, and a city of considerable militar3gj^portance. 

Finding close pursuit impossible, the ^"f^ops stacked arms, 
and rested ; killed, cooked, and ate some^ itured beef-cattle 
on the south side of the Trent; and ig Qggt^^p.M., the Tenth 
Regiment was ferried across with the ist I5r%ade, and occu- 
pied a just-deserted rebel camp beyond the city, where they 
prepared to make themselves comfortable. 

The Eighth and Eleventh, with other regiments, fell back 
to the snug rebel barracks, and took possession in high glee. 
" Here," says the correspondent of a New- York paper, " our 
privates strutted about in the brass-mounted uniforms of rebel 



DEATH OF COL. DEAKE. 1^^ 

officers." They were terribly punished for their audacity. 
For a single afternoon they strutted in the official attire, for 
a single night they slept in the warm barracks ; but that was 
enough of both. They had moved in under a misappre- 
hension, only to find them already occupied in force by in- 
sectivorous "graybacks" left to maintain possession. And 
these insidious tenants renewed the attack " along the whole 
line," driving out the invaders in confusion. The members 
of the Eleventh, in much perplexity, after scratching their 
heads, and considering what it was best to do, established a 
camp above the city, on a promontory that juts out into the 
Trent, and thrust their white conical tents up into the green 
pines and cypresses that cast their long shadows on the river. 

The triumph was dimmed by the loss of brave men. The 
Eighth had two killed and four wounded, among the latter 
being Capt. Upham. 

The Tenth lost more heavily, having seven killed and six- 
teen wounded. One of the slain was Sergeant Joseph A. 
Lombard of Greenwich, of whom Lieut. Camp said, " He was 
a man of excellent Christian character, and a true soldier." 
The Eleventh lost six killed and fourteen wounded. Amono- 
the killed was Capt. Edwin R. Lee. He enlisted from Hart- 
ford, but was born in Plymouth, of Revolutionary stock. He 
was a young man of a clear head and earnest convictions, 
and made speeches for the election of Lincoln in 1860. He 
recruited a company, and led it to the war, and was struck 
in the abdomen by a shell as he was wheeling his company 
into line, and was killed almost instantly. His only words 
were, " Tell my brother I died at the post of duty. Good-by. 
Go on for your country!" His remains were buried at home 
with military honors. 

In the early summer, the following order was issued by 
Gov. Buckingham : — 

General Headquarters, State of Connecticut. 

Adjutant-General's Office, Hartford, June 6, 1862. 
General Orders, No. 35. — It becomes the sorrowful duty of the 
commander-in-chief to make to the militia and the volunteers of the State now 
in the field the official announcement of the death of Col. Albert W. Drake, 
of the Tenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. 

On the breaking-out of the Eebellion, Col. Drake, impelled by a sense of 



176 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

patriotic duty, abandoned a profession upon which he had just entered 
under favorable auspices, left his home, and served with fidelity as a lieu- 
tenant during the three-months' campaign. 

At the battle of Bull Run, he exhibited the firmness and coolness of a 
veteran. On his discharge, he engaged in organizing a company for three 
years' service, was promoted to a field-officer, and went again to the scene 
of conflict. Upon the death of Col. Russell on the battle-field of Roanoke 
Island, he took command of the regiment, and for his bravery and soldier- 
like bearing on that occasion, as well as in the battle of Newberne, won the 
respect and confidence of his superior officers, and the affection of his com- 
mand. 

He died at his home in South Windsor, on the 5th inst., of an insidious 
disease, the violence of which was undoubtedly increased by his exertions 
in the field. 

Col. Drake leaves behind him a bright record of unsullied honor and 
unselfish patriotism ; and the State mourns the loss of a noble officer. 

The commander-in-chief directs that these orders be read at the head of 
every Connecticut regiment. 

By order of the commander-in-chief. 

Joseph D. Williams, Adjutant-General. 

Albert Waldo Drake was born in that part of East Windsor 
which is now South Windsor, in 1834. His father was a 
prominent man, and had often represented the town, as a 
Whig, in the General Assembly. No efforts were spared to 
obtain a good education for young Albert. Early intended 
for a literary life, he was sent to the best schools, where he 
made rapid progress, especially in mathematics and the 
languages. He duly presented himself at the door of Yale, 
and passed an excellent examination for the freshman 
class. Stimulated to new exertions, he studied constantly, 
and in three weeks presented himself for entrance as a 
sophomore. Being " conditioned " to three weeks' additional 
study, he refused it, and entered Williams as a sophomore ; 
returning the next year, and entering the junior class of 
Yale. He graduated with honors, chose the profession 
of law, and entered the office of Richard D. Hubbard, Esq., 
of Hartford. 

Drake was a Democrat, and in 1858 was elected to the 
legislature by his fellow-citizens of South Windsor, defeating 
his father, who ran as a Republican. Upon the first call to 
arms, Drake was the first man to voLunteer. He drew up an 
enlistmentrpaper, and carried it to the Press, where he and 
Hawley started the first volunteer company that was raised 
in the State. He had a natural taste for a military life ; and, 



DEATH OF MAJOR IVIEADE AND DE. LATHKOP. 177 

" Even when a child. 
His heart leapt forth to hear them tell of struggles fierce and wild ; " 

and lie besought his father to obtain for him a cadetship at 
West Point. He was highly esteemed and beloved by his 
soldiers ; they would follow him anywhere ; and he never 
shrank from danger. It is believed that the seeds of con- 
sumption were sown during his college-life. The Courant, 
in a discriminating sketch, said, " He had all the elements 
of popularity to make himself acceptable to the people, — an 
easy address, an intuitive sense of propriety, a genial tempera- 
ment and ready wit, a whole-souled generosity which made 
him everywhere a favorite. He was an apt scholar ; had no 
visionary schemes or ideas ; no circumstances could discon- 
cert or confuse him ; he possessed extraordinary practical 
sense ; and his f)erceptive faculties were so quick, that he 
seemed to comprehend every thing at a glance." His death 
deprived the Tenth of a gallant and accomplished com- 
mander, and the State of a citizen before whom opened a 
brilliant career. 

Major Daniel M. Meade of Greenwich died on Oct. 26, of 
fever. He had been assigned, a month before, to occupy and 
hold, with two companies of the Tenth, a fort at Wash- 
ington, N.C. ; and there death found him. He was a fine 
specimen of the volunteer soldier. He was ever ready for 
duty, and was one of the best-disciplined officers in the regi- 
ment. Lieut. B. L. Graves said of him, "He was dearly loved 
by us all. His -character was above reproach, and we shall 
never forget the example and coimsels that his daily life 
held up to us all." 

Dr. De Witt C. Lathrop, assistant surgeon of the Eighth, 
died April 18, 1862. He was born in Bozrah, and had prac- 
ticed medicine ten years, — the last two in Norwich. He was 
an officer of the First Congregational Church of that city, and 
a man of great moral and professional worth. Dr. Page, 
United-States sanitary inspector in North Carolina, wrote, 
"His devotion to the sick and wounded was untiring day 
and night. His humane sympathies were too strong for the 
heavy responsibilities which fell upon him. His heart was 
too much in his work, and led him to sacrifice to the preser- 



23 



178 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

vation of others the strength which was necessary to his 
own." The men of the Eighth Regiment built a handsome 
monument to his memory in Windliam. 

At this time, Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull joined the Tenth 
as chaplain, most fortunately for the regiment. The New- 
Haven Journal said, " He is not an austere religionist, but 
a cheerful, social Christian, — a man to be loved and trusted." 
So it proved. 

As soon as the country about Newberne was firmly occu- 
pied, attention was turned to Fort Macon, that still flaunted 
a rebel flag, and defended blockade-runners ; and, within two 
days. Gen. Parke had faced his little brigade that way. On 
March 19, the Eighth left camp, proceeded down the Neuse 
on transports, landed again at Slocum's Creek, and marched 
across the country towards the coast. The men made good 
time to "Carolina City," thinking of theaters, restaurants, 
and other city facilities ; and were somewhat chagrined, on 
arriving, to find that the entire municipality was contained 
in a dozen one-story houses and a few sheds. 

The force consisted of the Eio-hth Connecticut and the 
4th and 5th Rhode-Island. The trains were much delayed : 
there was little food, and no tents or cooking utensils. The 
weather became stormy, and the men dug holes in the 
ground, and sheltered them with boards; and here for a 
dreary week they lived, catching a few fish and oysters 
when they could. Here Col. Harland was prostrated with 
typhoid-fever. Two companies of the Eighth were sent over 
to occupy Beaufort, and others to Morehead City. Opposite 
was Fort Macon, on the extreme upper point of Bogue Banks, 
a low, sandy island, or spit, half a mile wide, stretching twenty 
miles south-west along the coast. Inside this island was 
Bogue Sound, three miles wide, with shallow water, only 
three or four feet deep. 

The EiiJ-hth Connecticut Volunteers at once knocked to- 

o 

getlier some rafts, got some flat-boats, and floated over to the 
Banks a detail of men; carrying across the island uj)on their 
shoulders some boats they had seized at Beaufort, and 
communicating with the fleet outside waiting to co-operate. 
Here they were immediately joined by the 4th and a bat- 
talion of the 5th Rhode-Island. 



CAPT. SHEFFIELD WOUNDED. 179 

There was little shrubbery upon the Banks, except dwarf 
juniper and a stunted growth of the yuba ; the leaves of 
which, resembling the box, are used for tea in North Caro- 
lina. The sand was so light and shifting, that it had formed 
countless sand-hillocks, some of which were six feet high. 
Between these, having almost perfect protection, the men 
advanced, pushing the rebel pickets into the fort. This was 
one of the strongest fortifications on the Southern coast, 
mounting twenty thirty-two-pounders, thirty twenty-four- 
pounders, six mortars, and thirty-two smaller pieces. The 
heavy guns were in two tiers ; one in casemated bomb- 
proofs, and the other en harhette. It was occupied by five 
hundred troops. 

The island sloped and narrowed towards the fort ; being, 
in places, scarcely wide enough for a small regiment to march 
in line of battle. April 12, Gen. Parke ordered the Eighth 
to advance, and drive in the rebel pickets. Major Hiram 
Appelman, now in command, marched his regiment by the 
right flank up the beach, and, when within three miles of the 
fort, filed across the island in line of battle. Comi)any G, 
Capt. James L. Russell, was thrown out as skirmishers ; 
and the regiment waded forward* knee-deep in the yielding 
sand. The rebel skirmishers contested the advance, but were 
driven steadily back ; and, while they retreated, they shouted, 

with absurd inaptness, " Come on, you d d Yankees ! 

we are enough for you 1 " Company H, Capt. Sheffield, was 
now deployed to skirmish ; and the captain was severely 
wounded in the body. The exultant rebels continued to fall 
back until they entered the fort ; the Eighth having passed 
through a cedar-jungle, about a mile from the fort. The 
enemy had the exact range, and opened a heavy cannon- 
ading ; our men concealing themselves, as well as they could, 
behind the sand-hills. On the 14th, the fire slackened, and 
the regiment was temporarily relieved by the 4th Rhode- 
Island. 

Now the work of the siege progressed in earnest. Heavy 
guns and ammunition were floated over to the Banks on two- 
masted scows, and pushed up the island in the night, slowly 
into position. Bags were filled with sand, and raised for a 
breastwork. 



180 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The Eighth Connecticut Volunteers and 4th Rhode-Island 
were alternately on duty ; when off duty, occupying an 
uncomfortable camp down the island. Rifle-pits were dug 
at night within two thousand feet from the fort, and con- 
stantly occupied. In front of them, in storms, the sea surged 
over the island. The sand was so movable, that the men 
were sometimes half covered. In the rear of these, half a 
mile from the fort, were three heavy batteries, built by the 
volunteers, and manned by a company of regulars. 

On the evening of the 21st, Gen Parke directed the estab- 
lishment of a rifle-pit at shorter range, ^o that the sharp- 
shooters would be able to silence the rebel guns. Major 
Appelman proceeded in the darkness, with a company of vol- 
unteers under the immediate command of Lieut. Henry E. 
Morgan of Stonington, much nearer the fort, and began to 
dig near a naked brick chimney. The daring attempt was 
discovered ; and, just as Sergeant Amos Clift was stationing 
the pickets, a gun opened with canister, wounding Major 
Appelman severely in the thigh, and Piivate J. H. Alexander 
in the body. The enterprise was abandoned. 

This severe service was very trying to the men. Of the 
Eighth, sixty lay sick at once at Morehead City, and 
nearly forty died of typhoid-fever. There were only two 
captains present for duty, April 21 ; and Surgeon Melancthon 
Storrs was the only well man of the field and staff officers : 
and it was fortunate that he was an exception ; for his skill 
and tireless devotion to the regiment rendered him of in- 
calculable service. 

The surrender of the fort was now demanded, and met a 
defiant refusal. Our riflemen pushed up so close as to pick 
off the rebel gunners. The most arduous service fell to the 
Eighth Connecticut ; and it was the only regiment that lost 
in killed or wounded. On the morning of the 25th, fire 
was opened on the fort from the shore batteries and the 
three steamers movins: in a circle. The latter drew oft' after 
an hour's fio-htinu; ; and the sieo-e batteries increased in 
energy, shaking the sand}^ beach, and knocking gun after 
gun from the fort's parapet. The Eighth was alone in the 
rifle-pits, between the thundering cannon, shooting the rebel 
gunners and infantry whenever a head was visible. 



ST7EEEXDER OF FOET MACOX. 181 

At four, P.M., after a terrific bombardment of eleven hours, 
the commandant of the fort asked a truce to arrange terms 
of capitulation. Thirteen guns had been dismounted, and 
the shot had torn up the glacis and ramparts very thor- 
oughly. Eight men had been killed, and twenty wounded. 
Firing ceased ; and the Eighth, tired, hungry, worn out, be- 
grimed with powder, was now relieved by the 5th Rhode- 
Island ; and to this fras^ment of a resriment the rebel flasc 
was given as a trophy next morning, when the formal sur- 
render was made, and the regiment took possession of the 
fort. The Eighth considered itself again defrauded of its 
just rights ; and the Tribune's narrative said, " But for the 
accident that the 5th Rhode-Island had relieved the Eio-hth 
Connecticut the previous evening, the captured flag would 
have gone to grace the legislative halls at Hartford." Gen. 
Parke justifies giving the preference to the Rhode-Island 
regiment by the fact that the Eighth Connecticut Volun- 
teers had no field-officer present to receive the surrender. 



CHAPTER XII. 



The Connecticut Chaplains'-aid Commission. — Chapel Tents and Regimental Libraries 
furnished. — Medical Examining Board. — Spring Election of 1862. — The War Spirit 
predominant. — Governor's Message. — Legislative Action. — Special December Ses- 
sion. — Party Spirit rising. — Cornelius S. Bushnell builds the Monitor. 




HE literary and religious privileges of some were 
sadly missed by our reading and thinking vol- 
unteers in their early camps, and the people 
of the State supplied their wants as best they 
could. As soon as the Fourth was fairly in 
the field, its energetic chaplain, Rev. Edwurd A. Walker, ex- 
pressed a desire to have a large tent under his own control 
for meetiuQ-s of everv sort. Mr. Alfred Walker, his father, 
immediately solicited contributions. Money came in from 
day to day in sums of one to five dollars, with one or two 
large donations. 

The tent, strong, neat, and commodious, was purchased for 
two hundred and twenty-five dollars, exhibited a day or two 
on the New-Haven Green, and forwarded to the regiment. 
Officers and men united to set up and prepare the canvas 
meeting-house; and the chaplain shortly after wrote, — 

" The Temple of Nature, sufficient in summer, is too chilly in Decem- 
ber ; and of late it has been too leaky over head, and too wet under foot, 
to be very inviting ; and the number of worshipers has been sadly out of 
proportion to the accommodation. Now we have a church and divine ser- 
vice, and something more like a sabbath. We have our prayer-meetings 
and Bible-class, our lectures, temperance-meetings, and musical society. 
We have also a melodeon ; for, when the men heard that the tent was com- 
ing, they started at once a subscription, declaring that they would now 
have service in style." 

Almost every night, the tent was in use for social or reli- 
gious purposes. 

182 



THE CHAPLAINS'-AID COMMISSIOK 183 

About the first of January, 1862, the Rev. Dr. L. W. Ba- 
con undertook the task of organizing an association to sup- 
ply all Connecticut regiments with chapel-tents, circulating 
libraries, and regular newspapers, and to co-operate with the 
chaplains in the mental and moral welfare of the men. In 
response to his circulars, prominent citizens from all parts 
of the State assembled, and formed the Chaplains'-aid Com- 
mission, with the following officers and members, represent- 
ing all denominations, and authorized to add to their num- 
bers : — 

President, Gov. William A, Buckingham ; Yice-President, 
Lieut.-Gov. Benjamin Douglass; Corresponding Secretaries, 
Eev. L. W. Bacon, Rev. A. R. Thompson ; Recording Secre- 
tary, Francis Wayland ; Treasurer, Stephen D. Pardee ; Mem- 
bers, Pres. Theodore D. Woolsey, Right Rev. John Wil- 
liams, Rev. Robert Turnbull, Rev. Leonard Bacon, Rev. 
G. W. Woodruff, Rev. P. S. Evans, H. M. Welch, H. B. Har- 
rison, William H. Russell, William B. Johnson, Edward W. 
Hatch, Richard D. Hubbard, Henry T. Blake, F. J. Kingsbury. 

Mr. Bacon was soon called away; and the burden of labor 
fell upon Mr. Wa3dand, who cheerfully and heartily entered 
into the philanthropic work. His office became the head- 
quarters of the Commission. 

Finding the duties more than he could alone perform, Mr. 
Wayland secured the aid of John M. Morris, who also gladly 
labored without compensation. 

Mr. Morris presented the subject to the people of Water- 
bury, Stonington, Hartford, Norwich, Meriden, Bridgeport, 
New Britain, and Greenwich. Chaplain H. L. Hall, of the 
Tenth Connecticut Volunteers, also spoke for the Commis- 
sion at Meriden, Nopwich, Stonington, and Greenwich ; and 
Chaplain J. J. Woolley of the Eighth (who had just resigned), 
in Meriden, Waterbury, Farmington, Danbury, Norwalk, 
South Norwalk, Madison, and New Milford. The people re- • 
sponded w^ith liberality, — with funds sufficient for the need. 
They also sent in hundreds of excellent books, thousands of 
magazines, and of illustrated papers uncounted numbers. 

Chapel-tents were now purchased for the Fifth, Sixth, Sev- 
enth, Eighth^ Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Regi- 



184 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ments. Each of the ten regiments then in the field was far- 
nishecl with a Hbrary of from seventy-five to a hundred and 
twenty-five bound volumes. For these libraries, Mr. Way- 
land devised a strong portable case, with shelves, lock, and 
handles, so that the library was packed by simply locking it, 
and prepared for use by setting it up and unlocking it. Mr. 
Samuel Nichols, carpenter, made these cases for the cost of 
the materials. With each library was sent a written cata- 
logue, with numbers, and in each book the proper regimen- 
tal label. 

By July, twelve hundred and eighty-four bound volumes 
had- been forwarded, and fifty-four hundred and forty-eight 
magazines, with a very large number of illustrated and reli- 
gious papers. The books sent were not worn out or cast ofij 
but of high character and great variety. In order to be 
sure of the newest and freshest, Mr. Wayland purchased two 
hundred and fifty volumes of the best recent publications. 

The tents and libraries were received with grateful delight 
by the ofl&cers and men. Every chaplain testified to their 
value. Chaplain Hall of the Tenth wrote, — 

" It is the most convenient thing imaginable. I have constructed a 
long writing-desk, on which I place all the papers which you so kindly 
furnish me : at the end of the desk is my library of books. You will al- 
ways find from ten to fifty men in the tent, reading and writing. The 
library is just the thing needed. The books are well assorted, and enter- 
taining." 

Of the books and pamphlets sent to the Eighth Con- 
necticut Volunteers, Chaplain Morris wrote, " The nicely- 
selected stock was gone in two hours after I had opened 
the box. Since that time, the delivery and return of books 
has occupied several hours a day. Dickens has a great run. 
The tales by Miss Edgeworth and T. S. Arthur are very popu- 
lar. The Army and Navy Melodies are hailed with delight, 
and 'the boys' are singing right merrily almost every night. 
Day before yesterday, I received a box of pamphlets from 
the Commission. There were half a dozen men ready to 
open the box, and twenty more at hand to superintend the 
process and share the contents. The demand for reading is 
four times the supply." Mr. Morris having become chaplain 



AN EXAMINING BOAED. 285 

of the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers, Mr. H. 0. Ladd, after- 
wards of the Congregational church in Cromwell, rendered 
efficient assistance to Mr. Wayland. 

After the first set of libraries had been forwarded, circu- 
lars were sent to chaplains, inquiring what else they needed, 
and how the Commission could aid them. 

The Ninth Regiment was supplied with Catholic books 
and papers. A large number of local and religious journals 
were subscribed for, and regularly sent to each regiment. 
Hundreds of singing-books were provided. 

No more chapel-tents were furnished, however. It was 
found that they could not be transported on long marches, 
and were liable to seizure in emergency for hospital-pur- 
poses. In this way, nearly every one disappeared within a 
year. Those of the Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh, were of 
substantial service in sheltering the wounded upon the san- 
guinary field of Antietam; but they were seen by the wistful 
chaplains no more. 

Books, magazines, and papers were repeatedly forwarded 
by Mr. Wayland throughout the ' war. By July, 1862, the 
tract societies were able to distribute all the reHgious read- 
ing that was needed, and local soldiers'-aid societies sent on 
magazines and papers with other supplies : so the Chaplains'- 
aid Commission was not kept up as an organization. But 
Chaplain Hall doubtless said truly, " Connecticut leads every 
other State, even the old Bay State, in the aid she is furnish- 
ing her chaplains." 

Early in the war, Gov. Buckingham, in order to secure effi- 
cient medical officers, appointed Drs. G. W. Russell of Hartford, 
P. A. Jewett of New Haven, and Ashbel Woodward of Frank- 
lin, an examining board. These gentlemen, at great personal 
inconvenience and sacrifice, met throughout the war, and con- 
sidered with thoroughness the qualifications of candidates for 
those responsible posts. The traditions and rules of the army 
forbade the board to pass any applicants, except practitioners 
of the old school; but' this duty was performed with faithful 
discrimination, and it is safe to say that no man was commis- 
sioned as surgeon in any Connecticut regiment who was 
incompetent for the position. 

24 



186 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

A board for the examination of line-officers was also insti- 
tuted, and was productive of considerable good. 



The State election of April, 1862, was very quiet. Party 
excitement had subsided ; the " peace " feeling and the 
" white-flag " demonstrations of the previous autumn had 
disappeared ; and the general sentiment of the people, irre- 
spective of party, was, that the war must now be pushed 
with decision. The Democrats insisted that nothing could 
in any case be done that was not " strictly constitutional ; " 
while Republicans avoided that question, or maintained that 
war was never waged " according to law," and that all stat- 
utes and constitutions must be held subordinate to the salva- 
tion of the nation's life. In their platform, however, the 
Eepublicans pledged themselves to " prosecute the war in 
absolute good faith, for the sole purpose of- saving the 
Union." The Eaton-Seymour branch of the Democratic 
party was under a cloud, and there seemed to be general 
concurrence in the work of the hour. 

The Democrats affirmed a willingness to permit the Re- 
publicans, with their wise and noble governor, to retain the 
responsibility for all acts relating to the war : so that the 
election went almost by default. Little effort was made, 
and only 70,416 votes were polled. Gov. Buckingham was 
re-elected by a majority of 9,148. 

The Senate elected was unanimously Republican ; and, in 
the lower House, that party had a hundred and thirty 
majority. More than thirteen thousand men had been 
mustered into the service, and recruiting had ceased. 

The Assembly met at New Haven on Wednesday, May 7. 
The Senate organized by the election of Hiram Goodwin as 
president pro tern., and Cyrus Northrop as clerk. The House 
chose Josiah M. Carter of Norwalk as speaker ; and Cooke 
Lounsbury and H. Lynde Harrison, clerks. 

The message of the governor was 'received with favor by 
both parties. It appeared that the total estimated indebted- 
ness of the State for the year was $3,163,384. Of this 
amount, all but half a million was due for military ex- 
penses. 



^ MESSAGE OF GOV. BUCKINGHAM. 187 

Federal affairs were discussed by the governor in a digni- 
fied, humane, and patriotic manner. In boldly stating his 
views on a subject concerning which many were still pain- 
fully sensitive, he says, " Slavery has forced us to a civil 
war, but insists that we have no right to use the war-power 
against her interests. Slaverj^ has repudiated her obliga- 
tions to the Constitution, and yet claims protection by virtue 
of its provisions. Let us not be deceived by such fallacy. 
. . . Slavery, by denying her obligations to the Constitution, 
has opened the door for the operation of the principles of 
righteousness and justice which dictated that instrument; 
and if, in pressing those principles to their legitimate results. 
Slavery shall be undermined and perish, let us rejoice that 
the suicide is of no importance to enlarged and universal 
liberty." 

This was almost the first declaration in the State, by one 
of her public men, in favor of re-establishing the Union 
upon the foundations of liberty, justice, and equality before 
the law. 

With a view of testino; the sentiments of the Union Re- 
publicans on this irritating subject, perhaps with the hope 
of producing discord in their ranks, Charles Chapman of 
Hartford, early in the session, introduced a resolution 
indorsing the proclamation of President Lincoln which 
annulled the order of Gen. Hunter declaring;: the slaves of 
Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, to be free. 

It was simply referred, without debate, by a yea-an.d-nay 
vote of one hundred and forty-nine to sixty-eight, to the 
Committee on Federal Relations. Messrs. Chapman of Hart- 
ford, and A. R Hyde of Tolland, were the Democratic lead- 
ers ; but they took no other occasion to show party-feeling, 
and displayed no opposition to the war. The session was 
devoted chiefly to local matters. No new legislation con- 
cerning the war was deemed necessary. 

The militia law of 1861 was repealed, and a new law en- 
acted in its stead. James T. Pratt of Rocky Hill, a recent 
convert to the war-party, had been temporarily appointed 
major-general of the State militia; but his administration 
was a failure. His command consisted only of himself; and 



188 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

his ideas on the subject of the miUtia were deemed imprac- 
ticable and antiquated. He was promptly removed, and 
Prof. William H. Russell of the New-Haven Military School 
was appointed his successor. 

The new law provided all the necessary machinery for a 
good militia ; but it had not enough vigor to become effective, 
as it depended on the voluntary action of the young men, 
and held out no inducement for th^m to organize under it. 

The Assembly would probably have adjourned by the 1st 
of July, had not tidings of the disasters to Gen. McClellan 
held them together for such action as the worst contingency 
might demand. New bounties were authorized ; and the pay 
and bounties of volunteers were exempted from attachment 
for debt. 

Three reports came from the Committee on Federal Rela- 
tions at the close of the session ; but, without debate, they 
were all indefinitely postponed ; and the following resolution 
was passed unanimously on the last day by both branches of 
the legislature : — 

Resolved, That the State of Connecticut will stand by the old flag, and 
will furnish all the men and money that are required of her to put down 
this infamous Rebellion. 

This emphatic action, in the face of almost stunning 
defeat, tersely expressed the thought and temper of the 
people. The legislature of 1862 contained a large number 
of men of ability : among them were Messrs. 0. H. Piatt, 
H. K, W. Welch, A. H. Byington, John B. Wright, and 
Charles Atwater, jr., of the Senate ; and Erastus Scranton, 
Jolm T. Rice, Amos A. Treat, John T. Adams, David Gallup, 
Cornelius S. Bushnell, Alfred Coit, Abner L. Train, Abijah 
Catlin, B. Bent, jr.. Dr. H. A. Grant, John E. Law, David 
J. Peck, and Erastus Day, of the House. 

On the 12th of November, 1862, Gov. Buckingham issued 
his proclamation, convening the General Assembly in 
special session at New Haven for the sundry purposes 
specified. 

In accordance with this call, the two branches met in 
their respective halls at New Haven on the 9th of Decem- 
ber. The message was largely devoted to the action of the 



THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMACK. JgQ 

State in military matters since the adjournment of the May 
session. The attention of the legislature was again called 
to the unorganized condition of the State militia, and also 
to the justice of adopting some practical method of allow- 
ing the soldiers in the field to vote. 

Laws were passed authorizing towns to fund their war 
indebtedness in bonds, confirming the action of towns in 
granting bounties to volunteers after enlistment, and 
authorizing the State treasurer to issue and sell bonds of 
the State to the amount of two million of dollars. Some 
legislation was also had on the subject of banks. 

That portion of the militia law relating to the enrollment 
of the inactive militia and drafting for active service was 
amended, and rendered much more efficient. There was no 
more drafting for the militia. 

The judiciary committee reported a bill, drawn with great 
care, enabling electors of the State, in the military service 
of the United States, to cast their votes in the field at all 
State and Presidential elections. 

The bill was violently opposed in the House by the Demo- 
cratic members ; but it was finally passed by a strict party- 
vote. The Republicans then submitted the whole matter to 
the Supreme Court, which decided that the clause in the 
State Constitution requiring the voters to " meet in the 
several towns" rendered the law unconstitutional. The 
legislation of 1863 and 1864 healed this defect in the 
organic law ; so that, before the close of the war, the citizen- 
soldiers of the State were enabled to vote. 

Amos 1^ Treat of Bridgeport introduced a resolution 
pledging the support of the State to the president in aM 
measures he might adopt for the suppression of the Rebel- 
lion. It passed by a strict party-vote. 

Already the national arms had met with defeat upon 
many hard-fought fields ; and the opponents of the war, 
silent during the cheers and songs of victory, were again 
making their remonstrances heard. 



On March 9, 1862, occurred the famous naval combat 
between the Monitor and Merrimack in Hampton Roads, 



190 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

revolutionizing in an hour the navies of the world. Connec- 
ticut had an important part in the construction of the 
Monitor. 

During the winter of 1861-2, Mr. C. S. Bushnell, an enter- 
prising and public-spirited citizen of New Haven, contracted 
with the Navy Department for the construction of the 
Galena (the first iron-clad ordered by the United-States 
Government) ; and he called upon Capt. John Ericsson of 
New York to assure himself of the stability and buoyancy 
of the vessel under the stipulated weight of iron armor. 

Capt. Ericsson exhibited to him the plan of the original 
Monitor. Mr. Bushnell was satisfied at once that Ericsson's 
twenty-five years of thoughtful experiment had resulted in 
the perfection of a plan for an impregnable war-ship. Lack 
of funds had prevented the construction of the vessel ; and 
Bushnell instantly expressed a willingness to risk his entire 
fortune in the- undertaking. A contract was signed, and the 
inventor gave him a carte blanche for the construction. 

In just one hundred days, the strange vessel was launched 
from the yard of Thomas F. Rowland, at Greenpoint, L.I. 
So incredulous were the Navy Board as to the value of the 
novel craft, that they refused to accept her until the builders 
had signed a guaranty that she should " prove a success." 

Her arrival at Fortress Monroe was greeted with repeated 
cheers from fort, ships, and shore ; for several of our best 
wooden frigates had the day before been burned, sunk, and 
blown up, and the rest scattered. As the Monitor imme- 
diately ran down to engage the Merrimack, the rebels on 
board the uncouth monster derided the insiyrnificant " cheese- 
box "on a raft;" but it was Goliath and David in deadly 
grapple again, and the giant was defeated. The Merrimack 
was soon after destroyed ; and from that day the Confed- 
erates abandoned their pretense of a navy. The next mail 
carried to European nations news of a wonderful combat, 
involving their own destinies ; and the admirals of many 
victories were startled to think how helpless would be their 
stoutest sloops of war before the iron beak. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

The Sixth embarks for Florida. — Return to Hilton Head. — The Seventh goes to Tibee 
Island to besiege Fort Pulaski. — Labor of getting the Heavy Mortars in Position. — 
A Case of Insanity. — Sixth goes to Dawfuskie Island to cut oflF the Approaches from 
Savannah. — Seventh mans the Mortar Batteries. — A Connecticut Affair. — The Bat- 
tle. — Surrender of the Fort. — The Sixth and Seventh and the First Connecticut 
Battery at James Island. — Assault on Lamar's Battery. — Severe Fighting. — Re- 
pulse and Withdrawal. — Bad Management by Gen. Benham. — Casualties. 

fHE Sixth and Seventh Regiments remained on 
the island, at Hilton Head, during the early 
months of the winter of 1861-2, perfecting 
themselves in drill, and awaiting orders. About 
Jan. 20, the Sixth was called to take part in a 
secret expedition by Gen. Wright's brigade, and embarked 
with that intent. A storm kept the vessels in the harbor a 
week ; when they dropped down to Warsaw Sound, with the 
idea of avoiding Fort Pulaski, and capturing Savannah by 
way of an inlet. A long experiment was made by the gun- 
boats, while the transports lay in Warsaw Sound till Feb. 27. 
The soldiers of the Sixth were fed for sixteen days on 
salt food only ; and " their drinking-water was from camphene 
casks, where it had been put some three months before. It 
was so foul, that the strongest tea could not conceal the 
nauseating flavor and smell, and, when poured into the sea- 
water, discolored it." ^ Severe sickness, in the form of spotted 
fever, broke out among the men in consequence, and became 
so aggravated, that there was an average of four or five 
deaths a day on board. The vessel was ordered back to 
Hilton Head, while the rest proceeded to take possession of 
the coast of Florida. The Sixth rapidly recovered health ; 

1 Letter of an officer. 

191 



192 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

and Col. Hawley said in a letter, " Its appearance is a matter 
of just pride." 

On Dec. 16, the Seventh was removed from Fort Welles, 
Hilton Head, to the heavy earthwork built just below, 
expecting to remain there ; but, two days later, the men 
were summoned from their quarters to embark on the Ma- 
rion for Tybee Island, below Savannah, to participate in the 
siege of Pulaski, under Gen. Gilmore and Gen. H. W. Ben- 
ham. On Tybee, the regiment made itself another camp, 
and then went vigorously at work intrenching the batteries 
along the side of the island, approachilig obliquely nearest 
to the fort. The work of posting the batteries was mostly 
done in the night ; the men of the Seventh and two com- 
panies of the 3d Rhode-Island making " burrows " and 
splinter-proofs near the guns for the protection of the gun- 
ners. The 46th New-York shared these labors as far as 
their scanty numbers and imperfect discipline enabled 
them. Not only must all the ordinary camp, fatigue, and 
picket duty be done, but ordnance of the heaviest descrip- 
tion then known, and ordnance-stores, must be unloaded into 
boats, and landed (without a wharf), then dragged by hand 
(with no draught beasts) for from one to two and a half miles, 
part of the way through sand, and part over a marsh whose 
muddy depths were first coated with a layer of earth. Lieut. 
Horace Porter of the United-States Ordnance Corps, ord- 
nance-officer of the 230st, after alluding in his official report 
to the enormous labor involved in moving the thirteen-inch 
mortars (twelve in number) weighing seventeen thousand 
pounds, and the other ordnance • and ordnance-stores, adds, 
" I can pay no greater tribute to the patriotism of the 
'Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, the troops generally fur- 
nished me for this duty, than to say, that when the sling 
carts frequently sank to their hubs in the marshes, and had to 
be extricated by unloading the mortar and then reloading it, 
they toiled night after night, often in a drenching rain, under 
the guns of the fort, speaking only in whispers, and directed 
entirely by the sound of a whistle, without uttering a mur- 
mur. When drilling the same men in the mortar-batteries, 
they exhibited an intelligence equaled only by their former 
physical endurance." 



A POOR INVALID. 193 

A letter of that time says, " Pulaski shoots at us occa- 
sionally : and the boys rather like it ; for nobody gets hurt, 
and relics accumulate ; earthworks slowly rise ; a gun gets 
mounted frequently ; fleas bite continually ; once in a while, 
a mail comes in ; somebody shoots an otter or an eagle ; 
teams and mule-carts work eighteen hours a day, drawing 
great loads of shot and shell two miles ; and the beach is 
strewn with all the implements of war." 

Major G. F. Gardiner and three companies (B, E, and I) 
of the Seventh were for a short time over on Dawfuskie 
Island, north of the fort, doing effective service. With the 
48th New-York, they had cut ten thousand long poles for 
a causeway across the marsh on Jones Island to wheel a 
battery up to command the river. They carried these on 
their shoulders a mile ; others being engaged in carrying 
sand in bags four miles in rowboats to make a base for Bat- 
tery Venus. 

During this arduous work of preparation passed January, 
February, March ; and the warmth of a Southern spring came 
with April. The health of the Seventh had not been seri- 
ously- impaired. There was one invalid whose case was 
peculiarly touching, set forth by Col. Hawley in a private 
letter: — 

"Poor D ! Do you know the D s, who live near you ? Well, their 

son, who belongs to Company D, got news that his wife, two children, and 
sister had all died of diphtheria. How he cried, poor fellow ! We com- 
forted him all we could. I spoke pleasantly to him Avhen we met, and 
hoped he was getting along well. We heard the other day that his mother 
was sick too. Somebody came to the supper-table last night, and called 

for the doctor to see a crazy man ; and, soon after, the man said that D 

wanted to see me. I went to his tent. Half a dozen of his comrades were 
there. One dim candle, stuck in a bottle, showed me the rifles stacked - 
around the center pole, the cartridge-boxes, bayonets, and knapsacks. The 
ground was covered with the splendid long moss they had pulled from the 

live-oaks. D sat squat on the ground, his face and hands very dirty, 

his fingers constantly picking something, his body moving, his head turning 
wildly from one side to the other, his eyes dreadfully swelled with weep- 
ing. ' Halloo, D ! how are you ? ' And he peered up toward my face.- 

' Col. Hawley,' said somebody. ' Yes,' said he, ' that's Col. Hawley ; ' 
and he took my hand with a tight grip. ' Col. Hawley, look at my baby, — 
my poor, sick baby ! ' He had a little pile of white moss, and in it his 
cartridge-box, carefully covered, all but one edge of it, with his blanket, 
25 



194 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

That was his baby. And he turned the blanket down as tenderly as if the 
cartridge-box were a delicate little baby. He spoke brokenly, and at inter- 
vals, with a quick but mournful voice, — ' Poor baby ! babies both sick ; 
sister sick (and he pointed to where he supposed they lay). Poor baby ! 
very sick. Give baby some water.' And he leaned on one elbow, and 
affectionately held a leaf up to the cartridge-box as if baby would drink. 
He seemed to consider himself in his own home ; but then he would say, 
'Won't let me go home, — no, no, no (waiting a few seconds), — no, 
won't let me go home ; ' his hands constantly fidgeting. Then he considered 
them all dead, and he by their graves, ' Sister,' — and he laid his hand on 
one side, and then marked each grave, — ' baby, wife, mother ! ' I kept 
his hand ten minutes, and sat down by him, and put my hand on his shoul- 
der, and tried to compel him to listen. I told him his babies were happy, 
and his mother was not dead ; (is she ?) and that if he would be a good boy, 
and sleep, he should go home. ' I've built six forts, and mounted six can- 
nons ; and I'm going to take down that one to-morrow, — Pulaski over there. 
Well, poor baby ! ' and he put trees over the graves. Tears came into all our 
eyes sometimes, I think. He sent for me again to-day ; but he cannot con- 
fine his attention to any thing. ' Poor baby ' is the burden of his talk, and 
still he tends his cartridge-box." 

On March 20, the Sixth Connecticut was transferred from 
Hilton Head to Dawfuskie Island to take part in the reduc- 
tion of Pulaski. The men assisted the 48th New-York to build 
the batteries on Mud, Jones, and Bird Islands, commanding 
the river. Wall's Cut, and other approaches, and complet- 
ing" the investment. The material for these was all brouf»:ht 
from the mainland. The Sixth was also eng;ag;ed in makins; 
reconnoissances towards Savannah, up New River, and 
watching the enemy in that direction. 

The batteries on Tybee were now all placed and in- 
trenched (the mortars out of sight of the fort), and every 
thing was ready. To the Seventh Connecticut was assigned 
the delicate and important duty of serving the mortars. The 
officers and men had been drilled only fitfully in the intervals 
of other severe labor ; yet they went to the novel work with 
that quick ingenuity which is a Yankee instinct. Five of 
the batteries, containing fifteen heavy mortars, were manned 
by the Seventh. 

Battery Totten on Goat's Point (nearest to the fort) was 
commanded by Capts. D. C. Rodman and S. H. Gray, with 
their companies ; Battery Halleck, by Capts. 0. S. Sanford 
and E. S. Hitchcock; Battery Sherman, by Capts. D. G. Fran- 



rOKT PULASKI. 195 

CIS and J. B. Dennis ; Battery Lincoln, by Capts. C. S. Pal- 
mer and Jerome Tourtelotte ; Battery Stanton, by Capts. B. 
F. Skinner and Theodore Bacon. 

Surgeon Francis Bacon and Capt. Rodman, and a lieuten- 
ant in the regular army, accompanied by a boat's crew, went 
over to the fort, under flag of truce, on April 10, and de- 
manded a surrender. The oflicer in command replied that 
he was placed there, not to surrender the fort, but to defend 
it. The visitors called his attention to the fact that he was 
" defending stolen property," and returned. 

Pulaski was a huge five-sided fortress, as strong as Fort 
Pickens. Its walls, seven feet thick, mounted one tier of 
guns in embrasures, and one en barheffe. Twenty guns bore 
upon the Tybee batteries, including ten 10-inch columbiads. 
It was built by a Connecticut man. 

In fact, the whole affair now began to assume a Connecti- 
cut character. The general commanding the district, and 
present on Tybee (H. W. Benham), was from Connecticut; a 
majority of the investing forces were from Connecticut ; Col. 
Perry, of the 48th New-York, was from Ridgefield, Conn. ; 
and one of the officers of the 3d Rhode-Island was Capt. 
Thomas R. Briggs, of Danielsonville, Conn. The gunboat 
Norwich, from Connecticut, completed the blockading west 
of the fort. The fort itself was constructed twenty years 
before by Lieut, (afterwards Major-Gen.) Mansfield of Con- 
necticut, assisted by Lieut. Benham, assistant engineer, from 
Connecticut. Moreover, it was now commanded by Col. 
Charles H. Olmstead, a rebel, to whom Ridgefield, Conn., 
gave birth. 

Surrender being refused, the fight began on April 10, about 
eight o'clock, at a signal-gun from Battery Halleck. Simul- 
taneously, all the guns and mortars blazed and roared with 
an explosion that shook the island in its marshy anchor- 
age. The response was sturdy and determined. From that 
hour onward, the artillery fire continued; the rebels hurling 
British projectiles at the island, while rifled shot and plun- 
ging shell rained in fury upon the garrison. Great clouds 
of smoke eclipsed the noonday sun ; and the windows rattled 
at Port Royal and Savannah, twenty miles away. The dis- 



196 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

tance between the combatants was at least a mile ; yet it 
soon became evident that the fire from Tybee was telling. 
As the solid shot struck, great piles of the solid masonry 
gave way, and clouds of brick-dust filled the air. The Sev- 
enth worked the mortars steadily and manfully. " Sergeant 
Lucas Sutliffe (of Southington) made every shot tell, cut- 
ting away the staff, and bringing down the flag." Battery 
Sherman fired one shot every fifteen minutes during the 
night. 

The shots from the fort plowed up the sand in close fur- 
rows; but the men soon observed the range and caliber of 
the various guns of the fort, so as to dodge until the missile 
passed. Col. Hawley wrote in a letter, — 

" Sometimes we called out, ' Ten-incher ! ' as a certain big columbiad on 
the south-west angle of the fort let off; sometimes ' Pocket pistol ! ' or ' Little 
rifle ! ' as a small, sharp, accurate Blakeley gun on the ramparts fired. We 
got so that we knew where each gun was trained, and could tell by the sound 
where the shot was going. Soon after noon of the 11th, there were four or 
five holes in the fort, close together, one of them, perhaps, twelve feet in 
diameter. Now and then a cartload of masonry rolled down ; then every- 
body yelled in triumph. The ditch was nearly full ; and a huge gun on 
the ramparts apparently tottered, ready to fall into the ruin. Our fire grew 
furious. Captains of guns jumped on the banks, and yelled, ' No. 1, fire ! ' 
' No. 2, fire ! ' ' No. 3, fire ! ' ' No. 4, fire ! ' and the black and sweaty 
cannoneers jumped to the muzzles to reload. Oh, it was a maddening 
sight and sound ! " 

During the forenoon of the 11th, the breach in the south- 
east angle of the fort was enlarged. The entire casemate 
next to the pancoupe had been opened. Half the rebel guns 
had been dismounted. At two, p.m., the fort hoisted a white 
flag; and its appearance was greeted with the craziest 
demonstrations of enthusiasm on Tybee. 

The Seventh Connecticut had fired nine hundred and 
eighty -nine (989) 13 -inch shells, and five hundred and 
eighty-eight (588) 10-inch shells, — in weight more than half 
that had been thrown from Union guns. These did not, how- 
ever, prove so effective as the solid shots from the columbiads 
and the James and Parrott rifle-guns with which the Rhode- 
Island companies had made the breach. 

The Seventh had shown superior skill, industry, and en- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE SOLDIERS. 197 

durance ; and these were now duly recognized. The post 
of honor — the fort itself — was assigned to the regiment ; 
and to it was also awarded the rebel flacj; that came whirlino- 
down for the last time from the staff! The Tribune corre- 
spondent said, " The Seventh Connecticut were immediately 
ordered to garrison the fort, — a post of distinction which 
their faithful services in the erection of the works, and gal- 
lant conduct in the batteries nearest to the enemy's fire, had 
honorably earned, and which the rest of the troops very 
heartily envied them." 

Gen. Benham wrote to Gov. Buckingham, "And it is a 
great pleasure for me to say to you that the first morning's 
sun of the occupation of the work by our troops gilded the 
banner of that State whose trust is still, as from the first, ' He 
who brought us over will protect us.' " 

After the fall of the fort, the Sixth Connecticut was or- 
dered to dismantle the battery erected in the marsh to com- 
mand the river. By some misunderstanding, the gunboats 
were drawn off", so that the party were without defense. 
Col. Chatfield dismounted the great columbiad in the night, 
mounted in its place a black log, with a barrel fixed on the 
breech, and floated the real gun and equipments over to 
Pulaski on a large raft, arriving there safely next day. 
Meantime, the alert rebels sallied forth, and captured the 
" Quaker." 

During the last week in May, the Sixth moved from Daw- 
faskie Island ; and the Seventh left the fort to a New- York 
regiment, and went on an expedition, under Gen. Benham, 
to occupy James Island, at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. 
They crossed via North Edisto and John's Island, through 
mud and mire, in a drenching rain that lasted three days. 

The expedition seems to have been shockingly managed. 
Ten thousand men were here set to make a five-days' march 
on three days' rations ; and the sequel was, that they arrived 
without food, tents, or cooking utensils. The only " cooking 
utensil " the field and staff of the Sixth had was a gallon 
camphene can, with nozzle and top cut off. In this was 
cooked potatoes, pork, beef, coffee, tea, — food of every sort, 
— for three weeks. 



198 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

Col. Chatfield of the Sixth commanded a brigade including 
his own regiment ; and, on the night of June 8-9, he moved 
his command up the Stono River to Grimball's plantation, 
about four and a half miles from Charleston, where a landing 
was made under a severe fire. On the evening of the 10th, 
the enemy attacked in front, but were repulsed after a brisk 
skirmish. The First Connecticut Battery was here doing' 
excellent service. A correspondent of the New- York Her- 
ald said, " Capt. Alfred P. Rockwell, with his Connecticut bat- 
tery, responded to this fire, and poured percussion-shells into 
the rebels with great effect, and much more accuracy than 
they had shown. At the end of an hour from the time of 
attack, the rebels fled in great confusion, leaving knapsacks, 
muskets, and equipments behind in their haste. They 
retreated over two causeways, in the direction of Secession- 
ville." 

The Connecticut res^iments met with no loss in this affair. 
After two or three days more of skirmishing, the division 
was pushed forward by Gen. Benham, at dayhght on the 
16th, to attack Lamar's rebel batteries, intrenched in front 
of Secessionville, near the north end of the island. This 
was a simple earthwork, heavily constructed, with a plain 
face, an obtuse angle on each side, and protected by rifle-pits 
and abatis in front, and flanked by creeks and marshes. 
The gunboats might have given effective aid, had not the 
assault been made at low tide. 

A soldier writing to the Palladium said of the attack, — 

" Marching from the woods, which had hitherto concealed 
our advancing column, the order, ' Forward into Hue ! ' was 
given, and instantly obeyed. Before us rose a large fort, 
with a deep moat, and heavy, strong abatis, stoutly pro- 
tected by cannon of different caliber. Our Connecticut bat- 
tery fired the opening shot, and immediately the action 
became general. The rebels were concealed by their in- 
trenchments ; but onward we pressed, firing at their heads 
that fringed the ramparts." 

" By this time the Seventh had come into the field and 
formed in battalion line, and was marching at double-quick 
across the ridges of the cotton-fields. The line was formed 



BE A VERY OF LIEUT. -COL. GARDNER. 199 

with the center opposite to the right angle of the enemy's 
works, with the design of taking that flank." ~ " The grape 
and rifle shots came in showers. When within two or three 
hundred yards of the earthwork, the left wing came obliquelj^ 
upon an unseen ditch and morass ; so that, in advancing, it 
must crowd by its right flank toward the center. At this 
moment, a terrible fire of grape and musketry opened upon 
us. The line was inevitably broken. The colors stood fast, 
protected by Capt. Palmer's company (E) ; Capt. Hitchcock 
with part of Company G, and Lieut. S. S. Atwell with part 
of Company C, having advanced within one hundred and 
thirty yards of the parapet: These and a portion of the 
right wing, conceiving that the time had come when the 
order not to fire might be waived, opened a brisk discharge 
upon the parapet. The men stood bravely ; but the line 
could not be formed until the colors were brouQ-ht into the 
open field. As soon as this was done, the regiment moved 
by the right flank under the heaviest fire, the wing rapidly 
closing up ; and under your order, when well across the 
field toward the marsh, filed to the right, and advanced upon 
the enemy." ^ 

Lieut.-Col. Gardner was conspicuous during the confusion 
vSpoken of in re-forming and dressing the regimental front. 
His coolness in getting the stragglers into line was much 
admired. 

" An attempt was here made by the regiment to carry the 
left angle of the fort. The regiment marched by the flank 
under the heaviest fire ; the companies keeping nobly to- 
gether, right along the face of the enemy's works." ^ Soon 
after, an assault at another point failing. Gen. Stevens with- 
drew the regiment. " Faced by the rear rank, the battalion 
marched to the hedge, and lay behind it until an order from 
Gen. Stevens brought it back to the hedge in front of the 
hospital. In a few moments, the general again sent us for- 
ward to the hedge across the first field, where we lay while 
three pieces — two howitzers and a rifle of the First Connec- 
ticut Light Battery — came up, and carried on a rapid, and, 
for the most part, a very well-directed fire. Several times, 

" Correspondent of the Press. ^ Col. Hawley's Report. * Letter in Press. 



200 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

my men assisted with the utmost eagerness in moving the 
guns and giving other aid. A portion of the best marksmen 
were permitted to fire at the enemy's parapets." ^ 

" Our Connecticut battery worked admirably, and we 
stood by them to the last. Using four-second fuses, they 
loaded and fired with the rapidity of lightning. Our New- 
Haven Tom Lord was down on his knees, right under the 
muzzle of his gun, ramming home the cartridges and spon- 
ging out his piece ; never once changing his position. I saw 
a shell explode inside the body of a horse, scattering frag- 
ments of flesh and bones in every direction, and covering 
his rider with gore from head to*foot."° 

Soon the final command came to retire, and the battery 
and regiment drew off "The Seventh was the only regi- 
ment that marched off the field in order. They formed 
their regimental line under the enemy's guns, and marched 
away with the precision of veterans." ^ " I saw the Seventh 
Connecticut Volunteers halt and dress and correct its alicrn- 
ment within perhaps three hundred yards of the batteries, and 
retire with a well-preserved battalion-front as if on parade." ^ 
The conduct of the battery received honorable mention in 
the report of Gen.- Stevens ; and Col. Chatfield, cool-headed 
and full of expedient, was complimented by Gen. Wright 
for the manner of leadino; his brio;ade. 

Only two companies of the Sixth were engaged ; the body 
of the regiment being on picket-duty, and held in reserve. 
The battle seems to have been an inexcusable bkmder from 
beginning to end, in both its conception and execution. 

Of the casualties and conduct of the Seventh, the official 
report further says, — 

" Capt. Edwin S. Hitchcock (of New Haven), Company G, 
among the foremost, and enthusiastically cheering on his 
men, was severely wounded in the thigh. He continued to 
call out cheerfully, and to fire rifles handed him by his men, 
until he received a rifle-ball straiicht from the front throuu;h 
his upper lip. Four of his men undertook to carry him to 
the rear. While they were doing this, two of them — Ser- 

^ Col. Hawley's Report. *> Letter in Palladium. ' Chaplain Wayland. 

" Correspondent of the N. Y. World. 



BURIAL OF CAPT. HITCHCOCK. 201 

geant W. H. Haynes and Private J. N. Dexter — were 
wounded by rifle-balls ; and they were obliged to leave the 
gallant captain dying there. 

"Lieut. Thomas Horton (of Norwalk), Company D, was 
doing his whole duty, nobly rallying and regulating his com- 
pany, when a heavy grape-shot passed entirely through his 
right thigh, nearly up to his body. He was carried to the 
rear, praising his men and urging them on ; and lived but a 
short time. Sergeant (acting Second Lieut.) Henry Upson, 
jr. (of Hartford), Company F, was heroically at work when 
a grape-shot took off three fingers, and dashed through his 
right shoulder." 

The staff-officers are mentioned complimentarily ; and of 
the line-officers the report says, " At a most critical moment, 
when we were re-arranging the line for a second advance, 
nothing could have been better than the conduct of Capts. 
Gray, Palmer, and Skinner, and Lieuts. Chamberlain, Atwell, 
Thompson, Townsend, and Burdick. Surgeon Bacon and 
Assistant Surgeon Porter and their assistants were very in- 
dustrious in bringing off the wounded ; to which I attribute 
our small number of missing. Chaplain Wayland was also 
everywhere present, self-possessed and active." The regi- 
ment had lost in this brief action nineteen killed and seventy- 
nine wounded. The color-staff was shot in two parts in the 
hands of Sergeant H. H. Smith of Meriden. 

The body of Capt. Hitchcock was taken home, and buried 
with honors at New Haven. He had been in the war from 
the beginning, and was a kind, skillful, and fearless soldier, 
as he was a patriotic man. A former employer of young 
Hitchcock WTote, "His impulses were always towards 
truth, justice, and liberty; his thoughts and words came 
quickly; his advocacy of the right, under all circumstances, — 
knowing no expediency, no policy, — might be safely emu- 
lated by many older men. Seeing in him these qualities, I 
loved him, and could not forbear adding this rude tribute to 
his memory." He set an example, in the army, of morality, 
purity, courtesy, and bravery ; and his men followed him 
devotedly. A chaste and stately monument was erected to 
his memory by the members of his company, on a lot donated 

26 



202 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

by James M. Townsend, its untiring patron, whose patri- 
otic benevolence seemed to increase with the burdens of the 
war. 

Sergeant Upson died of his wounds. Col. Hawley recom- 
mendQd that his commission as second lieutenant be made 
out, and said, " Though he will not live to receive it, I should 
be glad to have the commission issued as recommended. 
The noble man deserves the honor." 

Capt. Charles E. Palmer, of Winsted, shortly after died 
from exposure in this campaign. Gen. Terry wrote of him, 
" At the time of the action on James Island he was so ill, 
that, under ordinary circumstances, he would not have been 
in command of his company ; but, prompted by the devotion 
to duty which always distinguished him, he led his company 
to the field, and gave to it and to the regiment a splendid 
example. of courage and firmness under the most trying cir- 
cumstances. . . . The noble purity and uprightness of his 
nature, and his eminently soldierly qualities, had not only 
endeared him to us all, but liad led us to look forward to a 
brilliant future for him ; and we mourn his loss not only as 
ours and yours, but as a loss to the country which he served 
so fliithfully." 

When Gen. Hunter returned, he ordered an evacuation of 
the island. This soon took the Connecticut battery to Beau- 
fort. The Sixth and Seventh, in Gen. Wright's brigade, 
went to Edisto, and occupied the rude camp there ; but, after 
remaining two weeks, they returned to Hilton Head, and, 
in the familiar quarters of the previous winter, made them- 
selves once more comfortable. Plethoric boxes from Con- 
necticut were again received, and all the tender communica- 
tions with home were re-established. 




CHAPTER XIV. 



The Fourth becomes the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery. — Recruits. — Goes with 
McClellan to the Peninsula. — " Siege " of Yorktown. — The Heavy Batteries. — 
" Ready." — Magrudcr falls back. — Detached as Infantry. — The Seven-days' Bat- 
tles. — Malvern Hill. — Back to Arlington Heights. — The Connecticut Battalion 
of Cavalry. — Among the Mountains of West Virginia. — After Bushwhackers. — 
Raids and Incidents. — Battle of McDowell. — Charge through Wordensville. — Dash 
into New Market. — Ambush at Harrisonburg. — Cross Keys. — Jackson Ubiquitous. 
— The Fifth at Winchester. — Battle and Repulse, — In Maryland again. — Slaughter 
at Cedar Mountain. — Bravery and Severe Losses of the Fifth. — Stone, Blake, Dut- 
ton. Smith. 

AN. 2, 1862, the Fourth Regiment was changed, 
by order of the War Department, into the First 
Connecticut Heavy Artillery ; and before spring, 
under Col. Robert 0. Tyler, it had attained a 
remarkable degree of efficiency, and was soon 
after "ranked by military judges as the best volunteer regi- 
ment of heavy artillery in the field, and considered equal in 
all respects to any regiment of the same arm in the regular 
service." ^ It received two additional companies, and was 
recruited to eighteen hundred men. Company L was from 
Hartford County; Company M from Bridgeport and New 
Haven mainly. Other officers and men added at this time 
were largely from Norwich, Killingly, New London, Water- 
bury, New Haven, and Watertown. 

Its splendid equipment and its high state of discipline 
were soon to be tested. April 2, the regiment marched out 
of its comfortable barracks at Fort Richardson, and joined 
the vast army under McClellan^ that moved to capture Rich- 
mond through the Peninsula. The First was accompanied 

1 Adjutant-General's Report, 18G3, p. 78. 

2 Gen. George B. McClellan was a son of Dr. George McClellan, formerly of Wood- 
stock, Conn. 

203 



204 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

by a siege-train of seventy-one pieces of artillery. After a 
slow and tedious passage, it disembarked at Cheeseman's 
Landing, near Yorktown, April 12. 

McClellan had a hundred thousand men. Magruder, the 
rebel general, in his front, had seven thousand and five hun- 
dred, which, says a Confederate authority,^ he " adroitly 
extended over a distance of several miles ; a regiment being 
posted here and there, in every gap plainly open to observa- 
tion ; and, on other portions of the line, the men being posted 
at long intervals, to give the appearance of numbers." With 
this absurd disparity of strength, McClellan announced that 
Yorktown and the line across the Peninsula were impregna- 
ble, except to a regular siege. 

In this the First participated, having some of the heaviest 
ordnance in the service. The laborious task of getting bat- 
teries into position was at once begun. In the siege-train 
of seventy-one pieces were two 200-pounder Parrotts, five 
100-pounder Parrotts, ten 13-inch sea-service mortars, and 
sixteen 10 -inch sea -service mortars. To transport and 
mount these properly required the most arduous labor 
prolonged night and day, and unflagging energy. For two 
weeks, the work went on ; the companies vying with each 
other in the severe task. 

"The heaviest pieces placed in position in the trenches 
before Sebastopol by the English were the 68-pounder 
gun of 10,640 pounds, and the 13-inch sea-service mortar 
of 11,300 pounds ; and by the French the cannon de fifty 
of 10,190 pounds, and the mortier de 32c of 9,615 pounds. 
The 200-pounder Parrott weighs 16,470, and the 13-inch 
sea-service mortar (1861) 17,120 pounds. The guns placed 
in position before Yorktown, therefore, exceed in weight by 
fifty per cent any guns that have ever before been placed 
in siege batteries." "* 

For the service of these guns, it was necessary to convey 
17,047 projectiles, weighing, in the aggregate, four hundred 
and twenty-eight tons. All this carrying was done by the 
regiment ; and, during the twenty-two days before the evacu- 

3 Pollard's Southern History of the War, p. 287. 

* Report of Major A. Doiill, 2(1 New- York artillery, ordnance-oflaccr to siege-train 
First Connecticut. 



THE SIEGE OF YOEKTOWN. 205 

ation, they carted seven hundred and twenty-six loads to the 
d^pot. 

Only the battery of heavy gnns was engaged during the 
siege. " This battery opened fire on the 1st of May, and at 
once drove all the rebel shipping from the wharves at York- 
town. In all, a hundred and thirty-seven rounds from the 
100-pounders, and four rounds from the 200-pounder, were 
fired/' ^ The practice was very accurate, although firing at 
long range, — two to three miles. 

Major DouU of the 2d New- York, ordnance-officer to the 
siege-train of the First Connecticut, says in his report to 
Col. Tyler,— 

'• In the three weeks during which these siege-operations have been con- 
ducted, your regiment has worked with very little relief night and day. As 
soon as any battery has been completed, the companies to which it has been 
assigned have moved into camp near it, constructing such shelter from the 
enemy's fire as they could, and remaining with their guns ; differing, in this 
respect, from all other troops employed in the trenches, who returned to camp 
out of fire as soon as their duty was finished. 

" During the seven days that elapsed from the 26th of April to the 
evacuation of Yorktown, all the batteries have been fired at more or less 
continuously ; and though the regiment has never before been under fire, 
and is, like the rest of this army, composed of troops who have not been 
twelve months in the service, and who would therefore be considered in any 
regular artillery in the world merely as recruits ; and the officers have not 
had the advantage of that scientific military training which is usually con- 
sidered necessary for this branch of military service ; and although a large 
part of the material employed has been of a weight hitherto unknown in 
sieges, and has therefore necessitated the employment of carriages and 
platforms, usually confined to permanent works, on account of the labor, 
care, and accuracy I'eqnired in their construction, — yet the condition of the 
batteries, and tlie accuracy with which all the platforms have been laid 
and the magazines arranged, give no indication whatever of these disad- 
vantages." 

Major Doull says that this siege-train was placed in bat- 
tery before Yorktown as quickly as the first siege-train of 
smaller guns by the English before Sevastopol, though the 
latter had " all the resources of a powerful navy and a large 
regular army, skilled by constant practice ;" and he concludes 
that " it is evident that the labors of the First Regiment 
Connecticut artillery will compare favorably with any thing 
of the kind that has been done before." 

s Major Doull's Report. 



206 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

" On the day of the evacuation, there were six batteries 
of forty-eight mortars and guns ready to throw one hundred 
and seventy-five tons of metal daily into Yorktown." ^ At 
the end of all this tremendous labor, the rebels fell back ; 
Magruder having by this time been re-inforced so as to be able 
to check pursuit, while Lee chose his battle-ground nearer 
Richmond. " We worked night and day," says a young vol- 
unteer, in the War Record ; " and, just as we had every thing 
ready, the bird had flown. Oh, how angry the men were ! — 
all our work for nothing. Some of them almost cried for vex- 
ation." But severe service still awaited them. All the guns 
and the four hundred tons of projectiles were re-embarked, 
and transported to White House. From this point, the men 
marched to Old Church in a terrible thunder-storm, with the 
mud knee-deep. The regiment performed valuable service 
in reconnoissances, and completely destroyed the enemy's 
communications ; so that he could not, at the time, cross the 
Pamunkey for a flank attack. Detached as infantry, the most 
of the regiment was at Hanover Court House in line of battle, 
but was not actively engaged. Soon after, the regiment 
formed the advance of the infantry, under Gen. McCook, that 
followed the rebels in Stuart's raid, and marched forty-two 
miles in thirty-seven hours. June 21, the disembarkation 
of guns and material at White House commenced ; and some 
of the heavy guns were got in position in three days, in 
charge of Capts. E. C. Dorr, G. B. Cook, and A. F. Brooker. 
They " opened with good effect upon the rebel batteries on 
the opposite side of the Chickahominy, doing, as reported 
by the signal-officer, much damage ; dismounting the ene- 
my's heaviest gun, and compelling them to remove their 
camps." ^ 

Next day they were moved across the Chickahominy, and 
the batteries placed in position on Golding's Hill, where they 
were fought during the day luider a severe fire. When the 
guns could be no longer useful, the companies were formed and 
led into the line of infantry defending the position, — service 
for which they were thanked by the general commanding. 
The pieces were afterwards brought off by hand; and Lieut. 

^ Col. Tyler's Report to Gen. Porter. ' Ibid. 



COL. TYLER'S EEPOET. 207 

R. A. Sedgwick is especially commended for rapidly remov- 
ing two 10-pounder Wliitworth's, with only twenty men, a dis- 
tance of two and a half miles; "the second gun being brought 
away when our most advanced pickets were retiring past it." 
On the night of the 27th, the guns under command of Major 
Kellogg were successfully retired behind White-oak Swamp, 
where they joined the remainder of the siege-train of the 
First, which had been in position in front of Sumner's corps, 
under command of Major Hemingway, in the immediate 
charge of Capts. T. S. Gilbert, T. H. Rockwood, D. R. Hub- 
bard, and George Ager. By the great exertions of these 
officers, the guns were successfully brought off after the re- 
peated attacks upon our rear. During the night of Jane 30, 
fourteen guns with ammunition w^ere dragged up the steep 
ascent of Malvern Hill by Companies B, D, F, K, and I, 
working all night after their tedious marches of the week. 
The guns occupied the highest ground on Malvern Hill ; were 
served with great rapidity and accuracy; and caused much 
destruction to the enemy's advancing column. Col. Tyler 
says in his report, — 

" The companies, after working all the night of the 30th to place these 
guns in position, and fighting them during the whole day on the 1st of July, 
spent that night in retiring the siege-train to the present depot near "West- 
over Landing : the guns, the ammunition of which had been expended, 
were also retired to Harrison's Bar, under Lieut. -Col. "White. I would 
respectfully call your attention to the fact, that all the ammunition used at 
Malvern Hill had been transported, by way of Gaines's Mill, Savage's Sta- 
tion, and "White-oak Swamp, to that place ; and that the officers and men 
with the guns had been almost constantly laboring day and night from the 
22d of June ; and to the fact, that, out of twenty-six heavy guns, twenty- 
five arrived safely at their destination. This was accomplished under almost 
unheard-of difficulties, — with mule-teams constantly breaking down, 
driven by frightened citizen teamsters, Avho deserted whenever the fire 
became heavy : frequently teams had to be pressed into the service to 
replace those which had been exhausted by the labor of drawing the guns ; 
and sometimes, for miles, the guns were drawn by hand by the different 
companies of the regiment." 

In the whole Peninsular campaign, though present at sev- 
eral of the battles, and on duty night and day, the regiment 
lost only three killed and four wounded. Its services, how- 
ever, were acknowledged by an order directing the names, 



208 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

"Siege of Yorktown, Hanover Court House, Chickahominy, 
Gaines's Mill, and Malvern," to be emblazoned on its colors. 

At the withdrawal of the army, the regiment resumed its 
place in the forts opposite Washington ; its jurisdiction 
being soon enlarged, so that it garrisoned Forts Richardson, 
Scott, Berry, Barnard, Reynolds, Garesche, and Ward, stretch- 
ino- alono* Arlington Heights, and commanding all the west- 
ward approaches to the capital. This assignment to a 
position of supreme importance shows in what estimation 
the regiment was held. 

Gen. McClellan, in fact, just before the battle of Antietam, 
had such confidence in the First Connecticut artillery, that he 
insisted that " the troops in the forts " would be sufficient to 
check any probable rebel approach on Washington from the 
west if the two corps supporting them should be withdrawn 
to re-in force him.^ 



As early as Feb 24, the Connecticut battalion of cav- 
alry encamped on an island in the Ohio River, opposite 
Wheeling, Va. ; while Major Lyon reported to Gen. Rose- 
crans for duty. Here a camp was quickly made, and a 
month was spent in sword-exercise and battalion-move- 
ments ; and, on the 2Tth of March, the battalion moved to 
report to Gen. Schenck at Moorfield. 

Moorfield, the court-town of Hardy County, is on the 
south branch of the Upper Potomac, here running parallel 
to the Shenandoah ; and nestles in one of the many narrow, 
broken valleys formed by isolated peaks and abrupt spurs 
of the Alleghanies and the Branch Mountains. The wind- 
ing roads and countless convenient hiding-places of that wild 
though fertile region swarmed with guerrillas. These parti- 
sans of slavery and rebellion gathered everywhere in small 
squads to persecute Union citizens, annoy our soldiers, capture 
our scouts and carriers, and shoot our pickets j and, when fol- 
lowed by a superior force, the bands dissolved into innocent- 
looking farmers. To destroy these roving rascals was to be 
the task of the force at Moorfield, consisting of the 55tli 

8 Sec dispatch to Gen. Halleck, Sept. 11, 1862. 



CAPT. WILLIAM S. FISH. 209 

and 82d Ohio infantry, a section of Beck's battery, and our 
cavalry battalion. 

The battalion arrived at sundown of March 30, and began 
its first scouting-expedition at sunrise of the 31st. Day 
and night thereafter, in detachments of ten, thirty, rarely 
a hundred men, they scoured every road and by-path for 
many miles, capturing these unorganized traitors with arms 
and supplies. Thus, himting human game in squads, the 
mettle, good nature, endurance, tact, and energy of every 
man was tested. Each day brought fresh scenes, varied 
perils, and individual achievements. 

On April 3, Capt. Charles Farnsworth of Norwich, in an 
attempt to open communication with Romney to the north, 
was ambushed in a rocky ravine, and he and one of his men 
severely wounded. Two days afterwards, Capt. Middlebrook 
went out with a larger force, and cleared the road. This was 
the first blood drawn, and it roused the members of the bat- 
talion to more determined if more cautious exertions. Spring- 
ing upon the rebel plunderers at unusual hours and in almost 
inaccessible places, they killed, captured, or scattered them, 
and made themselves seem to their frightened foes a full 
brio-ade. 

Chaplain Warriner wrote of this time, " The history of the 
dashing, scouting, bushwhacker-hunting Connecticut cavalry 
has never been written. No one has a correct and vivid under- 
standing of the part they performed in the campaign of the 
mountain department, except the boys themselves, or those 
who have heard them relate the story of their bold exploits. 
Eisks were run, hardships endured, and achievements per- 
formed, which have never been widely heralded, because 
they did not occur in connection with any great popular 
movement, or under the eye of any professional reporter." 

Capt. William S. Fish, a tireless rider and a vigorous com- 
mander, led many brilliant and successful dashes among the 
mountains. The harassed rebels are said to have set a price 
on his head, which only made him and his command the 
more active and relentless. 

Another phase of cavalry life and adventure is illustrated 
by another class of incidents. Capt. Middlebrook, like nearly 

27 



210 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

all officers, had his favorite tactical movements and com- 
mands. At all irregularities of marching, he was sure to 
shout, " Guide left ! " It happened, that on the loth of April, 
while escorting a bearer of dispatches to Gen. Milroy at 
Monterey, he and his detachment found it necessary to ford 
the Potomac at Petersburg. The captain's horse was carried 
from his feet by the swollen current. The rider slipped off, 
and seizing the horse by the tail, and swimming behind, 
kept the animal headed toward the opposite shore. The 
boys, by this time nearly all safely on the land, viewing the 
amusing spectacle, shouted, " Guide left ! " Coming safe to 
shore, the captain, though quaking with cold, joined in the 
laugh, and doubtless still enjoys the joke. While the bat- 
talion was at Moorfield, Company A, Capt. E. Blakeslee, was 
chosen as the body-guard of Gen. Schenck, serving to his 
great satisfaction. 

" To all the marches and sudden expeditions of this time," 
writes Chaplain Warriner, "the indescribable grandeur of 
the scenery, the roughness of the mountain-roads, and the 
terrific depth of the swollen streams through which we often 
phmged, lent the charm of romantic adventure. The bush- 
whackers' bullets whistled through the pines in wild harmony 
with the mountain-breeze, and the big guns roared like the 
voice of a mountain tempest as they echoed from hill-top to 
hill-top at the battle of McDowell." 

In April, the rebels, thoroughly alarmed for the safety of 
Richmond, resolved on a diversion up the valley, " to prevent 
re-inforcements for McClellan, or perhaps draw off divisions 
from him ; " ^ and forthwith strengthened the command of Gen. 
T. J. (" Stonewall") Jackson. Jackson immediately sent Gen. 
E. Johnson, with a strong detachment, against Gen. Milroy, 
near Staunton. Milroy fell back, and Gen. Schenck promptly 
started (May 2) to his relief Schenck had no pontoon- 
trains, and the streams were swift and deep. The cavahy 
and battery crossed first; then the wagons were dragged into 
the stream to make a bridge for the infantry. 

Milroy halted at McDowell on the 7th, in his retreat. The 
Connecticut battalion, marching forty-three miles in twenty- 

^ Letter of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to Jackson, May 27, 1862. 



"A BRILLIANT LITTLE DASH." 211 

four hours, were the first re-inforcements to reach him (Ma}'' 
8). There was a prolonged artillery duel, and a short, sharp 
fight with infantry ; when Milroy, finding himself outnum- 
bered, withdrew, and continued his retreat to Franklin. The 
rebels followed closely, and bushwhackers skulked in the ra- 
vines and woods all along the flanks. The cavalry battalion 
covered the retreat with sleepless energy and intrepidity, 
checking the rebels at every point. Fremont's main body 
had arrived at Franklin ; and now the rebels retreated, and 
the Union forces pursued across the Alleghanies to intercept 
Jackson in the Shenandoah. 

Our cavalry battalion was in the advance, and at noon it 
arrived' on the summit of the mountains. Suspecting that 
Jackson was advancing on Moorfiekl, Fremont sent the bat- 
talion twenty-one miles to Wordensville to reconnoiter. It 
was sundown when the}' started, and very dark as they felt 
their way silentl}^ through the mountains. On their return, 
four miles from town, they were met with orders to go back 
to Wordensville, brought by a detachment which swelled their 
numbers to eight}', under Capts. Middlebrook and Blakeslee. 

A member of the battalion writes, '• Just as we were 
re-entering the town, the adjutant having command of the 
advance-guard was startled by the command to ' Halt ! ' and 
' Who comes there ? ' followed quickly by the crack of a car- 
bine. He guessed in a moment the town was occupied by 
rebel cavalry, and the order was given to charge. Every 
man slung his saber to his waist by his sword-knot, drew 
pistol, put spurs to his horse, and dashed on. The ball from 
the gun of the rebel picket passed through the neck of the 
horse of the man next to the adjutant. 

" We found the rebel cavalry drawn up in line to receive 
us ; but we came upon them with such impetuosity, that they 
did not Avait for a haud-to-hand conflict, but, after one dis- 
charge from their carbines, broke, and fled in every direction. 
A more complete rout I never expect to see. Blankets, 
canteens, and the trappings of horsemen, strewed the street, 
from one end of the village to the other. I regret to say 
that we took no prisoners. They had splendid horses for 
the retreat. We contented ourselves with clearing the town 



212 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

of the vermin. We learned of the citizens that their force 
was seventy. Ours was eighty, — not so great a disparity 
when we reflect that one Southerner can whip with perfect 
ease five Yankees." 

Col. Za^j-onyi characterized the affair as " a brilliant little 
dash." The battalion occupied the town until the main 
army came up. 

Fremont pushed on his column, and, finding that the wary 
foe had eluded him, fell on his rear to embarrass his retreat. 
By this time, on account of the illness of ranking officers, 
Capt. L. A. Middlebrook was in command of the battalion. 
He dashed through New Market on June 5, driving out the 
enemy's pickets. 

Next day the battalion was deployed as advance skirmish- 
ers, and about noon formed a part of a force ordered to 
charge through the village of Harrisonburg. Rebel cavalry 
and infantry were posted in the edge of the village ; and, as 
the battalion approached, it rushed into a deadly ambush of 
several well-posted regiments of infiintry. The companies 
were badly cut up, and made their way rapidly back in dis- 
order, obliquing through the woods. After retiring to the 
rear, the men rallied and re-formed. 

In the new line of battle, the battalion's standard was in 
the advance. After a spirited fight, in which the noted rebel 
Ashby was killed, the rebels fled precipitately, leaving their 
camp and stores. 

Pursuit was immediately resumed next morning ; and the 
cavalry overtook the vanguard of the enemy at ten o'clock 
at Cross Keys, but were withdrawn, and held in reserve ; 
while Fremont pushed on, and vigorously assailed Jackson 
in his strong position. The enemy held his ground, and the 
result was a drawn battle ; but Jackson slipped away in the 
night, and in the morning fell upon and crushed the forces 
under Gen. Tyler at Port Republic, and escaped to Char- 
lotteville, and thence, by a rapid march, struck McClellan a 
fearful blow on his flank at Gaines's Mills. 

During the last night at Cross Keys, Sergeant John B. 
Morehouse and four men, sent to reconnoiter close to the 
enemy's lines, were captured. Morehouse (of Fairfield) was 



SUFFERINGS OF THE FIFTH. 213 

a sober, solid man, near middle life, and possessed of consid- 
erable wealth. He returned from California in order to enter 
the army, and enlisted in the first eompaii}^ he met, which 
chanced to be in the cavalry battalion. Attracting attention 
at once for his promptness and enthusiasm, he was offered a 
commission, but refused it, conscientiously regarding himself 
as unqualified. He studied tactics and practiced sword exer- 
cise constantly. Through four years of sturdy service, he 
rose steadily to a major's commission ; never better earned 
by living soldier. 

The Union cavalry now fell leisurely back, without defi- 
nite object, except to renew their supplies ; and we find the 
battalion on June 10 at Harrisonburg, 11 at New Market, 
12 at Mount Jackson, 19 at Woodstock, 20 at Strasburg, 24 
at Middletown, July 7 at Front Royal, 8 at Milford, 9 at 
Luray, 10 at Sperryville. 

At Milford, Major Lyon remained sick ; and Capt. Middle- 
brook again commanded the battalion. Major Lyon, finding 
that his ill health unfitted him for active service, soon after 
resigned. The battalion crossed the Blue Ridge, and on 
July 28 joined Col. Cluseret at Madison Court House ; 
scouting in that vicinity while Banks's corps moved up to 
Culpeper. 

The Fifth Regiment had not been enervated by luxury 
during the winter. It had probably done as much marching 
as any other regiment in the service from any State. In 
midwinter it made a forced march from Darnestown, and 
back again ; and of this. Major Henry B. Stone wrote to a 
friend, " When I tell you that the snow was driving all day, 
and ankle-deep ; that the men had just marched one hun- 
dred and thirty miles with scarcely two days' rest ; that their 
feet were sore and blistered, many of them without shoes, 
and using handkerchiefs and old rags to tie up their feet 
and keep them out of the snow, — you may appreciate the 
march, and the indomitable perseverance of our men to 
accomplish it. Some of the boys were compelled to fall out 
from exhaustion ; and the poor fellows wept bitterly because 
they were unable to stand up longer." 



214 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Before the keenness of the winter air was gone, the regi- 
ment received orders to move across the Potomac, and occupy 
the Shenandoah Valley. Col. Ferry issued the following 
regimental order : — 

Headquarters, Fifth Regiment Conn. Vols., 
Camp near Hancock, Md., Feb. 25, 1862. 

We are about to cross the Potomac. We go to liberate the loyal people 
of Virginia from the despotism of a wicked rebellion. Our enemies are 
those who are in arms against the government. The persons and property 
of citizens not in arms are to be sacredly respected. They have been told 
by their tyrants that we come to pillage, to ravish, and to destroy. Let us 
prove by our conduct that we come to establish rights, to maiutaiu law, 
to restore order. 

To this end, it is ordered, — 

First, All injuries to private property, without authority of the regi- 
mental commander, are expressly Ibrbidden. 

Second, Whoever shall maltreat any citizeu not in the service of the 
enemy shall be punished by drum-head court-martial. 

Third, Whoever shall maltreat or abuse any woman shall be shot. 

Soldiers of the Fifth, — I rely upon you, not only for courage in the 
face of the enemy, but for good order in the enemy's country. 

O. S. Ferry, 

Colonel Fifth Rcgt. Conn. Vols. 

On March 1, the Fifth crossed the Potomac at Williams- 
port; advanced into Virginia; drove the enemy from Win- 
chester, and occupied the place. The regiment was ordered 
to Manassas on the 18th; but, when one day's march from 
Winchester, it was recalled to participate in the defense of 
the place against the rebel attack of the 22d and the subse- 
quent pursuit of Jackson beyond Harrisonburg. The regi- 
ment took possession of an old press at Winchester, and 
printed four or five numbers of a newspaper under the title 
of ''The Connecticut Fifth." Curtis B. Wells and William 
Patch were the chief movers in this enterprise. 

Col. Ferry, having been appointed a brigadier-general, took 
command of the brigade under Gen. Shields, whose division 
was now ordered to join McDowell. On the 1st of May, 
the Fifth was living quietly in camp near Strasburg. "It 
seemed," wrote an officer,'*^ " as if the war was over. We put 
on our new clothes, donned our white vests, and sat in the 
shade discussing; the chances of beino; mustered out in a 
month or two. Soon there were rumors of an advance by 

1'^ Adjutant Edward F. Blake. 



THE FIFTH UNDER FIEE. 215 

Jackson ; and all at once the Union regiments faced towards 
Winchester, the band playing ' Oh, dear ! what can the matter 
be ? ' The regiment was ordered to leave knapsacks in a 
pile by the roadside ; and, the rebels soon pressing along the 
road, the guard was obliged to heap rails upon them, and fire 
the pile. • These contained, among other things, new clothes, 
daguerreotypes, portfolios, diaries, money, and some watches ; 
all burnt up grimly." 

Banks, left with only five thousand men, was obliged to 
fall back before Jackson's superior force ; and on May 25 
there was a severe and well-fought battle at Winchester for 
the possession of the valley. The Fifth was under fire for 
the first time, facing the 28th North-Carolina. 

Lieut.-Col. George D. Chapman was in command of the 
regiment, and, in his official report, says, — 

" About five o'clock Sunday morning, as the men were rising from their 
sleep and heating their coffee in a field which we entered late the night 
before, a shell suddenly fell among them. This was followed by others 
in rtipid succession. The men quickly seized their muskets, and fell calmly 
into line. The inquiry was sent back, whether we should hold the spot, or 
advance. Before receiving a reply, I ordered the regiment to a hollow in 
the field next to the rear ; which was done, ' by the right of companies to 
the rear,' in good order. The enemy's infantry soon appeared on the hill 
in front, charging directly upon us. Companies A and F immediately 
moved forward, and delivered their fire with effect upon the enemy, now 
within a few rods. The whole battalion moved up to their line, and, 
delivering three well-directed volleys, mowed down the enemy by scores, 
shooting away their flag each time. At the third volley, Companies I and 
B, by half wheeling to the right, delivered a cross-fire. At this the enemy 
broke, and ran in confusion. The order then came from the colonel for the 
regiment to fall back to a line of stone wall in the rear of the field next 
behind. During this movement. Company D deployed as skirmishers to 
hold the line we were leaving. A fog settled down ; and, for half an hour, 
firing ceased. As it lifted, I saw at some distance a large force of the 
enemy moving by the right flank to turn our left. Our skirmishers fired 
upon them ; but the movement remained unchecked till a few shells from 
our artillery forced them back. After this, their infantry paid but little 
attention to us ; but their artillery on the right and left poured a heavy 
shower of shells about us as we lay behind the wall." 

The result was, that Banks was largely outnumbered, and 
the army fell back to the Potomac. The Fifth made a 
forced march of forty-three miles in fourteen hours, cross- 



216 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ing at Dennis Ferry at midnight. Major E. F. Blake, in a 
letter, thus describes the retreat of the regiment : " The left 
wing struck off across lots, at first for Berryville, but after- 
wards changed its course for Martinsburg. It was well that 
we took a new direction ; for we afterwards learned of a force 
of five thousand rebels at Berryville to cut us off. Our 
retreat was most fatiguing. The enemy having gone down 
the pike ahead of us (in pursuit of the regiments that had 
fallen back first), we were cut off in that direction. Indeed, 
every one thought we were gone for good ; and Gen. Banks, 
at Williamsport, ordered some of our men who went with the 
wagons to report to Col. Knipe of the Forty-sixth Pennsylva- 
nia, ' as the Fifth Connecticut had been surrounded and cap- 
tured.' But, providentially, we met a guide, a refugee, when 
we were at Muddy Branch, who took us a zigzag through 
the woods, across lots, in gullies, thickets, and everywhere out 
of sight, crossing the pike behind the enemy, and then strik- 
ing northward. Late in the afternoon, we again crossed the 
pike ; and at eleven o'clock at night we stood on the shores 
of the Potomac, having marched forty-three miles from Win- 
chester. Most of the men had nothing to eat after four, a.m. 
Col. Donnelly grasped my hand as we crossed the river, and 
said, ' Blake, thank God that brigade is safe ! It is the hap- 
piest moment of my life.'" 

Lieut. David B. Hamilton of Waterbury, detached for 
duty in the quartermaster's department, won an enviable 
reputation by his skill and bravery in saving the baggage- 
train of the Fifth diirinor this terrible retreat. He remained 
at Strasburor, loadino; the wao;ons, lono; after our forces had 
evacuated the place ; and finally reached Hancock in safety 
after the rebels had cut him off from the main column at 
Winchester. 

Capt. Edward J. Rice was detailed for duty at brigade 
headquarters as an adjutant-general; and, during the pro- 
tracted illness of the general commanding, much of the re- 
sponsibility devolved upon him. He discharged the duties 
of his position ably. 

During the fight at Winchester, twelve of the Fifth were 
wounded, and seventy-five taken prisoners. Capt. James A. 



THE FIFTH IN THE FIGHT. 217 

Betts, wounded, Capt. D. F. Lane, and Lieut. Henry M. 
Button, were commended for gallant conduct. (It was re- 
ported at home that the regiment was captured.) 

Banks being shortly re-inforced by Fremont, the Fifth, 
after a brief rest, recrossed the river at Williamsport during 
the first week in June, and rapidly advanced again to Win- 
chester, Front Royal, and the Luray Valley. When Fremont 
was again driven back, after the defeat of Shields, the Fifth 
moved across the State, through Warrenton, in the direction 
of Gordonsville. The latter part of July it reached Culpeper 
Court House, being now in Crawford's brigade, Williams's 
division of Banks's corps. 

On the 9th, the corps was drawn up within a mile of Cedar 
Mountain, Jackson's army holding the wooded fields and 
cleared slopes in front. During the afternoon, the rebels un- 
masked battery after battery along the hills in front and on 
the flank, until the ground between the forces was com- 
manded by a semicircle of batteries more than two miles long. 
A fierce artillery-duel was the prelude to the bloodier collis- 
ion of infantry. 

At five o'clock, orders came to cease firing, and to charge 
an enfilade battery on the right front. To Crawford's brigade 
was assigned the duty of leading the assault ; and gallantly 
did they respond. The ground occupied by the Fifth in this 
charge was a rough wheat-stubble, upon which the sheafed 
grain still remained, gathered in heaps small, and far be- 
tween. On its farther side was the battery, with a sturdy 
growth of saplings in its rear ; and upon its left a thicket of 
scrub-oaks. Down this declivity sprang the Fifth, at the 
word of command, into the midst of a murderous fire from 
every quarter. The battery in front belched grape and can- 
ister, mowing their ranks. Guns beyond the undergrowth, 
and upon the hills to the left towards the mountain, now 
hurled here their storm of shot and shell. Moreover, as the 
companies passed from the cover of the projecting wood into 
the open stubble, a terrible infantry-fire broke upon them in 
an incessant flash from the low thicket encircling the field 
upon the right. 

Very few times during the war was a regiment the focus of 

28 



218 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

such M fire. This narrow field was swept by all the engines 
of clestriiction. Here the Fifth Regiment was broken in 
pieces. It pushed bravely across the slope towards the un- 
seen foe, and maintained something like order until reaching 
a small brook that flowed through the field. Here it wa- 
vered, and became scattered. Several of its best men were 
killed : fifty were struck down within two minutes. The 
wounded crept behind the rocks and wheat-stacks, where 
some of them were shot again and again. Most of the com- 
panies had lost their leaders, and straggled back to the wood 
whose protection they had left. A large number, borne for- 
ward by the impetuosity of the charge, rushed into the 
midst of the enemy concealed among the saplings, and were 
there slain or captured. All the field-officers were killed or 
made prisoners ; and all the other officers, except five, were 
wounded. 

Other regiments plunged into this deadly breach ; but the 
battery was not taken, and night proclaimed a truce, the 
darkness illumined here and there by bursting shells. Next 
day, Jackson retired across the Rapidan ; while Pope, Banks, 
and Sigel fell to debating the question, who was responsible 
for the useless slaughter. 

The Fifth counted its dead, and tenderly gathered up its 
wounded. Major Blake, Adjutant Smith, Lieut. Button, and 
eighteen enlisted men, lay dead on the field. The brave 
Lieut.-Col. Henry B. Stone was a prisoner, and soon died 
of his wounds. Col. Chapman was in the hands of the 
enemy. 

Major Edward F. Blake, son of Eli W. Blake of New 
Haven, was born in 1837. In boyhood as in manhood, 
he was distinguished for energy, fearlessness, ingenuity, 
enterprise, and strength and skill in all muscular exercises. 
He possessed that rare executive faculty which makes the 
possessor a leader trusted and followed by common consent. 
While in Yale, he pulled in the boat-race with Harvard. He 
also had excellent literary taste, and was one of the editors 
of the Yale Magazine. He was graduated in 1858, and in 
1860 commenced the study of law in New Haven. He did 
not yield to the first impulse when the war broke out ; but 



DEATH OF MAJOR BLAKE AND LIEUT. DUTTON. 219 

as early as October, 18G1, the governor had accepted his ser- 
vices, and appointed him to be adjutant of the Fifth, then 
• near Darnestown, Md. Though a civilian, he had pursued 
his military studies so earnestly, that he was able at once to 
discharge the duties of his new position to the satisfaction 
of even his jealous comrades ; and he was soon a great 
favorite in the army, as he had been at home. He was a 
cordial, hearty, cheerful Christian ; and was not long in 
becoming a ready, spirited, accomplished soldier. His effi- 
ciency procured him the appointment of acting assistant 
adjutant-general on Gen. Crawford's staff; and in June he was 
made major of the regiment, again being passed over his 
superiors in rank. Major Blake gallantly led the left of the 
regiment at Cedar Mountain ; and, when the little band was 
swept back, he was killed instantly by a rebel bullet as he 
hiid grasped the colors from the hands of dying men to bear 
them on. Col. Ferry said of him, " He is earnest, brave as 
the bravest, always ready ; and by his happy temperament 
he is the best lightener of the cares, toils, and annoyances 
of military life I ever saw." 

Lieut. Henry Melzar Button was a son of Ex-Go v. 
Button of New Haven, where he was born in 1836. He 
graduated at Yale in 1857; after which he studied law, and 
commenced a promising practice at Litchfield. At the 
breaking-out of the war, he was one of the young Bemo- 
crats who threw themselves earnestly into the contest. Indu- 
cing scores to join him, he went to Hartford as a private in 
the Fifth Regiment ; but he received a lieutenant's commis- 
sion for his services in recruiting. Once in the field, he was 
popular with officers and men ; being conspicuous for soci- 
ality, generosity, buoyancy of spirits, and fortitude amid 
di'^comfort. At Cedar Mountain, after Capt. Corliss was 
wounded, Lieut. Button led the company, urging them on 
while men were falling on every side. The color-guard 
were all either killed or wounded. " Lieut. Button is reported 
to have seized more than once the colors from some fallen 
hero, and to have borne it along to the hands of others still 
able to bear it aloft. Buring this heroic and hopeless strug- 
gle, his commanding form could not long escape unscathed; 



220 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

and he fell pierced by a volley of rebel musketry." He 
was very kind to his men, and was much beloved. 

Adjutant Ileber S. Smith of Hartford was a student in 
Trinity College when the war broke out, of the class of 1862. 
He was apt to learn, and had a high appointment at the 
junior exhibition of that year. He made a most efficient 
adjutant. Prompt in the discharge of his duties, a genial 
companion and a true friend, he was sincerely mourned. 

Lieut.-Col. Henry B. Stone was severely wounded, and taken 
prisoner. On Sept. 16, he wrote from Charlotte ville, Va., 
to a friend in Danbury, " I am lying here on my back, 
suffering continual pain, patiently waiting for my wounds to 
heal. I suppose, if every thing goes on as well as usual, I shall 
have to lie in this position four weeks longer, when they will 
take my leg out of the splints, and allow me to move about 
more in bed. How anxious I am to hear about the regi- 
ment ! " The wounded man was destined never to hear. 
Not having proper care, inflammation ensued, and he died, 
still " patiently waiting.'' Mr. Stone was captain of the Dan- 
bury Wide-Awakes in 1860, and showed so much spirit and 
skill, that, when the war broke out, he was recalled from 
New Jersey to command the first three-years' company. He 
was a handsome, frank, generous, brave man, and beloved by 
his command. Lieut. Edwin E. Marvin of Eockville wrote 
after the battle of Cedar Mountain, — 

" It seemed as if the sacrifices were already prepared for tiieir offering. 
Major Blake was always, at home or in camp, an earnest, devout Chris- 
tian ; "but Lieut.-Col. Stone and Adjutant Smith had mingled in all our wild, 
ceaseless hilarity and revelry that absorbed many a rainy day, and almost 
every evening, of our early history, with great zest ; but they, too, had 
changed. Amid and contrary to the Avhole tenor of surrounding influences, 
we well recollect that these three had long ago left all our carousals ; had 
for the past months lived such lives, — lives of governed appetites, of sober 
and earnest resolution and unwavering duty, — that we could well say, as 
we remembered so much and more, ' Who of all of us was *o well pre- 
pared as they ? ' " 

Here fell Color-Sergeant Elijah B. Jones of Wilton, a tall, 
soldierly man, perfect in bravery ; and Color-Corporal Daniel 
L. Smith of Bethel, a conscientious, prayerful, resolute so\- 
C '; both slain while bearing forward the flag. Here nobly 



SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 221 

fell, also, Corporal Oliver G. Brady of Norwalk, Blair of 
North Haven, Bailey of Berlin, Thompson of Windham, and 
others. 

After the battle, Capt. H. W. Daboll of Groton, previously 
the eighth captain in rank, succeeded to the command of the 
regiment ; all his superiors being either killed, captured, or 
disabled. He was in hospital on sick-leave before the battle. 

On Aug. 18, the Fifth fell back with Pope's army to the 
line of the Rappahannock, and, as Jackson's movement 
around the right flank progressed, receded still farther ; re- 
maining to protect the baggage-trains near Bristow Station, 
while the rest of the army advanced to the second battle of 
Bull Run. When the rebel army, supported by three Fed- 
eral generals, had succeeded in defeating Pope, the Fifth was 
withdrawn nearer Washington, thoroughly exhausted by the 
campaign. 




CHAPTER XV. 

The Summer of 1862. — The Fourteenth Regiment called for. — The Military Situation. 
— Appeal of the Executive. — Enthusiastic Response by the People. — War-Meetings 
and Local Effort. — Recruiting Committees. — The Fourteenth full. — New Haven 
raises the Fifteenth. — Hartford recruits the Sixteenth. — Seventeenth from Fairfield 
County. — Eiglitcenth from New London County. — Nineteenth from Litchfield 
County. — Twentieth and Twenty-first organized. — The Second Battery goes from 
Bridgeport. — All assigned to the " Army of the Potomac." 

URING the winter of 1861-2, the Union forces 
made constant inroads upon the Rebellion ; 
and the magnificent prophecies of Mr. Seward 
seemed about to be fulfilled. The War De- 
partment issued orders, April 3, discontinuing 
the recruiting service in every State. Men about to enlist 
turned gratefully to peaceful pursuits, assured that no more 
soldiers would be needed. When, May 16, the Secretary 
of War made a requisition on Gov. Buckingham for six 
hundred men to fill up the Eighth, Te-nth, and Eleventh 
Regiments, it is not surprising that the response of the peo- 
ple was feeble. The government had justified the impres- 
sion that the army was strong enough for any probable 
contingency. Moreover, there was a demand for labor ; and 
wages were high. The requisition not being met, it was 
modified to a call for another regiment to join the fifty 
thousand men designed for the " camp of instruction " at 
Annapolis. Tlic governor summoned volunteers for the 
Fourteenth: Dwight Morris of Bridgeport was commissioned 
to be its colonel ; Dexter R. Wright of Meriden, lieutenant- 
colonel ; and S. H. Perkins of Torrington, major. Companies 
were begun in Norwich, Waterbury, and Bridgeport ; but 
the recruiting-sergeants met with little success. This state 

222 



GOV. BUCKINGHAJM'S PROCLAMATION. 223 

of apathy continued, while the Army of the Potomac was 
experiencing strange vicissitudes. 

The Federal arms had been everywhere victorious until 
this midsummer of 1862. The Union troops had overrun 
and occupied Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee ; the 
national flag was again unfurled in New Orleans ; while the 
Atlantic seacoast was being brought under Federal rule in 
accordance with Scott's " anaconda " plan. Suddenly the 
tide of battle seemed to turn. The repulse of the gunboats 
in their attack on Fort Darling was followed by the failures 
of McClellan ; Hunter's foothold in the Carolinas became 
precarious ; and again the enemy advanced in the West, 

This loss of ground caused great public solicitude, which 
resulted in a letter of the loyal governors to President Lin- 
coln, urging him " to call upon the States for such numbers 
of men as might, in his judgment, be necessary to garrison 
and hold all the numerous cities and military positions that 
have been captured by our armies, and to" speedily crush the 
Rebellion." The president immediately, July 1, issued a 
call for three hundred thousand volunteers for three years. 

The quota of this State, under this call, was fixed at seven 
thousand one hundred and forty-five. Gov. Buckingham 
immediately issued the following appeal for volunteers : — 

Citizens of Coxnecticut, — You are again called upon to rally to 
the support of the goveruinent. In the name of our common country, I 
call upon you to enroll your names for the immediate formation of six or 
more regiments of infantry to be used in suppressing the Rebellion. Our 
troops may be held in check, and our sons die on the battle-field ; but the 
cause of civil liberty must be advanced, the supremacy of the govern- 
ment must be maintained. Prompt and decisive action will be economy 
in men and money. By our delay, the safety of our armies, even of the 
nation, may be imperiled. The Rebellion, contending with the despera- 
tion of a hopeless and wicked cause, must be met with equal energy. 
Close your manufactories and workshops, turn aside from your farms and 
your business, leave for a while your families and your homes, meet face to 
face the enemies of your liberties ! Haste, and you will rescue many noble 
men now struggling against superior numbers, and speedily secure the 
blessings of peace and good government. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at New Haven, this 
third day of *July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and sixty-two. 

Wm, a. Buckingham. 
By his Excellency's command : 

J. H, Trumbull, Secretary of State. 



224 CONNECTICUT DUEINGf THE REBELLION. 

A bounty was now offered each volunteer, of a hundred 
dollars from the Federal Government, and ninety dollars 
from the State ; and all the recruiting machinery was put 
in active operation. Authority to enlist was granted to 
young men in every county, accompanied with a commis- 
sion as second lieutenant, to be forfeited in case of failure. 
All expenses incurred for subsistence, quarters, transporta- 
tion, &c., prior to muster, were borne by the United States. A 
stirring circular letter was written by Adjutant-Gen. J. D. Wil- 
liams to the selectmen of towns, appealing to them to hold 
local war-meetings " to set forth to the people the exigen- 
cies of the present hour," " to pledge private means to assist 
volunteers or their families," and to encourage enlistments 
in every way, and appoint men " of energetic habits and 
patriotic impulses to act as recruiting-officers." 

The response was spontaneous and vigorous. Again party 
differences seemed laid aside or forgotten, and the predomi- 
nant love of country asserted itself Enlisting, and persuad- 
ing others to enlist, became once more the business of the 
hour. Every county was thronged with recruiting-officers. 
Almost every town held a war-meeting, and offered an addi- 
tional bounty for men. In most cases, this was made fifty 
dollars at first, and increased to a hundred dollars, for each 
man. Windsor Locks early voted a hundred and twenty-five 
dollars, and increased it to a hundred and fifty dollars. 
Bridgewater also voted a hundred and fifty dollars. Hart- 
ford and New Haven gave a hundred and seventy-five dollars 
bounty, Enfield gave two hundred dollars, and Bloomfield 
and Watertown even as high as two hundred and fifty dollars. 
This generous rivalry was an effective agent; but it created 
great confusion in determining the proper credits and quotas. 
Prominent citizens acted as committees to forward enlist- 
ments, so that the government had an agent in every neigh- 
borhood. Mass-meetings were held in the cities and large 
villages, and the newspapers of the State were full of appeals 
and local military news. Hartford, New Haveit, Norwich, 
Bridgeport, and Litchfield became centers of enlistment ; and 
the mind and heart of the State were given supremely to 
the work. The result was seen in the fact, that, within forty- 



THE FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. 225 

five days, eight thousand and thirty-six men had volunteered, 
and were organized into eight full regiments and one light 
battery. Connecticut was the first State to fill her quota 
under the call, and a surplus of nearlj^ one thousand had vol- 
unteered. Gen. Daniel Tyler came home, and rendered great 
service in equipping these regiments, and preparing' them for 
the field. 

The lonely squads that had been drilling for weeks as 
the nucleus of the Fourteenth were now immediately re- 
inforced. Large war-meetings to this end were held in 
Bridgeport, Norwich, Middletbwn, Waterbury, New Haven, 
New Britain, Madison, Say brook, New^ London, and the towns 
in Tolland County; the regiment being recruited from the 
State at large. It rendezvoused at Camp Foote, on the New- 
Haven Turnpike, near Hartford, — grounds which the Fifth 
formerly occupied. The colors of the regiment were fur- 
nished by the State. 

Towns were represented in the regiment as follows: 
Company A, Capt. James D. Merritt, Bridgeport, forty-six ; 
Putnam, eight'; Stratford, six ; Norwalk, five ; Trumbull, four. 
Company B, Capt. Elijah W. Gibbons, Middletown, eighty- 
seven ; Durham, six. Company C, Capt. Samuel W. Carpen- 
ter, Waterbury, ninety. Company D, Capt. Thomas F. Bur- 
pee, Yernon, seventj'-three ; Ellington, eleven. Company E, 
Capt. William H. Tubbs, Norwich, eighteen ; Middletown, six- 
teen; Hartford, fourteen; and twenty from Windham County. 
Company F, Capt. Jarvis E. Blinn, New Britain, sixty-three ; 
Bloomfield, fifteen ; Berlin, thirteen. Company G, Capt. Sam- 
uel F. \yillard, Madison, fifty-three; Old Saybrook, ten ; West- 
brook, eight; Clinton, twelve. Company II, Capt. Samuel H. 
Davis, New London, fifty-nine; Waterford, twenty; East Lyme, 
five. Company I, Capt. Isaac R. Bronson, New Haven, twenty ; 
Hartford, twelve; Guilford, twenty-five. Company K, Capt. 
James B. Coit, Hartford, fifteen; Norwich, nineteen; Chatham, 
twelve; Somers, Griswold ; and Ledj'ard, fifteen. 

On Aus!;. 25, with a numerical strengrth of a thousand and 
fifteen officers and men, it left Hartford on the steamer City 
of Hartford and the propeller Dudley Buck. At New York, 
it was transferred to cars for Washington. 

29 



226 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

The remaining seven regiments were recruited by conn- 
ties. A large and spirited meeting was held at Music Hall, 
New Haven, as early as the 8th of July. Com. Foote pre- 
sided ; and speeches were made by Gov. Buckingham, Senator 
Dixon, Rev. Dr. Bacon, and Charles Chapman, of Hart- 
ford. It was resolved to put a regiment (the Fifteenth) into 
the field immediately. A recruiting committee was appointed, 
of which the active men were William S. Charnley, H. M. 
Welch, H. B. Harrison, S. D. Pardee, William H. Russell, 
A. D. Osborne, P. A. Pinkerman, Francis Wayland, jr., J. W. 
Kinti-, E. S. Quintard, D. J. Peck, Lyman Cowles, Lucius R. 
Finch, Wyllis Bristol, C. A. Lindsley, John Woodruff, Lucius 
Gilbert. E. J. Sanford, Eli Whitney, B. S. Bryan, James H. Lan- 
sing, J. C. Hollister, J. D. Candee, D. H. Carr, E. Downes, 
C. S. Bushnell, Charles W. Elliot, D. C. Gilman, Rev. William 
T. Eustis, John A. Porter, C. B. Rogers, John W. Farren, R. S. 
Fellows, L. R. Smith, H. E. Pardee, Alexander McAlHster, 
H. D. White, N. D. Sperry. 

At the first meeting of the committee, it was resolved to 
" postpone absolutely, for the present, all topics of dispute ; " 
and authority was received from the governor to raise a 
regiment, and nominate its field-officers. Recruiting began 
without delay. Sessions of the committee were held from 
day to day. The organization was called " the Lyon Regi- 
ment ; " and it was voted to distribute fifteen hundred dollars 
as an extra bounty among the first six companies raised 
within four weeks to the maximum number. 

A vote was passed instructing the committee about to 
visit Washington (Hollister, Candee, and Sperry) to request 
the Secretary of War to cause the arrest and confine- 
ment of all persons discouraging enlistments in New-Haven 
County. 

The camp was located at Oyster Point, where the Seventh 
had rendezvoused. Oyster Point soon became, and after- 
wards remained, a favorite resort of the citizens ; for fathers, 
mothers, wives, and cousins ; for patriotic and tender-hearted 
young women, who rode down to distribute needle-books, 
sweet pickles, bouquets, and smiles ; for patriotic but reluc- 
tant young men, who rode down to discharge their surplus 



THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH REGIMENTS. 227 

emotion at the stars and stripes, and to enjoy the delicious 
feeling that they were serving the country by proxy. 

On July 21, the committee nominated Dexter R Wright 
of the Fourteenth to be colonel ; and he was accordingly 
commissioned. They also named Samuel Tolles of New 
Haven for lieutenant-colonel, and Eli W. Osborne of New 
Haven for major ; and even the sutler was designated in the 
person of John A. Punderford, which proved an excellent 
appointment. Sub-committees visited Derby, Orange, Meri- 
den, Madison, Guilford, and other* towns; and the regiment 
was declared full to the maximum, and ready to leave on 
Aug. 25. 

Company A, Capt. Julius Bassett, was from Meriden. 
Companies B, Capt. Theodore R Davis ; C, Capt. S. S. Smith ; 
D, Capt. Samuel Hubbard ; E, Capt. George M. White ; 
G, Capt. John D. Wheeler; and I, Capt. Frank M. Love- 
joy, — were almost wholly from New-Haven City. Company 
F, Capt. Allen W. Harvey, was from Meriden. Company H, 
Capt. Henry B. Peck, wns a consolidation of about equal 
squads from N*augatuck and New Haven. Company K, Capt. 
Henry H. Stiles, contained fifty-two from Wallingford, 
thirty from North Haven, nine from North Branford. Orange 
had also thirty-three in this regiment, East Haven twenty- 
five, Milford twenty, Guilford ten, and Wallingford seven. 

On Aug. 28, the regiment left for Washington, under a 
handsome flag made by the ladies of Meriden, and presented 
in an appropriate speech by 0. H. Piatt. 

Hartford County felt that the call was imperative, and re- 
sponded instantly. A great meeting was held in and about 
Allyn Hall on July 11. Mayor William J. Hamersley pre- 
sided in the hall, assisted by W. W. Ellsworth, W. D. Ship- 
man, T. M. Allyn, Calvin Day, Henry Keeny, D. W. Pardee, 
Hawley Kellogg, Austin Dunham, Horace Lord, Julius Cat- 
lin, John C. Palmer, Charles T. Howard, Charles H. Northam, 
Jonathan Goodwin, Elisha T. Smith, Warren Griswold, John 
L. Bunce, E. A. Bulkeley, Roland Mather, James P. Powell, 
Erastus Collins, H. A. Perkins, Daniel Phillips, Mark Howard, 
A. N. Clark, Henry C. Robinson. The meeting was addressed 



228 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

by Senator Dixon and others, and an eloquent letter was 
read from Com. Foote. At least five thousand people were 
assembled, and there was an immense outside meeting;. 

Most of the above-named gentlemen were active members 
of the citizens' committee, which assisted to recruit the vSix- 
teenth Regiment. The names of A. E. Burr (of the Tinjes) 
and Thomas H. Seymour having been read in the list of 
officers of the meeting, the latter published a letter in the 
Times, in which he said, " I could not have been induced to 
attend it. I will contribtite in no way to the accomplish- 
ment of such bloody purposes. The monstrous fallacy of 
the present day," he continues for the benefit of the volun- 
teers, " that the Union can be re-established by destroying 
any part of the South, is one which will burst with the shells 
thrown into its defenseless cities, and leave the condition 
of the country, after its treasures are exhausted, and its 
brave men on both sides consigned to hospitals and graves, 
a spectacle for the reproach and commiseration of man- 
kind." 

Towns were represented in the Sixteenth Regiment about 
as follows : Company A, Capt. Henry L. Pasco, Hartford, 
forty-four ; Wethersfield, ten ; Somers, eight ; West Hart- 
ford, seven. Company B, Capt. Edward H. Mix, Hartford, 
thirty-five ; Guilford, thirteen ; East Windsor, eight ; Wind- 
sor, seven. Company C, Capt. Edward E. Rankin, Hartford, 
forty-seven ; Farmington, thirty-five ; Rocky Hill, twenty. 
Company D, Capt. Samuel Brown, Suffield, sixty-two ; En- 
field, thirty-four. Company E, Capt. Charles Babcock, Can- 
ton, thirty-three ; Granby, nineteen ; Simsbury, nineteen. 
Company F, Capt. Heber W. Seaver, Hartford, eighty-two. 
Company G, Capt. Nathaniel Hayden, Berlin, twenty-five ; 
East Windsor, twenty ; Farmington, fifteen ; Hartford, thir- 
teen. Company H, Capt. Frederick M. Barber, Manchester, 
forty-three ; Glastonbury, seventeen ; Bolton, twelve ; South 
Windsor, eight. Company I, Capt. John L. Drake, Stafford, 
sixty ; Avon, ten ; Vernon, eleven ; Willington, eight. Com- 
pany H, Capt. Newton S. Manross, mostly from Bristol ; 
Farmington, fifteen ; Burlington, eight. 

Francis Beach was commissioned colonel ; Frank W. Che- 



THE SEVENTEENTH KEGIMENT. 229 

ney, lieutenant-colonel; and George A. Washburn, major. 
The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Williams. 

It was made up of excellent material, — some of the old- 
est and best families in the county being represented in its 
ranks, and cherishing high expectations of its future. On 
Aug. 24, 1862, the regiment was mustered into the United- 
States service for three years with a thousand and ten offi- 
cers and men; and on Friday, the 29th, left Hartford for 
Washington. As they marched to the wharf at the foot of 
Morgan Street, they were cheered by friends, from whom 
many were parting for the last time. They left at three, 
P.M., on the City of Hartford and the Collins, and had a 
pleasant trip to New York, where they were transferred to 
the steamer Kill von Kull, and received a breakfast of soup 
and coffee. At Ehzabeth, N.J., the regiment took the cars 
for Baltimore via Harrisburg. 

The Seventeenth was a Fairfield-county regiment, — not 
fifty men enlisted from outside the county. 'It was begun 
as soon as the call w^as issued in July: and William H. Noble 
was at once commissigned its colonel ; Charles Walter, lieu- 
tenant-colonel; and A. G. Brady, major. Headquarters were 
at Bridgeport. Recruiting was active throughout July, — 
men being mustered as they arrived; and by the middle 
of August the regiment was full to the maximum, — over a 
thousand men. A comfortable camp was established at Sea- 
side Park, known as " Camp Aiken." Through the patriotic 
efforts of Rev. Alexander R. Thompson, the regiment was 
furnished with a large chapel-tent, a library of five hundred 
volumes, checker and chess boards, and many other articles 
to promote the comfort or pleasure of the men. Col. Noble 
and Lieut.-Col. Walter were presented each with a fine horse 
and equipments. Bridgeport claimed to be " the banner 
town of the State," having furnished seventy men more 
than her quota, — a total of eight hundred and fifty out of 
an enrolled militia of sixteen hundred. 

Towns were represented as follows, those which only 
furnished three or four to a company being omitted : Com- 
pany A, Capt. Douglass Fowler, mainly from Norwalk ; Wil- 



230 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ton, eighteen. Company B, Capt. Charles A. Hobbie, mostly 
from Stamford and Darien. Company C, Capt. James E. 
Moore, Danbury, fifty-eight ; Bethel, sixteen ; Ridgefield, 
twelve. Company D, Capt. William H. Lacey, Bridgeport, 
forty-four ; Monroe, seventeen ; Stratford, nine ; Hunting- 
ton, nine. Company E, Capt. Henry P. Burr, Westport, fifty- 
one ; Newtown, twenty-five ; Bridgeport, fourteen ; Weston, 
ten. Company F, Capt. Enoch Wood, mostly from Norwalk ; 
Wilton, fourteen. Company G, Capt. James E. Dunham, 
Ridgefield, fifty-three ; Bridgeport, twenty-three ; Redding, 
twenty. Company H, Capt. Enos Kellogg, mostly New Ca- 
naan. Company I, Capt. D. 0. Benson, mostly Greenwich. 
Company K, Capt. John J. McCarty, Bridgeport, thirty-five ; 
Fairfield, thirty-five. 

Company F, the Lockwood Guards, was raised in three 
days, stimulated by the offer of a thousand dollars by Le 
Grand Lockwood, Esq., whose donations to the war-fund in 
every direction were large and constant. 

The Sevenfeenth left for the front Sept. 3, being greeted 
by a salute, and the cheers of thousands assembled from all 
parts of the county to witness its departure. Gov. Bucking- 
ham reviewed the regiment, and gave it his parting counsel. 
During the firing of a salute at South Norwalk, the prema- 
ture discharge of a cannon shattered the arm of Joseph Haw- 
kins so terribly, that he died from the effect of the amputa- 
tion. In New York, the regiment embarked at the foot of 
Twenty-third Street for South Atnboy ; whence it proceeded 
by rail to Baltimore. In its ranks, as a private, was EUas 
Howe, jr., the inventor of the sewing-machine, in receipt of 
an annual income of a quarter of a million dollars, his long 
hair cut tis^ht to his head, and a musket on his shoulder. In 
the Westport company was Mr. E. M. Lees, postmaster, and 
two brothers. The regiment, tired and hungry, arrived at 
Baltimore late in the evening ; and, finding no transportation 
to Washington, lay in the open street all night, and got a 
cold collation at the depot at daybreak. Here they passed 
another night on the floor, the colonel refusing to vacate 
until quarters were furnished. 



THE EIGHTEENTH REGIMENT. 231 

New-London and Windham Counties took hold with such 
earnestness, that the Eighteenth Regiment, begun after sev- 
eral of the others, was the first to start for Washington. A 
county mass-meeting was held in Franklin Square, Norwich. 
Hon. John T. Wait presided, and made a most impressive 
speech, declaring that the question was, whether Americans 
were fit for a republic ; and that its settlement would affect 
all nations, and all generations of men. Mr. Wait was fol- 
lowed by Senator Lafayette S. Foster, Gen. Daniel Tyler, 
Richard Busteed, Hiram Willey, and others. A war-commit- 
tee was appointed, consisting of Amos W. Prentice, David 
Smith, John F. Slater, Henry Bill, F. M. Hale, James A. Ho- 
vey, and John W. Stedman, who went vigorously to work. 
Companies were started in every large town in the district. 
Isaac H. Bromley, editor of the Bulletin, raised a company, 
and went as its captain. The camp was established on the 
Fair Ground, about one mile west of Norwich, on the old 
Salem Turnpike ; and was, like that of the Seventeenth, des- 
ignated Camp Aiken, after the popular quartermaster-general 
of the State, William A. Aiken of Norwich. Windham Count}^, 
determined that no conscripts should piece out her quota, 
sent down company after company ; and by the middle of 
August the regiment was declared full. Lieut.-Col. William 
G. Ely of the Sixth, who had begun as a private in the three- 
months' service, was called to- the command of the Eigh- 
teenth. Monroe Nichols was made lieutenant-colonel ; and 
Ephraim Keach, jr., major. 

Five companies were from New-London County, and -five 
from Windham ; and towns were represented as follows : 
Company A, Capt. Henry C. Davis, Norwich seventy-three, 
Canterbury ten, Bozrah nine ; Company B, Capt. Thomas K. 
Bates, Killingly fifty-two, Putnam fourteen, Brooklyn twelve, 
Woodstock twelve ; Company C, Capt. Isaac H. Bromley, 
Norwich forty-eight, Lebanon thirty-one ; Company D, Capt. 
Joseph Mathewson, Thompson sixty- two, Pomfret eighteen, 
Woodstock ten, Eastford eight ; Company E, Capt. Isaac W. 
Hakes, jr., Norwich twenty-eight, Colchester twenty, Salem 
eleven, Andover five ; Companj^ F, Capt. Henry Peale, Nor- 
wich fifty-nine, Preston twelve, Griswold thirteen ; Company 



232 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

G., Capt. George W. Warner, Woodstock forty-four, Putnam 
twenty-four, VVindhara eight; Company H, Capt. Charles D. 
Bowen, Windham fifty-five, Coventry thirteen, Tolland four- 
teen, Chaplin ten ; Company I, Capt. Samuel R. Knapp, Nor- 
wich twenty-nine, Preston eight, Lyme seventeen, Plainfield 
fifteen, Griswold ten, Sprague eight ; Company K, Capt. Ezra 
J. Mathewson, Killingly seventy-seven, Plainfield fourteen. 

The friends of the Windham-county men came down on an 
excursion-train, and visited the camp on Aug. 20. "During 
the whole afternoon, the vast crowd swaj^ed hither and 
thither over the ground, or stood gathered in little groups, 
talking earnestly of the past and future. In the latter part 
of the day, the regiment was formed, and marched about the 
camp, a compact whole, the pride of the district whose gal- 
lant sons filled its ranks. And, as the setting sun threw its 
rays across the tented field, there were the hurried parting, the 
last fond embrace, the afl:ectionate good-by, perhaps forever, 
tremulously spoken by wives and sisters, aged fathers and 
mothers ; and the living current swept back, leaving alone 
the canvas city to the brave men who shall know no other 
habitation until the flag of their fathers shall float again in 
triumph over a re-united republic." ^ 

Just before the regiment left, Col. Ely found a swindler in 
camp, who was selling to the soldiers " bullet-proof vests." 
He straightway made half p, dozen bullet-holes in the tin 
armor, required the fellow to return j;he money to the dupes, 
and then sent him to the guard-house. 

At four o'clock, p.m., of the 22d, Gov. Buckingham drove 
to camp, and presented the regimental colors in behalf of 
the ladies of Norwich. Col. Ely received the standard with 
a few appropriate remarks. Then the regiment formed in 
line, and marched to the city. Norwich had put on its holi- 
day attire. "Finally, at seven o'clock, the huge engines 
started, the boat moved into the stream, a loud cheer from 
its precious freight, an answering shout from the crowd that 
filled the wharves and lined the banks, a burst of music and 
the roar of cannon, and the Eighteenth Regiment had gone." 

The Nineteenth Regiment was from Litchfield County. A 

1 Norwich Bulletin. 



THE NINETEENTH REGIMENT. 233 

county mass-convention was held at Litchfield on July 22, at 
which every town was represented. Seth P. Beers presided. 
The convention resolved that a complete regiment should be 
furnished by Litchfield County, and unanimously recom- 
mended that Sheriff Leverett W. Wessell-s be commissioned 
as its colonel. An executive committee was also appointed, 
consisting of G. H. HoUister, Joseph Humphrey, jr., E. W. 
Seymour, and George A. Hickox. There was now a united 
effort to fill the ranks, and recruiting was rapid. Wessells 
was made colonel ; Nathaniel Smith of Woodbury, major. 

The camp was established on South Chestnut Hill, a mile 
east of Litchfield. The place selected was a beautiful sloping 
field on the farm of Cyrus Catlin ; and it was named Camp 
Button, in honor of Lieut. Henry Melzar Button, who had 
fallen nobly at Cedar Mountain. 

Major Elisha S. Kellogg, of the First Connecticut Volunteer 
Artillery, arrived at Litchfield, Aug. 20, with a commission as 
lieutenant-colonel. Lieut. William B. Ells, also of the First, 
came home to raise a company for the new regiment, and Pri- 
vate Charles J. Beming to go out as its adjutant. This excel- 
lent regiment had already graduated a colonel for the Thir- 
teenth, two majors for the Fourteenth, a surgeon for the Fif- 
teenth, a major for the Sixteenth, and a surgeon for the Twen- 
ty-first; and when Major Kellogg, Lieut. Ells, and Private 
Beming,. received commissions in the Nineteenth, Col. Tyler 
is said to have exclaimed indignantly that the government 
seemed inclined to " make the First Artillery a d — d yeast- 
pot to ' raise ' officers for the army." 

Towns were represented in the Nineteenth as follows : 
Company A, Capt. William Bissell, Litchfield, sixty-three ; 
Harwinton, ten ; Morris, seven. Company B, Capt. James 
Hubbard, Salisbury, forty-three ; Kent, twenty-four. Com- 
pany C, Capt. James Q. Rice, Goshen, forty-two ; Torrington, 
thirty-four. Company B, Capt. William B. Ells, Plymouth, 
fifty-three ; Watertown, eighteen ; Harwinton, thirteen. 
Company E, Capt. Jefii-ey Skinner, Winchester, sixty-two; 
Norfolk, sixteen. Company F, Capt. Edward W. Jones, 
New Hartford, thirty ; North Canaan, nineteen ; Canaan, 
sixteen ; Colebrook, fourteen. Company G, Capt. Edward 

30 



234 CONNECTICUT DTJEING THE REBELLION. 

F. Gold, Cornwall, thirty-four ; Sharon, forty-one. Com- 
pany H, Capt. George S. Williams, New Milford, thirty- 
seven ; Kent, twenty-one ; Washington, twenty-one. Com- 
pany I, Capt. Eli Sperry, Woodbury, sixty-one. Company K, 
Capt. Edward 0. Peck, was made up by taking men from the 
other companies ; so that it represented every town in the 
county, except Cromwell and Sharon, and three towns in 
other counties. 

On Sept. 10, the regiment was declared full ; and an im- 
mense meeting was held at Litchfield, and a stand of colors 
eloquently presented by William Curtis Noyes on behalf of 
his wife, a grand-daughter of Col. Tallmadge, the bold partisan 
leader of the Revolution, and aide to Gen. Washington. Hon. 
Robbins Battell of Norfolk presented to Col. Wessells a fine 
blooded horse, and Hon. 0. S. Seymour gave him a McClellan 
saddle. On the 15th, the regiment left Litchfield on a train 
of twenty-three cars for " the front." 

On the 27th of August, the companies and squads that 
had been recruited for the Twentieth rendezvoused at Oyster 
Point, New Haven, more than a thousand men. Enough 
were exempted by the surgeons to bring the total down to 
nine hundred and eighty. Uniforms and a few old muskets 
for camp-guard were furnished, a camp was laid out, and a 
regular military life begun. Gov. Buckingham appointed 
Capt. Samuel Ross of the Fourteenth United-States Infantry, 
mustering-officer in the State, to be colonel ; William B. 
Wooster, Esq., of Birmingham, to be lieutenant-colonel; and 
Philo B. Buckingham of Seymour to be major. 

The regiment now made its first awkward attempts at 
drilling and guard-duty. '• Long will our first guard-mount- 
ing be remembered as a splendid caricature. . . . Here you 
would see a sentinel attempting to salute an officer. Poking 
out his musket perpendicularly in front with the breech 
nearly as high as his breast, and his face turned over his 
shoulder, he continues his march on his beat until he strikes 
the toe of his boot against some unleveled corn-hill, and 
finishes his salute with a headlong sprawl. Another thrusts 
his bayonet into the ground, and leaves his musket, because 



THE TWENTIETH AXD TWENTY-FIEST EEGIMENTS. 235 

he is tired of carrying the ' darned thing/ and thinks it just 
as well to walk his beat without it."~ 

Towns were represented in the regiment as follows :" Com- 
pany A, Capt. Timothy Guilford, Cheshire, sixtj^-five ; Pros- 
pect, eighteen. Company B, Capt. Sanford E. Chaffee, mainly 
from Derby ; Oxford, twelve. Company C, Capt. Henry C. 
Smith, Hartford, twenty-eight ; East Haddam, twenty ; Ches- 
ter, seven ; Windsor Locks, eight ; Marlborough, six. Com- 
pany D, Capt. Frederick A. Parker, Portland, fifty-four; Had- 
dam, eighteen ; Cromwell, eighteen. Company E, Capt. Sam- 
uel S. Woodruff, SoutHington, seventy-three; Farmington, 
ten. Company F, Capt. Henry C. Pardee, New Haven, fifty- 
nine ; Newtown, fourteen. Company G, Capt. William W 
Morse, New Haven, fifty-seven ; Guilford, six. Company H, 
Capt. Charles S. Abbott, Seymour, twenty-three ; Waterbury, 
twenty-one; Oxford, fourteen ; Derby, fourteen ; Southbury, 
ten. Company I, Capt. Ezra D. Dickerman, Hamdem, forty; 
Waterbury, eighteen ; New Haven, eight. Company K, Capt. 
S. S. Stevens, New Britain, forty-one ; Hartford, eighteen ; 
Waterburj'-, fifteen ; Cromwell, four. 

The regiment was paid off; and at ten, a.m., of Sept. 11, 
1862, the cars backed down, the bands played, the citizens 
cheered ; and, . struggling with various emotions, the men 
started on their three-years' campaign. 

The Twenty-first was recruited from the eastern and central 
part of the State, and rendezvoused at Norwich, being raised 
by the same impulse that had filled the Eighteenth. It was 
a very promising regiment. Arthur H. Dutton, formerly of 
Wallingford, but then a lieutenant in the regular army, was 
chosen colonel ; and so rapidly was the regiment raised in 
view of a threatened draft, that it was mustered into the 
service, Sept. 5, with nine hundred and sixty-six men. 
Thomas F. Burpee of Vernon was appointed lieutenant- 
colonel ; and Hiram B. Crosby of Norwich, major. 

Towns were represented in the regiment as follows : Com- 
pany A, Capt. Joseph Jordan, jr.. East Hartford, thirty-nine; 
Hartford, thirteen ; Glastenbury, sixteen ; Windsor, twelve. 
Company B, Capt. Charles T. Martin, mostly from Hartford. 

2 Lieut.-Col. r. B. Buckingham's MS. History of the Twentieth. 



236 CONNECTICUT DURING THE HEBELLION. 

Company C, Capt. John E. Wood, wholly (ninety-two) from 
Groton. Company D, Capt. Charles G. Southworth, Mans- 
field, thirty-eight ; Ashford, seventeen ; Windham, fifteen ; 
Willington, eight. Company E, Capt. Charles T, Stanton, 
jr., mostly (sixty -eight) from Stonington. Company F, 
Capt. William Spittle, Montville, forty-three ; New London, 
thirty-two ; Waterford, seven. Company G, Capt. James F. 
Brown, North Stonington, sixty ; Voluntown, twenty-two. 
Company H, Capt. Ralph C. Foot, jr., Colchester, forty-seven ; 
Chatham, twenty-eight; Haddam, ten. Company I, Capt. 
David Dickerson, Middletown, fifty-six ; Norwich, fifteen. 
Company K, Capt. Jeremiah M. Shepard, Plainfield, forty- 
seven ; Pomfret, fifteen ; Brooklyn, twelve ; Sterling, ten ; 
Killingly, Sprague, and Lebanon, twelve. 

Having been completely equipped and furnished, the regi- 
ment was ordered on board the cars Sept. 11, and, bidding 
adieu to friends, proceeded to the seat of war. 

During these fall months, also, the Second Connecticut 
Light Battery had been organized, drilled, armed, and hastily 
prepared for the front. It was composed of portions of two 
batteries of State militia at Bridgeport, consolidated under 
Capt. John W. Sterling. A quiet, unassuming man, attached 
to his home by family-ties and business-interests, he was 
filled with a martial spirit; and having, as an amateur, 
already made himself familiar with the theory of military 
tactics, he brought his command* to a high state of efficiency. 
He was greatly assisted by his lieutenants, — Walter S. 
Hotchkiss, Philip B. Segee, George Hunger, and Philo B. 
Sherman. The men were mostly (one hundred and twelve) 
from Bridgeport, eight from Fairfield, eight from Easton, 
and thirteen from Stratford. The battery was composed of 
the best materials, and was unsurpassed in its general equip- 
ments by any battery in the service. It was armed with four 
6-pounder James's rifled guns, and two 4-pound er howitzers. 
The battery left Bridgeport on Oct. 15, 1862, with one hun- 
dred and fifteen men, and proceeded to Washington, where 
it remained two months in the artillery camp of instruction, 
— Camp Barry. 



DESTINATION OF TROOPS. 237 

These troops left the State thoroughly equipped ; but drills 
had been irregular, and the men started forth with little 
idea of the actual life and duties of a soldier. They were 
received with bountiful hospitably by " the Sons of Con- 
necticut " in New York, co-operating with Col. John H. Almy, 
the State's agent, and sent forward with words of patri- 
otic cheer. The eight regiments were assigned to the Army 
of the Potomac ; and most of them reached Washington 
over the usual railroad - route, and with about the same 
wretched experience of travel night and day. 

The Fourteenth was immediately sent across Long Bridge 
to occupy- Camp Chase, back of Arlington Heights, where 
it remained the first night. Reveille was beaten at three 
o'clock next morning; and the men were started off for Fort 
Ethan Allen, opposite Chain Bridge, where a camp was 
pitched, and drills resumed. Cyrus C. Clark of Middletown 
was now major, vice S. H. Perkins, promoted. 

The Fifteenth was kept in Washington, near the east end 
of Long Bridge, for a time, and was reviewed by Gen. 
Casey, whose headquarters were near. Some companies 
were detailed to guard the bridge on the Virginia side ; and 
the men rapidl}- learned the trials of their new life in 
encountering; the wounded and invalids fiom the disastrous 
second battle of Bull Run. 

The Sixteenth arrived at Washington in the evening of 
Aug. 31, and bivouacked near the Capitol. It marched 
into Virginia next morning, and received a startling illustra- 
tion of war, — meeting a line of ambulances a mile long, 
bringing dead and dying from the battle-field. The men 
proceeded to Fort Ward, about five miles distant, and 
sat in the rain all night, the tents not having come up. 
Here they remained for several days, while Lee was hasten- 
ing northward across the State to invade the North. 

The Seventeenth expected to join Sigel's corps, then held 
in reserve in front of Washington ; but Lee had just crossed 
the Potomac into Maryland, and the regiment was detained 
for the defense of Baltimore, where Gen. Wool was still in 
command. They were ordered into Fort Marshall, a new 
earthwork on the hiorhts across the harbor from Fort Mc- 



238 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Henry, overlooking that fortification and the city. This is 
the highest point of land in the city ; and the sweep of 
vision covers a radius of five or six miles in every direction. 
The view was fine : but no quarters or food had been pro- 
vided for the regiment; so the men lay down upon the 
ground, and slept like veterans. Next day, there was great 
excitement caused by Lee's approach ; and twenty rounds 
of cartridges were dealt out ; and the men, for a few nights, 
slept on their arms. Here they remained for more than a 
month, the post-quartermaster seeming to delight in making 
them uncomfortable. 

The Eighteenth also stopped in Baltimore. Col. Ely re- 
ported to Gen. Morris ; and the regiment was at once 
installed in Fort McHenry, just being vacated by a New- 
York three-months' regiment. Here they were soon com- 
fortably located in a camp on a cool and shady slope 
running off to the waters of the bay. Behind and above, 
the great guns of the fort frowned over the ramparts on the 
half-rebel city ; while over all floated the stars and stripes 
as proudly as when, " in the dawn's early light," Francis 
Rodman Drake gazed anxiously across these same waters, 
and that grand anthem, " The Star-spangled Banner," was 
born. The regiment remained here a month ; four compa- 
nies, Capts. Peale's, Warner's, Knapp's, and Mathewson's, 
under Major Keach, being stationed at Havre de Grace, 
guarding the railroad. 

The Nineteenth arrived at, Alexandria on Sept. 18, and 
went into camp a mile back of the city, in the brigade of 
Gen. Slough, military governor. Here the regiment did 
picket and patrol duty in and about Alexandria from this 
time until January, obtaining the good will of the citizens 
by circumspect behavior and soldierly conduct. These 
months were industriously improved. The regiment was 
daily and thoroughly drilled by Lieut.-Col. Kellogg, who 
was the heau-ideal of a soldier, and one of the best drill- 
masters Connecticut produced. Col. Wessells' health soon 
gave way, and he was but a few weeks with the regiment. 

The Twentieth reached Washington at four o'clock, p.m., 
of Sept. 13; but, having reported to the "circumlocution 



THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST AT CAMP CHASE. 239 

office," it was five hours before it received an order to go 
into camp. The men stretched themselves upon the ground 
of East Capitol Hill, and slept without tents. Next morning 
the baggage came up, and a camp was laid out ; but, two 
days thereafter, they removed to Camp Chase, at Arlington 
Heights, under their new brigade-commander, — Gen. Paul. 
Here officers and men studied Casey's tactics, and devoted 
four hours a day to the drill. 

The Twenty-first also reached Washington on the loth, 
bivouacked near the Twentieth, and went with it to Camp 
Chase on the 17th. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

The Call for Seven Regiments of Nine-months' Men. — The second Great Uprising. — 
Recruiting Active. — Meetings and Bounties. — A Draft announced. — The Camps. 

— Exemption sought. — Skulks and Cowards. — The Surgeons besieged. — The 
White-liver Coraplairrt. — Incidents. — How New Haven filled her Quota. — The Day 
of the Draft. — The Mountain brings fortii. — All the Regiments Full. — The Twenty- 
second from Hartford and Tolland Counties. — Twenty-third from Fairfield and 
New Haven. — Twenty-fourth from Middlesex. — Twenty-fifth from Hartford. — 
Twenty-sixth from New London and Windham. — Twenty-seventh from New Haven. 

— Twenty-eighth from Fairfield and Litchfield. — The Rendezvous on Long Island. 

LMOST simultaneously with the call for three 
liundrecl thousand men for three years came 
(Aug. 4, 1862) a call for three hundred thou- 
sand for nine months, under which the quota of 
the State was again 7,1.45. Including the last 
three-years' quota, still incomplete, Connecticut had already 
raised 21,702 soldiers; and the various branches of industry 
showed the drain that was being suffered. Yet the startling- 
reverses to our arms, and the excitement and war-meetings 
resulting, caused a very general response to this summons. 
Moreover, nearly half the number now called for had been 
furnished in the surplus volunteering for three years ; and 
there were many remaining whose circumstances prevented 
a three-years' absence, who cheerfully volunteered to go for 
nine month.s, believing that such service would carry the 
war past the most critical point. 

Seven additional regiments were called for, from the 
Twenty-second to the Twenty-eighth inclusive ; and volun- 
teers poured in to the recruiting-stations. All parties par- 
ticipated in the new uprising. At the war-meetings of the 
time, Charles Chapman and Alvan P. Hyde, the acknowledged 
leaders of the Democratic party in the House of Represen- 

240 



PREPARATIONS FOR DRAFTING. 241 

tatives, spoke on the same platform with prominent Repub- 
licans, urging men of all creeds and politics to enroll them- 
selves at once for the national defense. 

The last companies filled slowly; and the governor, on 
Aug. 21, in obedience to orders from Washington, announced 
a draft for Sept. 3, unless the requisition should previously be 
filled. The number required of different towns being esti- 
mated, they at once put forth prodigious efforts to fill the 
respective quotas. While nearly all the people heartily 
seconded recruiting, a large majority looked upon the draft 
as a disagreeable, if necessaiy, alternative : many objected 
to it, and a few openly opposed it. 

Dr. C. H. Atwood of Woodbury objected to bounties, and 
called upon the educated and wealthy to enlist, and not 
require it of the laboring-men, who could not leave their 
families. As the tendency, if not the intent, of this was 
obvious, his eloquence was received with hisses, and only 
served to augment the emphasis with which the town voted 
the bounty of one hundred dollars. At the town-meeting in 
Bethlehem, an old citizen named Beecher, who had presided 
a year before at a Schnable peace-meeting, was " afeard the 
town would be ruined by paying such big bounties." His 
son Marshall Beecher soon took refuge in Canada. L. L. 
Bloss offered a resolution, providing that, if a volunteer from 
the town should " run off anybody's nigger," he should for- 
feit all his bounty. 

Meanwhile the enrollment for a draft was proceeding. In 
preparation for it, four camps were established, — Camp Hal- 
leck at Hartford, commanded by Col. George S. Burnham, and, 
later, by Col. George P. Bissell, for Hartford and Tolland Coun- 
ties ; Camp Terry at New Haven, for New-Haven, Fairfield, 
and Litchfield Counties, commanded by Col. James M, Wood- 
ward ; Camp Russell at Norwich, for New-London and Wind- 
ham Counties, commanded by Col. Thomas G. Kingsley, and, 
later, by Col. Thomas H. C. Kingsbury ; and Camp Mansfield 
at Middletown, for Middlesex County, commanded by Col. E. 
W. N. Starr. Several of the last three-years' regiments, and 
all the nine-months' regiments, rendezvoused at these camps. 

General orders were published, giving full directions as to 

31 



242 • CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the manner of conducting the draft, with the classes exempt, 
and the provision for substitutes. It appeared that Sprague, 
Chaphn, Windham, Marlborough, New Hartford, Norfolk, and 
Saybrook had already filled their quotas. As the day ap- 
proached, it became clearly impossible to prepare the cor- 
rected schedule in time ; and the draft was postponed until 
the 10th. 

Durino- this week, the exertions of loyal men were re- 
doubled, and the solicitude of semi-traitors and cowards 
increased. Every subterfuge was resorted to by these last 
to escape service. Section 4 of the Militia Law, passed at 
the May session, provided for assistants of the surgeon-gen- 
eral in each county, authorized to examine all applicants for 
exemption. Old certificates of disability suddenly became 
priceless. The halt, the blind, the diseased, swelled to a 
fabulous number. 

Some surgeons seemed, from excessive good nature, or for 
the sake of popularity, or for the paltry twenty-five cents re- 
ceived for each certificate, inclined to grant almost every 
apphcation. Dr. Beckwith of Litchfield was severely cen- 
sured, as caring more for these than for the nation others 
were struggling to save ; but he asserted that he did what 
seemed to be his duty with impartial honesty. Be this as it 
may, his fame spread through all surrounding towns. Men 
swarmed into Litchfield with haggard and ghastly counte- 
nances ; stout young fellows bent over canes, and feigned 
excruciating rheumatism, or moaned agonizing internal and 
invisible maladies. Every day some one received the twenty- 
five cents exemption, flung away his staff, and walked off 
witb a firm step. 

The physicians generally were rigid, excusing none but 
those obviously unfit. A few left every county, and fled to 
Canada, where they were hailed as poltroons and skulks. A 
few who sympathized with the South maimed themselves that 
they might be exempt ! A " peace-man " in New Fairfield 
cut off his ricrht fore-fino^er. Another extracted his full set 
of sound teeth, and presented himself to Dr. Ezra P. Ben- 
nett to be examined, but subsided into a speechless rage 
when the doctor, disgusted with the spectacle, " passed " him, 



KEPUGNANCE TO DRAFTING. 243 

informing Iiira that he could " go as well as not : don't have to 
bite cartridges now." A cripple from Preston presented him- 
self to Dr. Farnsworth at Norwich with a stiff leg ; but the 
doctor, perceiving that the rigidity was voluntary, horse- 
whipped the creature, and then kicked him out of his office. 
The lame leg was restored as good as new. Dr. Welch of 
Winsted used to ask, " Can you work ? " — " Y — es, work a 
lit-tle," was a common reply. "Then you can fight a lit- 
tle ; " and the case was closed. 

At this time, Litchfield County was all astir with recruiting 
for the Nineteenth and Twenty-eighth Regiments. Every 
day, Hon. John H. Hubbard, and often Edward Seymour 
and others, would go out to the Green, where the candidates 
for exemption were congregated, and depict the need and 
peril of the nation, and set forth the meanness of shirkino- 
duty due to the flag and the country. Almost every day, 
a number thoroughly ashamed of their despicable inten- 
tions banished pretended ills, stood erect in manhood, and 
enlisted for three years or the war. 

In Barkhamsted, at the town-meeting in which a hundred 
dollars bounty was voted to volunteers, it was also resolved 
unanimously, that "whereas a most dangerous and alarming 
epidemic, traceable in most cases to the pro tern,, cause of an 
enormous enlargement of the white liver ^ threatens the total 
extinction of our able-bodied white male population be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and forty-five years; therefore 
resolved, that, as a sanitary regulation, the names and 
alleged reasons of all citizens of this town who apply for 
exemption be published in the county newspapers." 

The aggregate of those who dishonestly sought exemp- 
tion was, of course, very small, when compared with the 
whole number liable to military duty. The people gen- 
erally were ready to stand the draft; and some calmly 
awaited the result as the decision of Providence upon their 
duty to go or stay. Still there was a decided repugnance to 
a draft, however equitable ; and all, with Connecticut ideas 
of freedom, wished to see the ranks filled by volunteers. 

Many towns filled their quota on the morning of the day 
of th^ draft. At New Haven, an immense crowd, estimated 



244 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

at from three to five thousand, gathered at the north por- 
tico of the State House. A citizens' meeting was organized, 
with Thomas R Trowbridge as chairman, and Edwin A. 
Tucker as secretary. Joseph Sheldon immediately offered, 
on behalf of Arthur D. Osborne, fifteen dollars each for 
two volunteers, in addition to all bounties. James Gallagher 
offered fifteen dollars for one man. I. W. Hine and William 
A. Beckley each made the same offer. William Franklin 
offered fifteen dollars each for ten ; N. D. Sperry, fifteen 
dollars each for ten more ; John Woodruff, fifteen dollars 
each for twenty ; Thomas R Trowbridge, fifteen dollars 
each for thirty more ; J. A. Bishop, fifteen dollars each for 
ten men. Each announcement was greeted by loud ap- 
plause. Others followed. S. T. Parmalee offered a hun- 
dred dollars, D. J. Peck fifty dollars, Hiram Camp fifteen 
dollars, each, for ten men. Rev. William Folsom made a 
short and very spirited address, offering at its close fifteen 
dollars each for five men. Men now enlisted rapidly. A 
call was made for a general contribution, to be divided 
equally among volunteers. Individuals began to pass up 
money in sums from one dollar to twenty. James Galla- 
gher, in a patriotic and earnest speech, called for more men 
and money ; and they were forthcoming. At noon, fifty-two 
men had volunteered, fifteen dollars each had been offered 
for eighty-eight more, and twelve hundred dollars had been 
contributed for equal distribution. The crowd and enthusi- 
asm were undiminished. The selectmen stood by the boxes, 
ready to commence the draft. Enlistments went on. At 
three o'clock and forty-five minutes, p.m., twenty-five men 
were needed to fill the quota. The selectmen gave notice 
that the draft would tegin at four o'clock. They delayed 
half an hour more ; and, at half-past four o'clock, N. C. Hall 
announced that the quota of New Haven was full, and that 
there would be no draft. Nine tremendous cheers broke 
forth, and all went home happy. More than one hundred 
men had enlisted since nine o'clock. 

Similar scenes were enacted, on a smaller scale, in other 
towns : and, when the draft was made, one hundred and 
twenty-eight towns had filled their quota; thirty-four had 



THE NUMBEK DRAFTED. 245 

not. Windham County had an excess. of men. New-London 
County needed but twenty-four. Hartford County lacked 
the largest number, — four hundred and seventy-seven; and 
of these the city of Hartford drafted for four hundred and 
twenty-one. 

The returns from the draft show that the number drafted 
was thirteen hundred and three (1,303). Of these, nine 
hundred and thirteen (913) were exempted by selectmen 
or on surgeon's certificate. Seventy-nine (79) principals 
and one hundred and forty-two (142) substitutes were mus- 
tered into the service, and eighty-eight (88) were detailed 
on government work; making a total of three hundred 
and nine (309) accepted. Of these, again, one hundred 
and eighty-four (184) never reported, and eighty-one (81) 
deserted after being sent to camp ; leaving forty-four (44) 
to be sent to the front. McClellan's confidence was not 
restored by this re-inforcement. A conditional order for 
another draft was soon issued ; but, within three weeks, the 
entire quota was furnished, and the regiments full; and the 
supplemental draft was indefinitely postponed. 

These seven being technically militia regiments, all the 
officers, both field and line, were chosen by election ; the 
enlisted men designating the company-officers, and these 
nominating the field-officers. 

Many of the members of these regiments were young 
farmers, who had about finished their haying, and •• calcu- 
lated " they should return in time to take part in the hard 
work of the next summer. Generally, at the rendezvous, 
before the loth of September, it was understood that 
their term of service would expire so that they would be 
mustered out by the middle of the next June. This view 
was confirmed bj' the appearance, during the last of Septem- 
ber, of Lieut. Webb, who mustered them into the United- 
States service as individual recruits. There were a few 
skulks in each regiment, who desired to spend as much of the 
nine months as possible in Connecticut; and who absented 
themselves, without leave, whenever the mustering-officer 
came for the purpose of accepting the regiment and send- 



246 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ing it forward. This practice left each regiment without the 
required complement, and departure was postponed from 
day to day. About the middle of November, Lieut. Webb 
re-appeared, and re-mustered them as regiments ; informing 
them that their service only now commenced. There was 
some dissatisfaction ; for the better men felt that they had 
been trifled with : but they were in a mood to tolerate 
sharp practice from a nation in such a strait as ours, and, 
without much murmuring, gave the extra two months of 
service. 

The Twenty-second Regiment was recruited exclusively in 
Hartford and Tolland Counties, and four companies were 
raised in the city of Hartford. Recruiting commenced Aug. 
liO : and in just one month, Sept. 20, the regiment was mus- 
tered into the service at Camp Halleck, Hartford ; having 
been full for two weeks. Again towns offered attractive 
bounties ; and there were also striking instances of individual 
liberality. Charles F. Hillyer, president of the Charter-oak 
Bank, gave nearly one thousand dollars in bounties to enli?-t 
men for the company of Capt. Luther G. Riggs, which took the 
name of ''The Hillyer Guards." Col. George S. Burnham, 
who had led the First Regiment in the field, was appointed 
to command the Twenty-second. Only four other oflicers 
had ever seen service ; but they were patriotic, and willing 
to learn. 

Company A, Capt. Albert Armbraster, was raised wholly 
in Windsor and East Windsor, Company B, Capt. John 
G. Root, was from Hartford ; Wethersfield furnishing thirty. 
Company C, Capt. Luther G. Riggs, was from Hartford ; 
East Hartford and East Windsor also slightly assisting. 
Company D, Capt. E. B. Root, represented West Hartford 
twenty-two, Bloomfield forty-two. East Windham twelve. 
Company E, Capt. Frank Swan, Hartford fifty, Mansfield 
eleven, Wethersfield six. Company F, Capt. George Clark, 
was wholly from Enfield. Company G, Capt. George W. 
Johnson, was from Sufifleld; Union contributing twenty-three. 
Company H, Capt. Charles C. Shultas, was from Hartford; 
Southington sending eleven. Canton eight. Company I, 
Capt. Charles Whittlesey, was from Hartford ; Canton having 



THE TWENTY-THIKD REGIMENT. 247 

fifteen of the number. In Company K, Capt. Benjamin T. 
Loomis, Tolland had forty-two, Somers twenty-two. 

After a few weeks of irregular drill, the regiment left 
Hartford for the seat of war, Oct. 2, one of the stormiest 
days of the season, with nine hundred men, on the Granite 
State. They arrived in New York, and breakfasted at the 
Battery Barracks ; crossed by ferry-boat to Elizabeth City, 
and took cars; reaching Washington, ma Harrisburg, on Sun- 
day evening. Their first bivouac was on the flats near the 
Capitol. Next morning, the regiment became a part of the 
Second Provisional Brigade. After tarrying two days in 
Washington, they marched to Georgetown ; thence up to 
Chain Bridge ; when they crossed the Potomac, and came 
to rest under the barbette guns of Fort Ethan Allen. Next 
morning they advanced half a mile, and encamped in a beau- 
tiful peach-orchard ; Col. Burnham, as senior officer, com- 
manding the brigade of three green regiments. 

The Twenty-third Eegiment was raised in Fairfield and 
New-Haven Counties, mostly the former. Charles E. L. 
Holmes of Waterbury was early commissioned to be colonel. 
It rendezvoused at Camp Terry, New Haven. All the field 
and most of the line officers were connected with the active 
State militia, and several brought their companies bodily into 
the regiment. 

Company A, Capt. Alfred Wells, was recruited about equal 
proportions in Watertown and Waterbury. Company B.* 
Capt. James H. Jenkins, represented Danbury alone ; and not 
a man deserted during the service. Company C, Capt. 
Julius Sanford, was the union of squads from Newtown (forty) 
and Sharon (thirty-four). Company D, Capt. Charles W. Hall, 
had nineteen from Bridgeport, nineteen from Trambull, and 
twenty-five from Huntington. Company E, Capt. George 
M. Godfrey, contained twenty-five from Wilton, nineteen 
from Weston, and thirty-six from Redding. ComjDany F, 
Capt. David F. Johnson, was largely from Derby ; other towns 
furnishing half, most of whom (twenty-nine) deserted before 
leaving camp. Company G, Capt. George S. Crofut, had 
twenty from Bethel, twelve from Danbury, six from New- 



248 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

town, five from Ridgefield, and eight from Fairfield. Of 
Company H, Capt. A. Dwight Hopkins, Naiigatuck furnished 
forty-three, Waterbury twenty-one, Watertown five. Com- 
■ pany I, Capt. William H. May, had twenty-four from Bridge- 
port, fifty-three from Fairfield, and seven from Easton ; and 
of these, many of whom were drafted men or substitutes, 
thirty-eight deserted before the company left the State. 
Company K, Capt. Samuel G. Bailey, was mainly from Dan- 
bury ; New Fairfield contributing seventeen, and Litchfield 
seven. 

The regiment was composed of excellent material. It 
was assigned to Gen. Banks's "expedition, of the destination 
of which nothing was yet known; and on Nov. 17, with 
eight hundred and forty-eight men, it proceeded to the camp 
at Centreville (East New York), L.I. 

The Twenty-fourth Regiment was mostly raised in Middle- 
sex County; and Samuel M. Mjjnsfield, first lieutenant in the 
regular army and a son of Major-Gen. Mansfield, was called 
to the command. Middletown contributed four companies : 
A, Capt. Isaac C. Gleason ; D, Capt. Timothy R. Parker ; F, 
Capt. William J. Addis ; and G, Capt. Charles H. Edwards ; in 
which, however, were twenty-two from Had(L'im, twenty-one 
from Cromwell, twelve from Clinton, and ten from Durham. 
Company B, Capt. H. P. Johnson, was mainly from Essex ; 
Westbrook furnishing fourteen, Old Saybrook five, and Kil- 
lingworth ten. Company C, Capt. A. G. Fitch, was from 
Colchester and Chatham ; Montville contributing six, and 
Lebanon eight. Company E, Capt. G. A. Denslow, was from 
Hartford. Company H, Capt. John J. Kealey, was from 
New Haven ; and, of fifty-four privates, twenty-four de- 
serted before leaving for the seat of war. Company I, Capt. 
Alonzo L. Mobbett, was from Hamden ; and it set sail with 
isixteen officers and fifteen privates. Company K, Capt. 
Patrick Gilmore, was from New Haven and Bridgeport; and 
twenty-seven- of the privates deserted before leaving the 
State. At this time, men were sorely needed ; and they were 
accepted, and paid heavy bounties, without much regard to 
their character or purposes. Stimulated by the inducements 



THE TWENTY-FOUP.TH AND TWENTY-FIFTH EEGIMENTS. 249 

offered, bounty-jumping was practiced as a science, until it 
became the bane of the army and the curse of every com- 
munity. The catalogue of the volunteers of Connecticut 
clearly shows what class of citizens most resorted to this 
method of profiting by the misfortunes of the nation. 

When the Twentj'-fourth became purified by the depart- 
ure of those who joined for fraudulent purposes, there 
remained a brave and efficient body of men, tolerably 
well disciplined, and thoroughly in earnest. The regiment 
was mustered into the service at Middletown on Nov. 18, 
1862, and left immediately, assigned to Banks's expedition ; 
arriving at Centreville, L.I., with less than six hundred men. 

The Twenty-fifth, like the Twenty-second, was raised 
almost wholly in Hartford County, with some assistance 
from Tolland; several companies forming the nucleus re- 
ported at Camp Halleck, Hartford, the last week in August ; 
and enlistments continued from Aug. 20 to Nov. 11, at 
which time it was formally mustered into the service. 
George P. Bissell of Hartford was made colonel ; and he 
exhibited an energy in drill and discipline which promised 
to bring his men ^ip to a high standard of excellence. The 
regiment was composed almost exclusively of young men 
impelled by a patriotic motive ; so that, except in the mixed 
company from Hartford and Ellington, the desertions were 

few. 

Company A, Capt. Mason C. Weld, had twenty-one from 
Farmington, twenty from Hartford, fifteen from Canton, 
nine from Wethersfield, seven from Berlin, and a dozen 
more from intervening towns. In Company B, Capt. Arthur 
T. Hinckley, Hartford furnished thirty-four ; Vernon, ten ; 
and West Hartford, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and East 
Windsor, the rest. In Company C, Capt. S. S. Hayden, were 
thirty-two from Windsor Locks, five from Windsor, nine- 
teen from East Hartford, and sixteen from Hartford. Com- 
pany D, Capt. George H. Foskit, was exclusivelj^ from Staf- 
ford, — a fine company. Company E, Capt. Newton P. 
Johnson, consisted of twenty -nine from East Granby, 
twenty-seven from Hartland, and nineteen from Simsbury. 

32 



150 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

did their best to enjoy the day in New-England style ; and 
the rememhrance made their hearts warm and grateful, in 
spite of the fact, that, in many cases, the uneasy chickens 
and pumpkin-pies had performed a good many revolutions. 

The ladies of Meriden bountifully supplied the First Cav- 
alry and First Battery in Camp Tyler (at Hanover) ; the 
citizens of other places sent in a considerable quantity of 
provisions suitable to the day for troops encamped in their 
vicinity ; while Mr. B. F. Mansfield of New Haven, then 
United-States commissary ^ for this State and Rhode Island, 
supplied deficiencies in all the camps at his own personal 
expense. The Thirteenth Regiment, in barracks at New 
Haven, passed, as a regiment, enthusiastic resolutions of 
thanks to Mr. Mansfield ; and other reg:iments, throu2:h their 
ofiicers, handsomely acknowledged his welcome donations. 

The Sixth and Seventh Regiments had received, before 
their departure for Hilton Head, hospital-supplies, packages 
of books and papers, and a large number of boxes sent by 
friends to individual soldiers. 

The Eio-hth and Tenth Reoriments, which remained lono;er 
at Annapolis, received large donations of books, papers, cloth- 
ing, and delicacies, both for the hospital and for general dis- 
tribution, from Norwich, Mystic, Bridgeport, New Haven, 
Norwalk, Washington, and other towns. 

The ladies of Bridgeport organized a soldiers'-aid society 
on the 15th day of April, and those of Middletown on the 
20th, and those of a very few other towns about the same 
time. 

But during the summer the work for soldiers was chiefly 
in disconnected efforts, by families or groups of families, for 
a soldier or squad from their own neighborhood, or in re- 

1 Mr. Mansfiekl, as a militia-officer, was somewhat acquainted with military methods. 
Col. Loomis, the United-States mnstering-officer, who was a total stranger in New Haven, 
finding- him thoroughly competent, immediately requested him to prepare the camps of 
the three-months' regiments, and then to provide rations and all kinds of supplies. This 
he performed faithfully, without compensation, until the three regiments left for the field. 
Col. Loomis recommended him to his successor, and also to Col. Tomkins and others in 
New York, who secured his permanent services as deputy commissary for Connecticut 
and Rhode Island. lu this capacity, he supplied, besides many other troops, all the regi- 
ments raised in our State, imtil a regular United- "^tates post was established at Grape-vine 
Point in the latter part of 18G3. 

Ho made numerous journeys to the army on business of the supply department, carry- 
ing and bringing always messages and packages by the hundred, and distributing often, 
at either end of his journey, much more than had been put into his hands. 



SUPPLIES FOR THE SOLDIERS. 151 

sponse to some general appeal. In the latter case, the efforts 
of a large number of communities were sometimes directed 
to a single point ; and superabundance and waste ensued, 
while suffering at other points was unrelieved. But our 
women, as they had learned what to send, soon began to 
learn how to send ; and system was gradually evolved. 

On the 9th of June, the Sanitary Commission was organ- 
ized, and issued its first circular from Washino-ton on the 3d 
of July. The response to the call was not very general or 
liberal. 

The Commission had not yet a sure foothold in the army 
hospitals; and was, in face of English experience in the Cri- 
mean War, scouted and opposed by the medical department 
at Washington. Besides, the attention of the people was 
fixed on the camps and regimental hospitals. The general 
hospitals had yet comparatively few patients. 

AVe find, however, that the ladies of New Haven sent, on 
the 5th of August, several large boxes of supplies to Miss 
Dix for the hospitals at Washington. There were other 
small contributions from individuals, and occasionally from 
sewing-circles. The circular issued, on the 5th of October, 
" To the Loyal Women of America," produced a much greater 
impression. Supplies of value were forwarded during the 
month of November from Hartford, Mystic, Stonington, and 
other towns. Women now resolved to accumulate supplies 
for coming exigencies. Societies were everywhere formed 
for re-i-ular continued labor. The larwr number of these 
ultimately became auxiliaries of the Sanitary Commission. 

About the 10th of October, Alfred Walker of New Haven 
gave public notice that he would receive at his furniture 
store, and pack and forward, whatever the people saw fit to 
contribute for the Sanitary Commission.- Many smiled at 
the idea ; and some sterling patriots told him that he would 
not get five boxes. His own estimate, though higher than 
that, is yet revealed by the fact that he set out to keep his 
records on the last leaves of an old ledger ; devoting the last 

•^ The effort arcw out of the appointment, at an informal meeting in October, 18G1, of 
A. C. Twining, Alfred Walker, Charles Carlisle, S. I). Pardee, Thomas R. Trowbridge, and 
Moses C. White, as a committee to aid in fnrnishing sn])])lies for sick and wounded 
soldiers. The other members of the committee assisted from time to time ; hut the burden 
of care and labor was borne from the first by Mr. Walker. 



252 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

Company B, Capt. Calvin L. Ely, represented Branford, 
thirty-six ; Wallingford, twenty-nine ; North Haven, seven ; 
North Branford, six. Company C, Capt. A. C. Taylor, New 
Haven, twenty-five ; Milford, twenty-seven ; Norwalk, nine- 
teen; Guilford, six. Company D, Capt. Cornelius J. Du 
Bois, was mostly from New Haven ; Bethany adding ten. 
Company E, Capt. George F. Hotchkiss, was also mainly 
from New Haven ; Woodbridge having six. Company F, 
Capt. Joseph R Bradley, was the union of incomplete com- 
panies from New Haven and East Haven. Company G, 
Capt. Samuel T. Birdsall, was about equally from Meriden 
and New Haven ; Orange also having thirty in this and 
other companies. Company H, Capt. R. P. Cowles, was from 
New Haven. Company I, Capt. Charles M. Wilcox, was re- 
cruited in Madison. Company K, Capt. B. E. Schweizer, 
was i\aised among the Germans of New Haven. 

All the field-officers and most of the company-officers had 
seen service ; and the regiment was made up of a superior 
class of men. Several weeks were spent in drilling and 
equipping ; and on Oct. 22 the regiment started for the 
field, numbering eight hundred and twenty-nine rank and 
file. The journey to Washington was uneventful. Again 
the inexhaustible hospitahty of the "Quaker City" was 
tested ; and the regiment took a day's rest upon the pave- 
ments of Baltimore, and arrived at its destination on the 
25th ; when the men pitched their tents in Lee's peach- 
orchard on Arlington Heights, — Camp Seward. 

The Twenty-eighth Regiment was raised in Fairfield 
and Litchfield Counties, and also rendezvoused at Camp 
Terry, New Haven. It was composed of eight companies 
only. Samuel P. Ferris of the regular army was appointed 
colonel. 

Companies A, Capt. Francis R. Leeds, and B, Capt. Cyrus 
D. Jones, were entirely from Stamford. Company C, Capt. 
Louis R. McDonough, had fifty-seven from Westport, twenty- 
two from Darien, seven from Stamford. Company D, Capt.. 
David D. Hoag, contained thirty-four from New Milford, fif- 
teen from Bridgewater, twenty from Sherman, and sixteen 



THE TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT. 253 

from Washington. Company E, Capt. Charles B. Landon, 
was wholly from Salisbury. Company F, Capt. L. B. Whee- 
lock, was almost entirely from Winchester ; Colebrook send- 
ing nine, and Torrington and Barkhamsted ten more. Com- 
pany G, Capt. Theodore L. Beckwith, was from Norwalk ; 
and Company H, Capt. George W. Middleton, from Green- 
wich. 

They were kept at New Haven two months ; when, weary 
with the monotony of camp-life, they gladly received the 
summons" to proceed (Nov. 17) to the rendezvous where 
Banks was assembling his expedition.' They took a night- 
boat ; and the evening of the next day found them hastily 
laying out a camp on the Centreville Eace-course, Long 
Island, where Col. George P. Bissell was in command. 

There were now at Centreville five of the Connecticut 
nine-months' regiments — the Twentj'-third, Twenty-fourth, 
Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-eight — encamped 
tosrether ; a villag-e of more than three thousand men. The 
arrangements were in some respects seriously defective, or 
at least so regarded by the volunteers just from warm beds 
and plentiful tables. One of them wrote, "The excessive 
dirt in the food, and the excessive moisture in the lodging, 
form frequent subjects of complaint. All experience has 
shown that sleeping, or trying to sleep, in three inches of 
water, in the midst of November, is not conducive to good 
health, temper, or morals." 

There was one pleasant incident, however. When Thanks- 
giving came, the tables were spread with lavish care by the 
" Sons of Connecticut " in New York ; and the regiments gath- 
ered about them to express their patriotic resolves, and re- 
new the fragrant memories of life in New England. All 
praise, as we pass, should be given those noble and patriotic 
" Sons of Connecticut," before referred to, for their unweary- 
ing kindness and liberalit}^ to the troops from their State as 
they passed or halted in the vicinity of New York. The 
activity of the agent of the State, and the liberality of Mc- 
Curdy, Wetmore, Gould, S. B. Chittenden, Gilman, and oth- 
ers, is beyond all praise, and most gratefully remembered by 
our troops. 



254 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

Again Connecticut had achieved a giant's work. In two 
months, from a condition of apathy and over-confidence, she 
had roused to an enthusiastic war-spirit, and had raised, 
equipped, and sent to the field, fifteen full regiments, or an 
average of about a hundred able-bodied men from every 
town. She was probably not the first to fill her quota, as the 
Tribune and some of our own newspapers at the time an- 
nounced ; for the response of Iowa appears to have preceded 
ours : but Connecticut answered the requisition before any 
other Eastern State, and elicited from the Boston Traveller 
the comment, " Connecticut has behaved splendidly from the 
beginning of the war, and means to persevere in well-doing 
to the end. She does not brag so much as some other States ; 
but she does much useful work. She worships the Union, 
and believes that work is worship." 




. CHAPTER XVII. 

The Eighth and Eleventh near Newberne. — To Newport News. — Kc-organization of 
the Eleventh. — To Fredericksburg. — Pope, defeated, retreats on Washington. — 
. Col. Kingsbury in command of the Brigade. — Arrival in Washington. — Movement 
into Maryland. — The Fourteenth and Sixteenth join the Column. — South Moun- 
tain. — The x\fFair of Turner's Gap. — Choice Kebel Literature. 

FTER the siege of Fort JMacon, the Eighth re- 
turned to Newberne, and encamped about a 
mile below the city, on the west bank of the lan- 
guid and beautiful Neuse. The Eleventh still 
remained in its pleasant camp on the Trent; 
and the Tenth in the open plain, just above the city. Col. 
Harland much of the time commanded a brigade which in- 
cluded the Eischth and Eleventh, and at battalion-drill was 
not surpassed by any officer of the division. Life at this 
place is still vividly remembered. Surgeon Meyer of the 
Eleventh wrote, " By the slow and solemn Trent stood our 
hospital, the ancient home of a Revolutionary general. 
Huge old mulberry-trees embowered it; and, opposite, a 
reedy peninsula stretched its green tongue far down the 
river. There we swung in hammocks through the long 
summer afternoons, reading hoary magazines that had come 
in the boxes of sanitary or soldiers'-aid clubs, or dreamily 
discussino; authors and books." 

June brought much bilious fever, particularly to the 
Eighth, which had been seriously worn down by the labo- 
rious siege. Here many men of defeptive constitutipns 
died, worn out in service. Convalescents 'obtained fur- 
louo-hs to recruit in the bracinii; air and kind care of home. 
The tents were often chilly and very damp. Sometimes 
matches would not kindle, nor postage-stamps cling to let- 

255 



256 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

ters; and boots gathered mold. Bathing became a great 
kixiuy. The regiments had, after dress-parade, a regular 
bathing-call ; and hundreds ran to plunge into the cooling 
and healthful stream, — to them almost a Siloam. This was 
the merriest hour of the day. Many bathed at morning 
also ; but none were allowed to go into the water under the 
burning sun of mid-day. 

Every day they watched for the steamer ^that brought the 
Northern mails, cheering it as it moved up the river, and 
waiting with patient hope, sometimes for twelve hours, pend- 
ing the distribution of a huge mail for ten thousand men. 

On July 2, the Eighth moved to Morehead City, and 
thence on the transport Admiral to Newport News, where a 
camp was set on an exposed sandy plain. The Eleventh fol- 
lowed closely. The beach of Hampton Roads, near at hand, 
protracted the delight of bathing. A few oysters were scat- 
tered along the clean bottom ; and the boys felt out with 
their bare feet, dived down, aiid captured enough of the 
toothsome bivalves to break the monotony of salt pork and 
hard-tack. 

Here died Lieut. Charles A. Breed, of Norwich, of typhoid 
fever. He had been in the Avar from the first summons, 
and was buried at home with public honors. He was much 
lamented ; and his brother-officers sent their condolence to 
"his widowed mother, who had o;iven two sons to sustain 
the cause of constitutional liberty." 

The field and fine of the Eleventh were here re-organized. 
Its lieutenant-colonel, a noble and patriotic man, but not of 
a militar\^ turn of mind, had resigned at Newberne ; and its 
colonel, who had never much loved or adorned the service, 
here also took final leave of the resjiment. Lieut. Henrv 
W. Kingsbury of the regular army, who declined the com- 
mission of colonel of the Eleventh in October previous, now 
accepted it; and Capt. Griffin A. Stedman of the Fifth, 
who had been transferred to be major of the Eleventh, now 
became lieutenant-colonel. The line-officers were immediately 
subjected to a regular drill and severe study ; and, at the 
end of two weeks, all who fiiiled to pass a rigid examination 
were requested to resign, and complied. Vacancies were 
filled by deserved promotions from the ranks. 



THE FRAIL TRESTLE-BRIDGE. 257 

The new colonel daily drilled the battalion in the stricte'st 
manner. Severe inspections also began. A spot of dirt 
secured a reprimand, and an unclean musket was a sure 
passport to extra duty or the guard-house* No man was 
allowed to step out of his company-street unless his coat 
was on, and every button buttoned. There was fierce com- 
motion for a time, and smothered threats of mutiny ; but 
the colonel was master, and, within the three weeks of stay 
at Newport News, the regiment improved beyond descrip- 
tion. From being the most disorderlj^ and slovenlj- in the 
division, it became, perhaps, the cleanest and most orderly. 
Officers and men of other regiments crowded to witness its 
battalion-drills ; and the boj's began to be proud of their 
colonel and themselves. Thenceforward, for three years, 
the Eleventh had few if any superiors. 

The first of August, the men got ready and departed for 
the North. McClellan had been beaten, and the rebels were 
falling upon Pope. On the 5th, the two regiments found 
themselves up the Potomac, debarking at Acquia Creek. 
Baggage was quickly loaded into freight-cars, and many of 
the men clambered and clustered on the top. The track was 
in wretched order, the sun fierce, the smoke and cinders 
sickening. 

The men on " the upper deck " will hardly forget the 
frail trestle-bridge crossed at Potomac Creek. The stream 
rippled a hundred and fifty feet below the track : the old 
bridge had been burned, and a new one was built up from 
the very bed of the stream in a continued trellis, with strips 
of three and four inch pine-scnntling. At a little distance, 
the li2!:ht structure seemed like a delicate web with which 
some adventurous spider had spanned the gorge ; and, as 
they crept slowly and softly over its trembling timbers and 
creaking joints, those who peered into the chasm below 
shuddered, and shut their eyes. Not a word was spoken 
till the train reached firm ground, and then even the loco- 
motive could not restrain a shrill cry of relief 

Fredericksburg was soon reached. Few will forget the 
march from the station on the hottest day the regiment had 
seen in service. The surgeons of the Eighth were all 

33 



258 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

absent or sick, and Chaplain Morris alone was left to care 
for the sick and weary men. More than twenty fell sun- 
struck. At last, the exhausted men lay down upon the 
ground, and slept. 

At Fredericksburg was spent a pleasant month of drill 
and picket duty. Most of the time, the Eleventh was on 
patrol in the city ; and never was that duty more acceptably 
performed. The Eighth was every second day on picket far 
down the road towards Richmond : one company detailed 
for Falmouth. Of Falmouth, Lieut. Joseph H. Converse of 
the Eleventh graphically wrote: — 

" A dirty place, with but a few streets, and these snubbed into extreme 
limits by fierce hills. We were much impressed on our first visit with the 
peculiarities of tliis town, primarily having an idea that it was an 
insane village on a maniacal march ; but were led to consider tliat it might 
be a fossilized suburb slightly inebriated. Every thing looks wild and 
dilapidated: crazy stairs run up to outsides of as crazy old barns ; chim- 
neys reel as if with sun-stroke ; fences twist themselves into exaggerated 
attitudes, and look blindly for aid from decrepit old posts." 

While stationed here, the men had good water and plenty 
of wholesome food ; and the health of the troops rapidly 
improved. iVt last, there was booming of cannon near 
Manassas. Orders came to cut down basforao^e to the last 
notch. With a sis^h, officers closed their trunk-lids on the 
t»;oro:eous uniforms in which thev had been wont to shine at 
dress-parade, and sent them to Washington. The chaplain 
of the Eighth here bade good-by to his personal and the 
regimental library, and the chapel-tent, to see them no more. 

The negroes, loyal first and last, shuddered at the pros- 
pect of an evacuation that would leave them to the ven- 
s2:eance of their masters ; and, beins: entreated. Gen. Burn- 
side allowed them to go to Washington with the govern- 
ment trains. They passed along in a continual stream, in 
groups, families, and singly, a motley, struggling host ; every 
one, little and big, carrying something, from the wee picka- 
ninny vv'ith a broken coffee-pot to the huge wench bearing 
half the furniture of the family on her head, — all moving 
towards freedom, and many beguiling the way with plain- 
tive son2:s. 



THE EIGHTH AND ELEVENTH AT BROOKS'S STATION. 259 

Battle now threatened along the whole line of the Rap- 
pahannock. The greatest vigilance was exercised. The 
regiments were ready to march. These were felt to be the 
most critical days of the war. Pope had fallen back on 
Washington with an array beaten and disheartened, and all 
available troops were called to strengthen hira. On Aug. 31 
the Eighth was withdrawn from picket beyond Fredericks- 
burg, and retired through the town and across the river, 
greeted by the scowls and taunts of the rebel citizens, who 
threatened to fire upon the column from their houses. The 
bridges were fired; then the depot at Falmouth. In the 
blaze of these expensive fireworks, the 9th Corps took up 
its line of march for the menaced capital. 

The Eighth and Eleventh reached Brooks's Station at one, 
P.M., next day. This is a place of easy defense, the road 
winding along between high hills. Col. Kingsbury of the 
Eleventh, now in command of the brigade, disposed his 
ibrces along the slopes; and a beautiful stream with a 
dilapidated dam afforded nearly all the men, by turns, a 
refreshing bath. Some families of negroes volunteered to 
bake hot corn dodgers till sundown for the hungry men, 
and joined the column, when, in the cool evening, it pro- 
ceeded to Acquia Creek. 

On Sept. 3, soon after mid-day, the regiments embarked, 
and reached Washington in the evening. They bivouacked 
on the public grounds south of the White House, near that 
patriotic abortion, the AVashington Monument. Next morn- 
ing, they marched through the city in their best style ; and 
the boys of the Eighth long remembered, and repeated with 
a smile, the announcement in the Star next evening, that 
" the Eighth Regiment of United-States Regulars marched in 
splendid order to join the forces of McClellan." The Ijrigade 
halted on Capitol ,Hill, and greedily received a large mail 
from home. 

On this same day, Lee's advance, pressing boldly north- 
ward, crossed the Potomac at Edwards's Ferry, and moved 
directly upon Frederick, Md., which was occupied by Gen. 
D. H. Hill's force. On Sept. 8, McClellan moved his army 
northward from Washington with intent to encounter the 
enemy. 



160 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

as to throw the men out of their berths. "When order was 
restored, it was found that the vessel had been struck by a 
sunken gunboat. After the forts surrendered, the Twelfth 
was ordered to garrison Fort Jackson, with Col. Deming in 
command : but the order was changed ; and the regiment 
was the first to ascend the river, arriving off New Orleans on 
the evening of April 30, a day before any other troops. 
The 31st Massachusetts Regiment, with Gen. Butler and 
staff, coming up next day, heartily cheered the Twelfth 
Connecticut upon the Farley, that lay at anchor before the 
city. The first night, they bivouacked on a wharf; there- 
after, in Lafayette Square. Col. Deming immediately went 
to Washington with dispatches from Gen. Butler. 

The Ninth were huddled upon a single transport, with a 
company of pioneers and a battery, — in all, some eight 
hundred men. There was accommodation for only two 
hundred and sixty below decks. The men were so crowded, 
that they could only sleep by reliefs, — a part at a time. 
The Matanzas took in tow the ship Great Republic, drifting, 
without a rudder, with three thousand men on board, and 
towed her about for several days before going up the river. 
On arriving at New Orleans, the Ninth was ordered to 
Camp Parapet, an abandoned rebel camp on the left bank 
of the river, twelve miles above the city, where it was 
joined by the Twelfth and other regiments. The guns 
had been spiked, and the gun-carriages burned, by the women- 
of the neighborhood. The Ninth soon proceeded to Baton 
Rouge. The Twelfth remained at Camp Parapet, attracting 
much notice for its high state of discipline. Lieut.-Col. 
Colburn was in command of the regiment. He mounted 
guns along the parapet, and thoroughly policed the old 
rebel camp, cleansing and renewing it throughout. He 
insisted upon company-drills every morning, and brigade- 
drills every afternoon, w4th frequent exercise with the light 
and heavy artillery. 

The Thirteenth remained for three weeks on Ship Island, 
making itself familiar with its simple topography and geolo- 
gy, drinking its sulphur-water, and going through battalion 
movements upon its snowy expanse of sand. They heard 



i 



THE THIRTEENTH AT NEW OELEANS. 161 

the cannonading and bombardment at Farragut's passage of 
the forts, and learned of the tame surrender of the city. May 
4, they re-embarked for New Orleans. 

All the way up the river, the whites glowered savagely at 
them, and the blacks capered with excess of joy, and shouted 
'' Welcome ! glory to God ! " Arriving at the city, the sec- 
ond mate threw ashore the looped end of a cable. " Boy," 
said he to a youth of a dozen years, who wore a Confederate 
artillery cap, — "boy, won't you just put that 'ere rope over 
that post ? " — " No, I'll be damned if I will ! " was the instant 
reply. The regiment got ashore, however, and went into 
temporary quarters in a cotton-yard near by ; but, as CoL 
Sprague says, " Gen. Butler's eye soon rested on it," and 
he assigned it the post of honor at the Custom House, — the 
army headquarters. It was undoubtedly a handsome regi- 
ment ; and it was much admired as it passed through the 
streets, even when it sang " John Brown " in concert. It 
was declared to be " the finest-looking regiment that ever 
entered New Orleans."*^ Soon its ranks were filled with new 
recruits, loyal men of Louisiana ; and a band of seventeen 
professional musicians was organized. About the middle of 
June, a gang of burglars was discovered, including a member 
of Company F of the Thirteenth. They went about the 
city robbing the people, under pretense of military authority. 
They were caught, and four of them tried by Gen. Butler, 
and hanged at the parish prison. 

Col. Sprague says that " Butler, at first, tried hard to pacify 
the people. For about three weeks, he used his influence, 
and, in one instance at least, his authority, to cause fugitives 
to be restored to their masters." In this purpose he was 
constantly thwarted by the New-England soldiers gathered 
about him. The Thirteenth early w^on the reputation of " an 
abolition regiment ; " its officers and men persistently favor- 
ing the efforts of the negroes to leave their masters. 

^ Col. Sprague's History. 
21 



262 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

It was now night, and the combat deepened with the dark- 
ness. Up and down surged the blazing hnes, reveaUng the 
hostile hosts. The prolonged roar of musketry, undulating, 
tossed back from the cliffs, and crowding the whole sky with 
its rattling clangor; the confused rumble, betokening a fresh 
advance ; the yells and answering shouts, drowned again by 
the crash of twenty thousand rifles, — this was the fight for 
Turner's Pass. At nine, the noise of battle ceased ; the 
rebels fell back for the last time ; the Union line advanced 
near the summit, within a stone's-throw of the hostile picket ; 
and the surgeons on both sides were visible passing to and 
fro with lanterns among the wounded. The night sped 
with little sleep ; and at gray of dawn the rebel pickets 
disappeared over the hill, the main bod}^ having noiselessly 
slipped away hours before. 

The fight was won b}^ soldiers of other States ; the Con- 
necticut regiments being in reserve. The ITth Michigan 
especially was conspicuous for heroism. For the numbers 
engaged, it was one of the sharpest and bloodiest fights of 
the war. Not less than sixteen hundred ghastly bodies 
of fallen rebels lay along that narrow pass. Ragged, filthy, 
emaciated, our troops looked on them with pity, and won- 
dered that such skeletons could fight so stubbornly. 

The haversack of a private of the 14th North-Carolina, 
who fell here, contained a soldier's hymn-book, printed by 
the South-Carolina Tract Society (the American Tract So- 
ciety of New York having at last refused to obey longer the 
dictation of slaveholders). From this book is copied a stanza 
of the rebel version of " America : " — 

" My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee, I sing ; 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the Southron's pride:- 
From every mountain side 

Let freedom ring ! " 

In the hymn beginning, " Sovereign of all the worlds 
above," appears the following verse, which must now look 
to the enterprising compiler like the wreck of an unanswered 
prayer : — 



SOUTHERN LITERATURE. 263 

" These Southern States at Thy command 
Rose from dependeuce and distress ; 
And, stablished by Thy mighty hand, 
Millions shall join Thy name to bless." 

A sheet of brown Confederate note-paper, embellished with 
a coarse cut of a cannon, and bearing dotted lines instead of 
ruled, had a wretched travesty of the Star-spangled Banner, 
ending, — 

" For the flag of my country in triumph shall wave 
O'er the Southerner's home and the Southerner's grave ! " ^ 

1 Still moi-e precious for a collection of literary curiosities are two Confederate school- 
books which lie before us, — " The First Dixie Reader" and the "Primary Geography," 
bpth by Mrs. M. B. Moore, and published by Branson & Farrar of Raleigh, N.C. They 
are confessedly the result of an attempt to " render the Southern youth independent of the 
corrupt Yankee teachings," — a sort of literary rebellion as a counterpart of the political 
rebellion. The following are literal quotations from the Reader : — 

" The frog hops. He can-not run like you can. He sleeps in the day, and hops at night." 
" It is not bad to kill the owl ; for he does us harm. His wing will make a good fan." 
" If I were a boy or a girl, I would not eat like a pig. I would eat like a himl), and then 
skip and play, and be happy." " The way to be good is to never do a thing which you would 
not like for your pa-rents to know." " Three cheers for the cane-mill ! It is a fine time for 
boys and girls, and the ser-vants too enjoy it fine-ly. Some of them will have tour or five 
gal-lons by the time the sea-son closes. Well done for the dar-kies. Ma-ny poor white 
peo-ple would be glad of what they leave for the hogs." " A bad wo-man can-not be a 
good gi'and-ma, because she does not know how. God is good to give us such grand-mas." 
" They said ' if the dog dies we will trust in God ; ' but the dog got well, and still lives 
to guard his master's house." 

And here is a modest venture in astronomy : — 

" The moon has a dark side and a light side, and when she turns all of her bright side 
to us, we have a full moon. When her dark side is to us we call it new moon." 

There is an affecting story of a deluded colored wretch, who was seduced by " the 
Yankee army " to try the horrors of freedom, but soon rrturned, glad to enjoy once more 
the blessings of servitude. This is given twice; and the little book of eighty pages ends 
with the touching salutation, " Adieu — at present." 

In the geography is an incredible caricature of maps of the Southern States. We 
quote briefly : " The people of the torrid zone are tall and dark complected." " The 
African or negro race is found in Africa. They know nothing of Jesus. These people 
arc descendants of Ham, the son of Noah, who was cursed because he did not treat his 
father with respect. It was told him he should serve his brethren forever. This would 
seem a hard sentence, but it was probably done to show other children how wicked 
it was to ti'cat their parents so. We cannot tell how they came to be black, and have 
wool on their heads." " The United States. — This was once the most prosperous coun- 
try in the world. The people are ingenious and enterprising, and are noted for their 
tact in 'driving a bargain.' They are refined and intelligent on all subjects but negro 
slavery; on this they they are mad." . . . "South Carolina. — The people of this State 
are noted for their cliivalry. You do not understand this 1 Well, when any one im- 
poses upon them their motto is to fight." The following is from the a])pended cate- 
chism : " Q. — What is the condition of the United States ? A. — It is tumbling into ruins. 
Q. — What brought about this great calamity'? A. — The injustice and avarice of the 
Yankee nation." " Q. — What is the present draw-back to our trade ? A. — An unlawful 
blockade by the miserable and hellish Yankee nation." Happy 31r. Moore ! Happy 
Southern youth ! 

The Episcopal churches throughout the South, immediately on the secession of the 
several States, conformed their church-service to the altered condition of things ; reading, 
in place of the President of the United States, the President of the Confederuie States, Sfc. 
During the progress of the war, a blockade-runner was captured, having among other 
things a quantity of Episcopal prayer-books with the above alteration duly printed in the 
text. These books were evidently manufactured in England, though the name of a Rich- 
mond firm appears upon the titlepage. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

Battle of Antietam. — Charge of the Eleventh. — Exploit of Capt. Gibbons. — The Con- 
test for the Stouc Bridge. — Inexplicable Conduct of Burnside. — Coolness and Effi- 
ciency of the Fonrteentli. — Charge of Harland's Brigade. — Capt. Charles L. Upham's 
Company capture a Battery. — Great Bravery of the Eighth. — Gallant Conduct of 
Col. Appelman. — Fatality of the Color-Guard. — Harland assumes Command of Rod- 
man's Division. — Severe Losses. — Sufferings of the Wounded. — Corporal Henry A. 
Eastman of the Eleventh. — Deaths of Col. Kingsbury, Lieut. Marvin Wait, Capts. 
John Griswold, James E. Blinn, and N. S. Manross. — Total Casualties of the Bat- 
tle. — Death of Major-Gen. Joseph K. Mansfield. — Biography of Mansfield. — Eetreat 
of Lee's Army. 

HE 2d Corps began early next morning to 
march by the pike over the mountain. The 
9th Corps started hite, and marched slowly by 
the county road ; and by night most of the 
troops were in advance. About sundown it 
struck the pike, and began passing the regiments in bivouac 
on both sides of the road. Fires were now blazing; camps 
were all astir with men setting up shelter-tents, cooking pork 
and coffee, chatting, washing, singing, talking. For miles, 
the fields on both sides were crowded ; the waning fires at 
least revealing in quaint light and shadow the almost count- 
less bivouacs of a silent and sleeping host. A little past mid- 
night, having passed through the entire right and center 
to the front, the Eighth and Eleventh turned into a stubble ■J 
lot for sleep ; while the next brigades in order filed by in the 
ever-moving procession. 

Morning found Harland's brigade near Antietam Creek, 
within easy range of the rebel batteries in position on the 
bights beyond ; and, several times during the day, shells were 
dropped near. Lieut. Samuel Fiske,"Dunn Browne," of the 
Fourteenth, wrote, " I had no disposition to run away ; and, 
indeed, I didn't see any very favorable place to escape from 

264 



THE BATTLE OF AJS'TIETAJVI. 265 

shot which fell in front, on both sides, and as much as a mile 
in our rear. You can calculate the probabilities as a thou- 
sand to one, or ten thousand to one, against your being 
struck ; but, somehow, that one chance looms up rather dis- 
proportionately in your view." 

Here the Sixteenth came up after a severe march, and 
joined Harland's brigade at dark. The wagons had not 
come within range, and rations were scanty. The hungry 
soldiers fell upon adjacent cornfields, where corn was in its 
prime, and made a supper of roasted ears. Green fruits 
added to the relish. Fences became little piles of ashes. By 
sundown, the land for miles was naked of every edible. No 
other crop thrives in the vicinity of a crop of soldiers. This 
pillage was necessary ; and the soldier-marauders will be glad 
to know that the government has compensated loyal owners 
for losses incurred. 

Harland's brigade moved up, and lay in line of battle all 
night behind a low ridge in rear of the Rohrbach House, and 
perhaps fifty rods from the creek. At sunrise of the 17th, the 
enemy opened on the position, which was disclosed by a 
crowd of curious greenhorns running to the hill to ascer- 
tain if they could " see any thing of the rebels." Having 
thus perfect range, the second shot, a solid 12-pound ball, 
crashed diagonally through the Eighth, killing three men, 
and frightfully wounding four, in Company D. Lieut. Mar- 
vin Wait, covered with blood and earth, rallied the men 
gallantly, and held them to their place. The brigade was 
soon moved to the left and rear, to a less-exposed position. , 

Lieut. J. 11. Converse of the Eleventh wrote, " I can speak 
of time no more. The battle had begun, and the day passed 
like a shrieking shell. The sky was filled with unearthly 
sounds, — the howl of fiendish missiles, the crash of falling 
trees, the horrible discharge of hundreds of cannon. Along 
our entire front, rebel batteries were constantly discovered, 
till a long line of cannon could be seen through the murky 
canopy, panting with deadly heat." The brigade of Connec- 
ticut troops, on the extreme Union left, was soon advanced 
to support a battery near the creek, and came again under 
a sharp fire. 

84 



266 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

" Col. Kingsbury now received orders from Gen. Burnside 
to march his regiment to the bridge, after the batteries had 
shelled the works on the other side, and hold it until Gen. 
Rodman could march his column over. Col. Kingsbury ap- 
proached the bridge through a narrow defile in the woods, 
thence through a cornfield, and over a plowed field adja- 
cent to the road. Our skirmishers, advancing, were briskly 
engaged with the enemy on the opposite side. Col. Kings- 
bury gave Lieut.-Col. Stedman command of the right wing, 
with directions to advance, and occupy a hill between the 
road and the river, overlooking the bridge. Having accom- 
plished this under a heavy fire, the right wing immediately 
engaged the enemy, and lost very heavily in this position ; 
the sharpshooters of the enemy taking off our men very fast ; 
while the enemy's main body was so concealed, that we had 
little to aim at. Col. Kingsbury at the same time brought 
up the left wing, where he was exposed to the most intense 
fire while attempting, as at that time supposed, to take up a 
position very near, if not on, the bridge." ^ 

All the rebel batteries were now roarimi;. The air ran"; 
with whistling balls, and the ground quaked w^ith the hard 
breath of artillery. " The Eleventh Connecticut descended 
to storm Antietam Bridge. The rebel guns were pouring 
in a destructive fire of grape and canister ; while continuous 
volleys from an unseen enemy in the woods were also show- 
ered upon them." '~ Down the road leaped the Eleventh 
into this " valle}^ of death." 

Companies A and B, under Capt. John Griswold, were 
deployed as skirmishers ; and they plunged into t'le swift 
stream, here some fifty feet wide and four deep, their daunt- 
less coimnander taking the lead. He was shot through the 
breast while in mid-river, bat struggled forward, and fell 
upon the opposite bank, among the rebels. 

The left wing; of the reo;iment was now near the bridge. 
Col. Kingsbury was active, inciting his soldiers to the 
charge by his gallant bearing and the inspiration of his 
voice. Many men fell. The colonel was a special mark ; 
and he was soon shot in the foot, and immediately there- 

1 Col. Stedmaii's Official Report. ^ Narrative in New-York Tribune. 



^ 



THE ELEVENTH AND FOURTEENTH AT ANTIETAM. 267 

after in the leg ; when he was at last prevailed upon to leave 
the field. While he was being carried off, he received a third 
ball in the shoulder and a fourth in the abdomen, inflictino- 
a mortal wound. 

The men were still fio-htino; • now falliuf? back, and asrain 
charging on the bridge. The official report says, " When 
he fell, the regiment felt their last hope was gone : we had 
lost the bravest of colonels and the best of men." Major 
Moegling now assumed command of the left wing, and led 
it gallantly ; while Col. Stedman held the right wing firmly 
to the support of the battery. Volleys were frequent and 
effective. 

The Eleventh fought stubbornly, for a time without sup- 
port ; but at last other regiments got up. It was afternoon 
when the 4Gth New- York, with a wild cheer, swept down 
the hill and charged across the bridge, driving the rebels 
back, and making a permanent lodgment on the opposite 
slope. The Eleventh was now relieved ; and an hour was 
spent in gathering up the dead and caring for the wounded. 

On the morning of this day, the Fourteenth, under Lieut- 
Col. S. H. Perkins, had roused from its uneasy bivouac farther 
towards the right ; at three, a.m., received extra ammunition ; 
and at seven o'clock moved out into the road. French's three 
brigades were formed in column by division (Col. D wight 
Morris's brigade in the center), and, marching down a slope, 
forded Antietam Creek ; an occasional rebel shell whizzing 
overhead. After a march of a mile alonii; the south-west 
bank, the brigades were fliced to the left, forming three 
lines of battle ; Morris's being still in the center, with Max 
Weber in fi'ont, and Kimball behind. Hooker was now hotly 
delivering battle on the right. 

The order, " Double-quick ! " was given ; • and, under a 
heavy fire, Max Weber pushed forward ; wliile Morris's bri- 
gade obliqued a little to the right, and charged in that direc- 
tion, Kimball diverging to the left. As the Fourteenth 
swept on, over hedges and ditches, and through plowed 
fields, the left flank. Company B of Middletown, became 
somewhat separated from the main body ; and, in order to 
close up the gap, Capt. Gibbons led the company by the 



268 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLIOK 

right flank between the house and barn known in the his- 
tory of the fray as " Roulette's." The movement was exe- 
cuted with such rapidity as to cut ofl" the escape of some 
forty or fifty rebels who had been pouring rapid volleys into 
the regiment from this cover. 

The prisoners were sent back under guard ; and the re- 
united regiment pressed on, and soon found itself in a corn- 
field on the right, with nothing but a small open field 
between it and Longstreet's troops posted behind hastily- 
formed intrenchments. The firing now became general and 
constant. The Fourteenth was closely supported by old 
regiments ; and, considering its lack of discipline, it fought 
remarkably well. 

After an hour's engagement here, the Fourteenth ad- 
vanced. Lieut. Samuel Fiske of Madison (" Dunn Browne " 
of the Springfield Republican) wrote, " The enemy held a 
very large cornfield, surrounded, on the three sides where 
we were obliged to attack, by a steep and difiicult ravine. 
On the north, east, and south, we advanced to the attack ; 
our batteries playing over our heads. Our regiment came 
in from the north-east to attack on the north, being the 
second line ; the first line, a few rods before us, being com- 
posed of a Delaware and one other regiment. As we came 
along even with the east line of rebels, we also entered a 
cornfield, and at once were opened upon by a raking fire of 
musketry; and a good many of our men fell. The north 
end of our line pressed on till we came around fiicing the 
enemy on the edge of the ravine ; and we opened fire upon 
them across the ravine, firing into the corn which concealed 
them from our view. After a few minutes, the troops who 
had tried to cross the ravine before us broke, and came run- 
ning back upon us, crying out, some of them, ' Skedaddle, 
skedaddle ! ' Some of our men tried to stop them ; and a few 
of them, it must be confessed, joined in their flight. But in 
the main, for green troops, I think we behaved well ; the 
men firing with precision and deliberation, though some shut 
their eyes, and fired up into the air." 

About noon, after several hours' fighting, advancing and 
retreating, carrying off the wounded, and cheering each 



THE FOUETEENTH THIRTY-SIX HOURS IN BATTLE. 269 

other on, the regiment, under orders, reported to Col. Brooks 
of Richardson's division, and was placed in support of a bat- 
tery. It was again raked by a terrible fire ; while the battery 
lost every horse and half of its men. Here " Fighting Dick 
Richardson " received his wound, and was borne from the 
field by the men of the Fourteenth. During the afternoon, 
the regiment was marched to and fro as exigencies seemed 
to require ; and at night the men lay on their arms in a 
plowed field, under the constant buzz of sharpshooters' 
bullets. 

A large detail of sharpshooters was made from the flank 
companies ; and here, as in line, the men did their duty 
nobly, acquiring a practical knowledge of their new Sharpe's 
rifles in a few hours, which months in a " camp of instruction " 
would not have given them. " Finally, towards evening," 
wrote Lieut. Fiske from the field, " a stray general picked 
us up, and ordered us to hold an advanced position across a 
plowed field, within reach of the enemy's skirmishers, who 
have been practicing on us ever since." And here, imder 
almost constant fire, the Fourteenth remained vigilant, until 
it had been thirty-six hours in battle, with nothing to drink, 
and nothing to eat but a little hard-tack. Morris's brigade 
had captured two rebel flags. 

On the left, Burnside still waited ! He had been ordered by 
McClellan, as early as eight o'clock in the morning, to take 
the bridge, move on the Shepardstown Road, and cut off the 
rebel retreat. Hour after hour drifted by, while the battle 
was raging on the right, and Burnside only pushed forward 
a regiment here and there to contend alone against a supe- 
rior force. In the morning, the troops of Longstreet in his 
front had been shifted to the rebel left ; leaving only one 
division under Gen. Jones, numbering twenty-five hundred 
men, to dispute the passage of the creek against the whole 
of the 9th Corps. Still the commander hesitated and de- 
layed ; and no advantage was taken of the amazing dis- 
parity of numbers. When at last the order to move at 
once became peremptory, the rebel division of A. P. Hill 
came hurrying across the Potomac from Harper's Ferry to 
join the main army under Lee. 



270 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION, 

About two o'clock, Rodman's division of the 9tli Corps 
was moved down the stream, to cross, by wading, a mile be- 
low the bridge. Two companies of the Eighth went ahead 
as skirmishers, and found a ford ; the other eight companies 
supporting a battery which covered the ford while the rest 
of the division crossed. The regiment soon joined Harland's 
brigade under a hill west of the bridge, near the extreme 
Union left, two or three hundred yards from the creek. 
The cannonading had become furious. Solid shot swept the 
crest of the hill in front, and tore up the ground behind. 
Shells burst overhead, and fragments dropped among the 
men. 

A battery was ordered ujd to engage the enemy, but was 
whirled back in three minutes, with the loss of every officer, 
half a dozen men, and five horses. The hill was a protection, 
and few were wounded at this point in the Eighth and Six- 
teenth. The Eleventh had been misled by a cowardly or 
stupid aide, and had not yet come up. 

It was now four o'clock. On the right, Hooker was 
wounded and off the field after terrific fighting ; Mansfield 
was dead ; Sumner was leading the troops : and still the 
ground, was being repeatedly lost and won. In the center, 
French's division stood firm. " At four o'clock, McClellan 
sent orders to Burnside to advance, and carry the batteries 
in his front at all hazards and at any • cost." ^ 

Some officers felt that all was not right. Major Lyon, 
Harland's aide, brought word that the rebels w^ere crossing 
the Potomac, and filing down the creek on the Union left. 
Gen. Eodraan, commanding the division, was informed. He 
said Burnside had provided for that by facing Cox's division 
to the left. The advance was ordered. 

At the word of command from Col. Harland, the Eighth, 
which was on the right of the brigade-line, started promptly. 
" But," says Harland in his official report, " the Sixteenth 
Connecticut and the 4th Rhode-Island apparently did not 
hear the order. I sent an aide to order them forward. This 
delay on the left placed the Eighth considerably in advance 
of the rest of the brigade. I asked Gen. Rodman if I should 

3 Smalley's Narrative in N. Y. Tribune. 



THE EIGHTH AND SIXTEENTH AT ANTIETAM. 271 

halt the Eighth, and wait for the rest of the brigade. He 
ordered me to advance the Eighth, and he would hurry up 
the Sixteenth Connecticut and 4th Rhode-Island." 

The Sixteenth had moved to the support of a battery 
turther south on the extreme left of the line, and was lying 
in a cornfield. The rebels had quietly approached in force 
on the uncovered left flank, and were nearer than even 
Major Lyon had thought them. " While we were lying 
here," says the diary of Lieut. B. F. Blakeslee, '- we were 
suddenly ordered to 'Attention !' when a terrible volley was 
fired into us from behind a stone wall about five rods in 
front of us. We were ordered to fix bayonets and advance. 
In a moment we were riddled with shot. Many necessary 
orders were given which were not understood. Neither the 
line-officers nor the men had any knowledge of regimental 
movements." The most helpless confusion ensued. Another 
regiment rushed, panic-stricken past them to the rear, and 
vainly did they endeavor to change front so as to face the 
enemy. 

The rebels discovered the disorder, and came down in a 
heavy column. The Sixteenth stood for a few^ minutes trying 
to rally, swept by a destructive cross-fire. Lieut.-Col. Frank 
Cheney and Major George A. Washburn were severely 
wounded ; while three captains, a lieutenant, and forty en- 
listed men, were already dead. Men were falling on every 
hand. The survivors at last extricated themselves from the 
fatal field, and fled, broken and decimated, back to cover 
near the bridge. Col. Beach was obliged to report to Col. 
Harland that his regiment had never had a battalion-drill, 
and only one dress-parade, and hardly knew how to form in 
line of battle. 

When Gen. Rodman ordered an advance of his division, 
and Harland repeated the order to his brigade. Col. Appel- 
man led the Eighth forward in steady step up the hill. 
Nearly the whole corps was now charging, and the advan- 
cing line stretched far away to the right. 

As they reached the crest, the rebel troops were but a few 
rods in front. The Union line halted, and poured in a telling 
volley, and again leaped forward ; and the enemy broke and 



272 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

flefl, halting and firing as they could. A storm of shot, shell, 
and musketry, was sweeping through the ranks of the Eighth, 
now on the extreme Union left. Still farther to the left, a 
rebel battery rained canister. Capt. Charles L. Upham with 
Company K (Meriden) dashed up, and captured the battery ; 
rejoining the regiment as it came up. 

Steadily forward moves the line, now marking every yard 
of advance with blood of fallen men. The rebels still fall 
back. The 1st Brigade wavers, and slowly retires in dis- 
order. Wilcox's division, too, is giving way farther to the 
right. Forward presses the Eighth, until the men can see 
the road whereby Lee must retreat. " The position is ours ! " 
they shout ; and a " Hurrah " goes down the line. 

But already many have observed an immense force mov- 
ing straight up on the left flank. '• Re-info rcements," say 
some : but Gen. Harland knows better ; and he rides rapidly 
to the rear to hurry forward regiments to meet this new 
rebel move. The 4th Rhode-Island and Sixteenth Con- 
necticut Volunteers are already in helpless disorder, and 
he dashes back again to meet the emergency as best he may. 
The Eighth is now alone clinging to the crest. Three bat- 
teries are turned on them, and the enemy's infantry close in 
around. 

Col. Appelman tells the standard-bearer never to leave the 
colors. He responds firmly. One of the color-guard falls ; 
two ; three ; four ; the last, and the standard goes to the 
ground with him. Private Charles H. Walker (of Norwich) 
springs forward, and seizes it amid the storm of death ; 
strikes the staff firmly in the ground; and shakes out the 
flag defiantly towards the advancing foe. 

No re-inforcements come. Twenty men are falling ever}- 
minute. Col. Appelman is borne to the rear. John McCall 
falls bleeding. Eaton totters, wounded, down the hill. Wait, 
bullet-riddled, staggers a few rods, and sinks. Ripley stands 
with a shattered arm. Rus.sell lie's white and still. Morgan 
and Maine have fallen. Whitney Wilcox is dead. Men grow 
frantic. The wounded prop themselves behind the rude 
stone fence, and hurl leaden vensreance at the foe. Even the 
chaplain snatches the rifle and cartridge-box of a dead man, 
and fights for life. 



CORPORAL EASTMAN. 273 

" We must fall back," says Major John E. "Ward, now in 
command. Some protest against what they feel is inevitable ; 
and the hundred men still unscathed are faced to the rear, 
and marched back in unbroken and still formidable column 
down the hill. No regiment of the 9th Corps has advanced 
so far, or held out so long, or retired in formation so good. 
By their stubborn fight they have saved many others from 
death or capture, and by their orderly retreat they save 
themselves. 

Rodman had fallen ; and Col. Harland now took command 
of the division, re-forming the disorganized regiments, and 
placing the whole in a posture of defense. A new line of 
battle was soon formed. By his self-possession, intrepidity, 
and good judgment, the lines were steadied, and the unsup- 
ported fragment rescued from capture. 

When the advance of the afternoon to this point was or- 
dered, an aide of Gen. Rodman, sent to bring up the Elev- 
enth Regiment, misled it through the woods, pretending to 
be in search of the ford. After a tedious march of four 
miles, Col. Stedman brought the regiment back to the bridge, 
crossed, and advanced rapidly towards the cornfield where 
the brigade was fighting. The enemy was pressing down 
hard upon the left and front ; and he now charged upon a 
battery that had been advanced upon the crest in front of 
the Eleventh. Shot and shell rained plenteously. Lieut. 
Converse wrote in a letter to the Hartford Press, "Twice 
had the Eleventh rallied for a charge. Col. Kingsbury was 
dead, it might be ; Lieut.-Col. Stedman was wounded, and 
weak with the loss of blood ; Major Moegling was wounded, 
Capt. Griswold dead. Companies were squads without offi- 
cers, and ofiicers with broken swords and battered uniforms, 
but without!* commands. Burnside called for aid. It was no 
time to folter ; but one did falter, and refused to advance 
with the colors. There is a man for all emergencies ; and a 
man was now readj^ to fill 'that black chasm of cowardice 
with the impersonation of courage. Corporal Henry A. East- 
man of Ashford stepped forth with flashing eye, and said, 
' Give me the colors ! ' and, with a burst of cheers, the Elev- 
enth followed her bold color-bearer, and the battery was safe." 

35 



274 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The Sixteenth and the 4th Rhode-Island now broke, and 
retired towards the bridge ; and, fearing that it would be 
difficult to keep his men together in the face of the stam- 
pede, Lieut.-Col. Stedinan, able only from excitement to stand 
lono-er upon a wounded leg, faced about, and led his regi- 
ment back. He was then borne off the field, and his men 
placed temporarily under command of Col. Beach of the Six- 
teenth ; but none of the Connecticut regiments were again 
engaged. 

Capt. William J. Roberts of the Eighth, from New Milford, 
had been ill during the advance to the field and through the 
battle, — in great pain and frequent vomiting ; but he reso- 
lutely kept on with his company, and shared the fight with 
g-reat "fortitude. 

Fresh troops were soon brought up ; and the shattered 
third division recrossed the creek, and bivouacked above 
the position of the morning. The hostile picket-line crowded 
forward till it was posted along the ridge west of the creek. 
In this neutral ground were many wounded and dying. 
Within the rebel lines were many more. The terrible yet 
merciful work of the surgeons went on. Chaplains with 
squads of detailed men scoured the woods and fields to bring 
in the wounded. All the early night, at risk of life, those 
able to crawl worked their way into our lines ; and -brave 
men ventured down to bring off the helpless. "Even at 
midnight," wrote Dr. Mayer, " the chaplain of the Eighth, 
who had been under fire all day, recovering and bearing off 
the wounded, brought another squad into the barn." Yet 
thousands lay all night in agonizing pain on the bare ground, 
with no relief Drs. Storrs, Whitcomb, Mayer, and other Con- 
necticut surgeons, toiled till daybreak, and then rested only 
for an hour. Bandages failed, and the fresh leaves of corn 
were bound on many wounds. 

The next morning, Lee's pickets retired, and ours advanced. 
Ambulances moved forward, and Connecticut men rushed 
with pails of water to succor their wounded. Scores were 
quickly found. One of the men of the Eighth, shot through 
the body, still lay on his back, just as he had fallen. The 
fierce sun of the day before had blistered and blackened 



THE DYING AND DEAD. 275 

his face. His tongue, swollen to five times its usual size, 
protruded from his open mouth. He was sightless and 
speechless, yet breathing. Water was dropped on his parched 
tongue. A slight shudder convulsed his frame. A little 
more, and the tongue moved, and the breast heaved pain- 
fully. At last the man revived, and was borne away to the 
hospital. Another lies cold and stiff in the cornfield, with 
his teeth fiistened firmly in an ear of soft corn, with which 
he has vainly tried to quench his raging thirst. Here is 
a mere lad, shot through the thigh, pale, and with closed 
eyes. He has bled profusely, and is very weak, but alive. 
Not a drop of water has he had for forty hours. The cool 
water touches his lips, and he starts up as if from stupor, and 
eagerly grasps the cup with both hands. Memories of home 
flit through his weary brain, as, opening his eyes, he says 
with a smile, "And from a teacup too." 

The wounded cared for, they turned to bury the dead. 
All day went on the excavation of graves where the martyrs 
found a truce ; and, as the shadows lengthened and fiided out, 
the sad work was ended. The dead of the Eighth and the 
Sixteenth were laid side by side on the ridge just above the 
point where the gallant charge began, and those of the Elev- 
enth near the edge of the open woods above the bridge. The 
graves were marked with pine headboards, to tell where each 
patriot rested. 

" In passing over the hill," wrote ChajDlain Morris, " we 
pause amazed when we reach the point where the Eighth 
met the enemy, and delivered their first tremendous volley 
at a distance of five or six rods. In a short lane running 
down to a little house near the road, within a space of a 
dozen rods, I counted one hundred and four dead rebels." 

Many of our dead were stripped and plundered. The 
swollen fingers of some had been cut off to obtain the rings ; 
and the wounded had received treatment ranging from kind- 
ness to cruelty and outrage. 

All the Connecticut regiments had met with terrible casu- 
alties, — no less than a hundred and thirty-six being killed 
outright upon the field, and four hundred and sixty-six 
wounded. Among the latter were the lieutenant-colonels 



276 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

of the Eighth, Eleventh, and Sixteenth. No battle of the 
war inflicted such losses upon the troops of this State. 

The Eighth lost thirtj-four killed and a hundred and 
thirty-nine wounded", eleven of whom were commissioned 
officers. This was nearly fifty per cent of the entire number 
present for duty. 

Marvin Wait, son of John T. Wait of Norwich, entered 
Union College in the fall of 1860; and in the fall of 1861, 
when but eighteen years old, he enlisted as a private in the 
Eighth. He was soon promoted to be second lieutenant, 
and, being detailed, attracted attention for his skill as a sig- 
nal-officer at Roanoke Island, also at the reduction of Fort 
Macon. He returned to his regiment in July, 1862, and 
was promoted to be first lieutenant. " His versatile talents, 
v/ell-stored memory, vivid imagination, ready command of 
language, pleasing manners, and frank, generous disposition, 
rendered him a favorite with officers and men.""* Resolved 
to excel as an officer, he set before himself an exalted stand- 
ard, and pressed upward with all his native energy and 
enthusiasm. His qualities as a man and a soldier were espe- 
cially displayed during the march of our hardy regiment 
from Fredericksburg to Antietam. Hardly a halt during all 
the weary marches in the choking dust and intense heat of 
those midsummer days, but his brave or mirth-provoking 
words made his companions for a moment forget their 
fatigue and discomfort. When the battle was raging hottest, 
on the afternoon of the 17th, and when the rebel regiments, 
massed in front and flank, were pressing down upon the 
line, Lieut. Wait fell. " Just before he was wounded, he was 
seen closing up the ranks of his company, and deliberately 
dressing them in line." ^ " If Lieut. Wait had left the battle 
when first hit in the arm, all would have been well ; but he 
bravely stood to encourage his men by his example, and at 
last nobly fell, pierced by bullet after bullet."*' Major Ward 
wrote to his father, " When first wounded, he was advised 
to leave, but would not ; and, before consenting to do so, he 
received three shots. I think, however, that his mortal 
wound was received while being taken to the rear. The 
death of your son is a great loss to the regiment. No offi- 

* Lieut. Jacob Eaton. ^ Capt. C. M. Coit. ^ Lieut. Jacob Eaton. 



CONNECTICUT'S BEAVE DEAD. 277 

cer could be more popular. He had endeared himself to 
all." ^ His last words to Private Lewis D. King were, " Are 
we whipping them ? " Said Lieut. Jacob Eaton, in a memo- 
rial, " A braver man than Marvin Wait never confronted a 
foe ; a more generous heart never beat ; a more unselfish 
patriot never fell. Connecticut may well cherish and honor 
the memory of such sons." 

Lieut. Edwin G. Maine, from Brooklyn, was a staid, earnest 
man, past middle life. He was esteemed for his paternal 
care of his men, and his unpretending bravery and firmness. 
In the afternoon, while calmly leading his men, he was shot 
through the body. For a month he lingered in hospital, 
with all that the loving care of a wife could do ; but he died, 
praying for God's blessing on the country he had so fliith- 
fully served. 

Sergeant George H. Marsh of Hartford was killed by 
the first cannon-shot that went through the ranks, at sun- 
rise. He was ill, but determined to be at his post; and 
there he died, a trusty soldier with a spotless reputation. 
Sergeant Whiting Wilcox was a broad-shouldered six-footer, 
— a model soldier. He was conspicuous in the charge ; but 
the bravery which would have won him promotion cost him 
his life. Sergeant Cyprian H. Rust of New Hartford was a 
thoughtful, serious, almost melancholy Christian man. Ser- 
vice was to him a stern duty performed with rigid exact- 
ness and courage. He died as he had lived. John H. 
Simonds of Hartford was a bright, willing, genial man, and 
a universal favorite. When shot through the body, he only 
said, " Good-by, boys : I'm going." John A, Dixon of Thom- 
sonville (Enfield) was lying mortally wounded, when a rebel 
came along, picked up- a Sharpe's rifle, hid it behind the fence, 
and passed on after other plunder. Dixon dragged himself 
to it, and, having rendered it useless, laid down to die. 

Here also fell Harvey E. Elmore, Elijah White, George F. 
Booth, Charles E. Lewis, Oscar W. Hewitt, David Lake, Rob- 
ert Ferris, William G, Lewis, and other noble 3'Oung men 
who had always fought in the front ranks of the Eighth. 

The Eleventh had lost thirty-eight killed and ninety-seven 
wounded. Among the killed were two of its choicest men, — 

^ Lieut. Jacob Eaton, in ^Memorial, p. 12. 



278 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

Kingsbury and Griswold, — both from the ancient town of 
Lyme. 

Col. Henry W. Kingsbury came to the Eleventh Regiment 
crowned with triumphs at West Point, and fragrant with the 
smoke of all the Peninsular battles. He came when he was 
sorely needed. The regiment was declining in appearance, 
in spirit, in all soldierly qualities. The gallant Major Griffin 
•A. Stedman was about to resign in despair, and leave the 
regiment to his superiors ; but they were wise enough to 
resign instead, and the regiment was saved. West Point 
was impressed deeply on the soul of Lieut. Kingsbury, even 
when he served as Tyler's aide at Bull Run. Military 
art possessed for him something high and ennobling ; and 
he regarded it with the same enthusiasm with which the 
devotees of art and music look upon their cherished callings. 
He loved the right because it was the right ; but he was 
virtuous also because he knew that vice degrades a soldier, 
abstemious because intemperance is fatal to military success, 
and manly and gentlemanly because it was impossible for 
him to be otherwise. 

His knowledge was mainly of the useful and practical 
order ; yet he possessed a keen appreciation of elegant cul- 
ture, and delighted to listen to and join in conversations 
on literary or philosophical topics. He had a thoroughly 
military idea of what was due to his uniform, and insisted, 
to the smallest detail, on observances of etiquette and salu- 
tations, because he '-owed it to his straps to" see them hon- 
ored." It was a feeling akin to that we all have for the flag. 
He also insisted on the boundaries between staff and line 
officers and between line officers and privates being strictly 
drawn. On the whole, there was in this man the old light 
of chivahy, by which he walked in his profession, and which 
gave life and meaning to actions, which, in many others, 
would have seemed mere martinetism. 

Assistant Surgeon Nathan Mayer wrote, at the time when 
the Eleventh was provost-guard of Fredericksburg, — 

" How pleasant was our social life at this time ! The most 
brilliant conversation flashed forth at each meal. There 
was an elegance of manner and a refinement of expression 







PUBLISHEn 3Y LEDYARt) BILL 



I^# 



DEATH OF COL. KIXGSBUEY AND CAPT. GEISWOLD. 279 

cultivated that might have graced the best circles. And so 
cono-enial were the tastes of all ! Imaijfine the field and 
staff of a regiment, none of whom, with one exception, 
drank intoxicating liquors or used tobacco; and all of whom, 
with one exception (Surgeon J. B. Whitcomb), were under 
twenty-six years of age. 

" On our march through Maryland to Antietam, it was 
often in the midst of some charming landscape that we were 
encamped. A fire in the center of a circle of shelter-tents 
threw its fitful light on the occupants. There was the 
young colonel, wrapped in his blankets, with the square, 
manly face, the profusion of blonde mustache and wdiisker, 
the large, earnest blue eye, and the sweet, womanly mouth 
that could so easily assume the expression of firmness and 
determination. God bless him, dear Col. Kingsbury ! He 
made us all better and nobler ; and when soon after I pressed 
my lips in last adieu upon that forehead cold in death, I felt, 
that, when I should next behold it, it would be crowned with 
the aureola of a hero and saint. 

" When I said to Lieut.-Col. Stedman after the battle, ' The 
colonel has opened his eyes, and given me the sweetest smile, 
and then closed them forever,' he silently pressed my hand, 
and went to take a farewell look at him whom we all 
adored." 

Gen. Burnside issued the following: — 

" Special Oedek, No. 47. 

...'•' By this sad calamity, the army mourus one of the most accom- 
plished of those yoimg officers who iu a few months have become veterans 
in their country's service. After serving with distinction through the cam- 
paign of the Peninsula, Col. Kingsbury was promoted to his late command ; 
and iu that office, occupying positions of great responsibility, invariably 
proved himself equal to the occasion, displaying always a gallantry and 
skill that gave high promise for the future. As a near friend of Col. 
Kingsbury, the commanding-general wishes to add this testimony to his 
private worth, to the purity of his character, and to the possession of those 
iiigh qualities of mind and heart that form the sterling man as well as the 
finished soldier. 

" By command of ' Majok-Gen. Burnside." 

Capt. John Griswold of Lyme was a graduate of Yale, of 
the class of 1857, and a soldier of perfect bravery. " His 
noble death was the appropriate solution of his noble life," 



280 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

wrote Surgeon Nathan Mayer. " He was a great-hearted 
gentleman, well born, liberally educated, and wonderfully 
retentive of all the studies in ancient and modern literature 
to which he had given so much of his time ; but, more than 
this, his character was trained, and his heart disciplined." 
The surgeon was much of the time near the young captain 
on the march to Antietam. He says, " We admired the 
mountain-gorges through which we passed. We saw green- 
woods fliir and orchards gay, rich fields, and well-to-do flirm- 
houses. We quoted Horace, and discussed questions of moral 
philosophy, and skipped over literature, from St. Augustine's 
De Cimtate Dei to Hugo's Les Miserahles ; and all this 
time, day or night, rain or sunshine, flitigued or fresh, 
hungry or satiated, he would preserve the same cheerfulness 
of demeanor, and never forget the least of those courtesies 
which make life in refined circles run in such an even course. 
It was as if he were never out of the drawing-room ; just as 
an Eno'lishman is said never to leave Encrland, no matter 
where he travels. He carried an imaginary '^ salon 'with 
him ; and whoever approached him felt that he had entered 
a circle of refinement. Nor was this intended for equals 
alone. He was particular in extending the same courtesies 
to the soldiers under his command." After Griswold had 
received his mortal wound. Surgeon Mayer and four privates 
crossed the stream, and brought him back. The surgeon 
says, " We took him into a low shed near the bank, and 
laid him on the straw. The gallant fellow, sensitive as a Ro- 
man to the exhibition of pain, like a Roman had covered 
his face. When I removed the handkerchief, he was ashy 
pale, so much had he suffered. 

"'Doctor,' he said, ^pardon the trouble I give you; but I 
am mortally Abounded, I believe.' I examined. The bullet 
had passed through the body in the region of the stomach. 
'You are, captain,' I replied. 'Then let me die quickly, 
and without pain, if you can,' he rejoined. ' I am perfectly 
happy, doctor. This is the death I have always wished to die. 
Not even the pains of this body can make me unhappy. But 
oh ! ' — Here another spasm of suffering came on. I gave 
him some morphine. He felt easier. Seeing through the 



DEATH OF CAPT. BLIXN AND OTHEES. 281 

door of the shed tlie blue water flash in the sunshine, he 
repeated the first lines of one of those gems of Horace we 
had so often admired : — 

' O Tons Bandusice, splendidior vitro, 
Dulci digno mei'o, non sine floribus.' 

"He then turned, and gave me directions regarding his 
baggage and servant. Having arranged his worldly affairs 
as well as he could, he added, ' And tell them at home that 
I died for my country.' The habits of refined life hung to 
him still. He thanked me for my services in elegant phrase, 
and attracted my attention to the number of wounded that 
now filled the shed, intimating that he feared that he had 
monopolized too much of the time of so good a surgeon on 
the day of battle." 

The end came soon. Gen. Burnside called. The suf- 
erer told him he had insisted on bein"- relieved from de- 
tached duty at Newberne when he heard that the Eleventh 
was going into active service. '•! am happy, general," he 
added. " I die as I have ever wished to die, — for my country." 
'• Tell my mother," he said to a comrade, '' that I died at the 
head of my company." Tears rolled down Burnside's cheeks, 
as, delicately trying to suppress all symptoms of his pain, the 
philosophic and heroic spirit calmly passed away. In the 
ancient family cemetery of the Griswolds, at Black Hall in 
Old Lyme, stands a new monument of most expressive design 
and elegant finish, telling in word and sculptured symbol 
how the vouno- hero lived and how he died. 

Here, also, fell John R Read, Hiram C. Roberts, Theodore 
S. Bates, Daniel L. Tarbox, Oliver P. Ormsby, George E. Bai- 
ley, and a score of others, in the fatal charge on the bridge. 
Major William Moegling of Danbury was also severely 
wounded. 

The Fourteenth had lost twenty-one killed, eighty-eight 
wounded, and twenty-eight prisoners. 

Among the killed were Capts, • James E. Blinn of New 
Britain, and Samuel F. Willard of Madison. Before leaving 
the vicinity of Sharpsburg, the officers assembled and adopted 
resolutions, of which the following is one: — 

36 



282 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

" Resolved^ That we their fellow-officers do but simple justice to the 
memoiy of these brave aud devoted officers v^'heQ we testify in this public 
manner to their efficiency in every public and private duty, to their watch- 
ful kindness and care over the soldiers of their respective companies, to the 
fraternal courtesy ever manifested by them in their intercourse with others, 
and to their earnestness and zeal in the patriotic cause for which they drew 
their swords." 

Sergeant Frederick R. Eno of Bloomfield received ti mortal 
wound in the abdomen. He refused assistance, but sent back 
to the front the comrades who came to help him. He walked 
nearly two miles to a barn used as a hospital, and died next 
morning. His last words were, '^ Tell my friends that I did 
my duty, and died like a man." He was universally esteemed 
for his many virtues. 

The Sixteenth had lost more heavily still ; the killed 
numbering forty-three, and the wounded a hundred and 
forty-three. Five officers were among the dead, — Capts. 
Samuel Brown of Enfield, Frederick M. Barber of Manches- 
ter, John L. Drake of Hartford, and Newton S. Manross and 
Lieut. William Horton of Stafford. 

" Capt. Drake was the most gentlemanly man in the 
regiment," said Surgeon Mayer. " He was the very soul of 
courtesy and unafiected dignity of deportment." He always 
had a quiet care for his men when they were sick, and was 
a marked fiivorite with them, as well as with comrades in the 
line. 

Capt. N. S. Manross of Bristol was a man of learning and 
varied accomplishments. In his youth an ingenious mechanic, 
he showed a great aptness for study, and graduated at Yale 
in the class of 1850. His tastes and attainments took a 
scientific direction. He went to Europe, attended German 
lectures, and made very rapid progress ; taking the degree of 
doctor of philosophy. On his return, he devoted himself to 
mineralogy, publishing some able dissertations ; invented a 
machine for the cutting of crystals from calc-spar; and at 
last became connected with a mining-company in New York, 
and prosecuted elaborate explorations in Central America 
and Mexico. In 1861, Dr. Manross accepted the position of 
Professor of Chemistry and Botany in Amherst College, 
where he became very popular and successful. Returning 



DEATH OF CAPTS. MANEOSS AND BARBER. 283 

to Bristol during a vacation, he mafle a patriotic speech to 
his fellow-citizens, who thereupon besought him to lead them 
to the field. He consented, saying to his wife, " You can 
better afford to have a country without a husband than a 
husband without a country." He refused the po§t of major 
in a Massachusetts regiment, preferring service with his own 
neighbors. He was greatly beloved by his men. His suc- 
cessor in command of the company after his death once 
said to the colonel, " Those boys care more for Manross's old 
shoes than for the best man in the regiment." Capt. Man- 
ross was struck in the side by a cannon-ball, which passed 
under his arm. He bled inwardly. A powerful anodyne 
was administered, and he soon became imconscious. A friend 
bending over him heard him murmuring, " O my poor wife, 
my poor wife ! " Prof James A. Dana said of him, " His 
death is a great loss to the scientific world." Prof B. Silli- 
man, jr., says, "As an explorer. Dr. Manross possessed re- 
markable qualifications. To a rugged constitution and great 
powers of endurance he united great coolness, a quiet but 
undaunted demeanor, the courage of a hero, and unyielding 
perseverance. Had he lived — but what need is there of 
conjecture now ? The world will never know its loss ; but 
his friends will never forget theirs." 

Capt. Barber was especially noticeable for his religious 
character, earnest convictions, and high regard for duty. 
His patriotism was of a sterling mould, and he was a brave 
and intelligent officer. 

The death of Major-Gen. Joseph K. F. Mansfield, a briga- 
dier-general in the regular army, added to the terrible losses 
of Connecticut at Antietam. He was born in New Haven, 
Dec. 22, 1806 ; but, his parents removing to Middletown while 
he was yet an infant, he was trained and educated there. 
He early showed a taste for militaiy life ; and his uncle. Col. 
Jared Mansfield, then Surveyor-General of the United States, 
obtained his admission as a cadet at West Point in 1820. He 
at once took a high position, and held it ; graduating second 
in his class. He commenced as second lieutenant of en- 
gineers, and was at first engaged in New- York Harbor, 
and then in the construction of Fortress Monroe and Fort 
Pulaski. 



284 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Mansfield was always, apt to administer a reproof and re- 
sent an insult promptly. He despised duelling, but never 
failed to defend his honor and himself On one occasion, 
while building Fort Pulaski, he was invited to dine with a 
number of Southern gentlemen ; and, while engaged in con- 
versation, a hot-blooded Southern officer opposite took occa- 
sion to remark, in a tone of voice audible to all, " The 
Northerners are cowards, — men without any nerve." — "■ Do 
you intend that for me ? " interrupted Mansfield. " I do, sir," 
replied the other, at the same time raising a glass of wine as 
if to hurl it in the face of this audacious Northerner. Mans- 
field seized a decanter, when the other returned the glass to 
the table. But Mansfield was now roused. " Bring in my 
pistols ! " he ordered the servant. Pistols were instantly 
brought ; and Mansfield rose, and presented one to his inso- 
lent antagonist, saying, " Now we prove who is the coward." 
The other diners interfered, agreed that the insult was gross, 
and demanded that an ample retraction and apology should 
be made to Mansfield. The atonement was humbly offered, 
and amicable relations resumed. 

At the breaking-out of war with Mexico, Capt. Mansfield 
was chief engineer on Gen. Taylor's staflf. He built Fort 
Brown, opposite Matamoras ; and, in the absence of Gen. 
Taylor, had command of the American forces. The Mexi- 
cans demanded a surrender of the fort. Mansfield promptly 
refused. For seven days, the fort was besieged and under 
constant fire ; but it was held, and the enemy driven away. 
This gallant defense won for him the golden leaf of major. 
Through the entire Avar, Taylor depended on Mansfield for 
his principal assistance in planning battles. On the eve of 
the battle of Monterey, he made a thorough reconnoissance 
of the enemy's works, and discovered the weak points ; and, 
on the following day, led the first division in the grand 
assault. He was severely wounded in the leg, but held his 
place on the field until the final capitulation. The battle- 
field of Buena Vista was chosen by him, and the batteries 
stationed under his direction. 

When peace was declared, Mansfield's services were recog- 
nized by a promotion to be colonel in the regular army ; 



CHAEACTEE AND DEATH OF GEX. MANSFIELD. 285 

and on his return the citizens of Miclclletown went to Meri- 
den en masse, and escorted him home* with every demonstra- 
tion of welcome. 

He was ajDpointed inspector-general of the United-States 
army by President Pierce ; and theTtebellion of 18G0 found 
him inspecting the troops of the traitor Twiggs in Texas. 
Every ofier was made Mansfield to support the Rebellion ; 
but he spurned the offers, and for his fidelity was subjected 
to the indignities of the perfidious " chivalry " around him. 
He escaped injury only by the greatest vigilance. He 
passed incognito through New Orleans when the city was 
illuminated in honor of secession, and at last reached the 
loyal lines. 

On account of age and long service, his friends besought 
him to retire from the army : but his prompt reply was, '■• I 
owe my country every hour that remains of my life ; and, 
in such a struggle as is now endangering her existence, I 
can not and shall not refuse to answer her call." About the 
15th of April, 1861, Mansfield was summoned to Washing- 
ton : the city being blockaded, he reached it on horseback 
by a circuitous route. lie was at once assigned to the com- 
mand of the defenses. Scott did not quite agree to his 
suggestion to fortify Arlington Heights ; but he w^ent ahead 
on his own responsibility. All the forts around Washington 
were engineered by Mansfield, and built under his superin- 
tendence.^ 

Mansfield was for a time in command at Newport News, 
and led our forces in the capture of Norfolk. He w^as here 
when McClellan demanded that he be put in command of 
Banks's corps in his army. Mansfield was pleased w^ith the 
transfer ; and rode across the country, reaching the armj- 
before Sharpsburg the night before the battle. 

After Rickett's division was repulsed next day, Mansfield 
led his corps gallantly forward, but soon fell mortally 
w^ounded. Internal hemorrhage ensued ; and, on the even- 
ing of Sept. 17, Major-Gen. Mansfield gave his life a willing 
sacrifice to his country. 

^ Credit for the defenses of Washington has sometimes been given to Gen. IMcCleHan ; 
but they were all laid out and plans for their erection made b\- Mansfield while Mc('lel- 
lan was still iu West Virginia. 



286 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Lieut.-Gov. Benjamin Douglass went to the front for the 
remains; and all the way home they were greeted with 
demonstrations of patriotic regard. No man was better 
known or loved in Middletown than Mansfield. To reli- 
gion he was early committed at the altar of his ancestral 
church ; to law he always paid sincere regard ; to education 
he gave liberally of his fortune ; to liberty he gave his life. 

The funeral was attended from the North Congregational 
Church of Middletown on Tuesday, Sept. 23. Brief address- 
es were made by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Taylor, and by his 
Excellency Gov. Buckingham, Ebenezer Jackson, and Sena- 
tor Dixon. Military companies were present from all sections 
of the State, and the common councils of four cities ; and to 
earth, with honors, were committed the remains of a sterling 
soldier, to whose memory generations will do homage as 
they read the names of those who gave their lives in the 
cause of liberty protected by law. 

THE DEAD AT ANTIETAM.9 

Here fell our best and bravest, — Kingsbury 
The lion-hearted, Mansfield, Manross, Blinn, 
Drake, Horton, Willard, Wait, (heroic boy !) 
'Brown, Barber, Griswold (dying like a prince 
Whose chivalry had charmed the Table Round), 
And all that speechless group of gallant men, 
The modest martyrs of the rank and file. 

Oh, rare and royal was the sacrifice ! 
For you and me they put their armor on ; 
For you and me they stood in grim array 
Where death came hurtling; and for you and me 
They joined the mortal struggle, and went down 
Amid the mad, tumultuous whirl of flame. 

And then the gentle goddess Liberty — 
Whose unseen ribbon rippled on their breasts. 
The pledge of knightly troth — bent tenderly. 
Closed the dim eyes, and cooled the fevered hand, 
And dropped a blessing into every heart. 
And helped each spirit from its mould of clay; 
And, as they rose to heaven, they sprinkled wide 
Upon the upturned foreheads of the world 
The purple drops of their vicarious love. 

The sequel to the battle of this day need not be rehearsed. 
The soldiers of the whole army expected to move next 

9 By w. A. c. 



ANTIETAM A DEAWK BATTLE. 287 

morning, — to swoop clown upon the over-matched enemy, 
and give him the coup de grace. Instead of that, a truce 
was proclaimed, and the rebels permitted to bury their dead. 
This gracious office was neglected, and the time was occu- 
pied by them in getting the trains and guns to the rear; 
and the sun of Sept. 19 found Lee's army safely across the 
Potomac, and, with some plausibility, claiming Antietam to 
have been a drawn battle. 




CHAPTER XIX. 

Tiirdy Pursuit of Lee. — The Eighth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and 
Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteers. — Gen. Burnside in Command. — March to Fal- 
mouth. — The Eighth lay the Pontoon-Bridge. — The Battle of Fredericksburg. — 
Gallantry of the Fourteenth and Twenty-seventh. — Gen. Harland's OfHcial Report. — 
The Disastrous Repulse. — Whereabouts of the Fifth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, and 
Twenty-second. — Private Elias Howe, Jr. — The Array Ration. — Camp at Stafford 
Court House. 

IX weeks after the battle of Antietam, McClel- 
lan's army began tardily to pursue Lee ; moving 
from camp in Pleasant Valley, Md., across 
the river at Berlin, just below Harper's'Ferry, 
and passing south-west an the east side of the 
Blue Ridge. The Eighth, Eleventh, and Sixteenth Connec- 
ticut Regiments were nearly together, and the Twenty-first 
now joined the brigade. Little of importance occurred to 
them until they reached Falmouth on Nov. 19, having made 
a hundred and seventy-five miles in twelve days. 

The Fifteenth Connecticut, after serving in Washington 
as " Casey's pets " for a few weeks, moved across Long Bridge 
on Sept. 17, and re-occupied their former camp on Arling- 
ton Heights. Here they remained six weeks, sending a guard 
daily to the disagreeable duty of guarding Long Bridge. 
On Nov.- 3 they removed to Fairfax Seminary, two miles 
back of Alexandria, and pitched a camp of Sibley tents. 
Here they dug some rifle-pits, industriously prosecuted drill, 
and had their first experience in picket-duty five or six 
miles beyond. 

Col. Dexter R. Wrio-ht of the Fifteenth now commanded 
a brigade ; and on Dec. 1 he marched it back through the 
city, and turned down the Maryland bank of the river. The 
regiments marched six miles below, and bivouacked their first 

288 



ADJUTANT ELLIS OF THE FOURTEENTH. 289 

night under shelter-tents. After a four-days' march, they 
recrossed at Acquia Creek, and slept upon the snow, which 
now covered Virginia with a thin coat. Reaching Freder- 
icksburg, the regiment was put into Harland's brigade. 

After the battle of Antietam, the Fourteenth encamped in a 
lovel}^ grove near the scene of Hooker's fight, where a few days 
were given to recuperation and an honorable burial of fallen 
comrades. The regiment had gone through the baptism of 
blood without flinching. Gen. French in his official report 
said of Morris's brigade, " There never was better material 
in any army ; and in a month these splendid men will not 
be excelled." It is proper to say that Adjutant Theodore G. 
Ellis of the Fourteenth showed great efficiency in the battle. 
During the year before the war, he had been a member of 
an accomplished military company of young men in Boston ; 
and he now brought to the brigade knowledge, skill, activity, 
and bravery that were of marked value. 

On the 22d, the regiment marched with the 2d Corps 
to Harper's Ferry, fording the Potomac, waist-deep, just 
above the often-destroyed railroad-bridge. It was a most 
animated scene ; the enthusiastic thousands filing across, 
while the splendid band of the Fourteenth poured forth 
the stirring strains of "John Brown's b.ody lies moldering in 
the OTave." ^ The reuriment bivouacked on Bolivar Hei^-hts, 
and remained there nearly six weeks, living in a few filthy 
old tents dug up from the spot where they had been hastily 
buried by Miles's men when the place surrendered. Many 
attempts were made to get the baggage of officers and men 
left at Fort Ethan Allen ; but, although Gov. Buckingham 
sent out a commissioner on purpose, red tape was too mighty 
to be prevailed against. The men had no changes of cloth- 
ing, and could not keep clean. Much sickness prevailed. 
Marching orders were welcome ; and on Oct. 30 the regi- 
ment crossed the vShenandoah, and pushed south-west through 
the Loudon Valley. Here the delinquent knapsacks were 
^-ent after them, but, not overtaking them, were stored in a 
barn ; and shortly afterwards the needy rebels appropriated 
the whole supply. 

1 This band became one of the very best in the army. 
37 



290 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

On Nov. 9, the 2(1 Corps reached "Warrenton ; and 
Burnside, now assummg command of the army, pushed on, 
occupy mg Falraouth on the night of the 10th. Morris's 
brigade was • detailed for duty at Belle Plain, where the 
men soon bivouacked on the sandy soil ; and the drenching 
rain added discomfort to the hunger and flitigue. Here 
thev staid two weeks on guard. The Fourteenth enjoyed a 
good Thanksgiving dinner, mostly obtained by foraging ; and 
ate and drank to the " good ship Mayflower." It moved 
back to Falmouth on Dec. 6, and encamped with the vast 
army now gathered there. 

The Twenty-seventh Connecticut had left its camp at 
Langley's, and hurried down the Potomac ; and now joined 
the 2d Corps in Hancock's division. 

Burnside's army was divided into three grand divis- 
ions of two corps each; and the 2d Corps (in which was 
the Fourteenth) and the 9th Corps (in which was the 
Connecticut brigade) formed the right grand division 
under Gen. Sumner. The Connecticut reiriments did not 
enjoy this period. An officer of the Eighth wrote, " We 
put our little ' dog-tents ' up>on the sticky red mud of Vir- 
ginia; made smoky fires outside, of wet wood ; half cooked 
our scanty food ; warmed and dried ourselves as we could, 
standing by the wretched fires in the rain : then we spread 
our blankets on the soft mud, and slept. We slept ; for we 
were tired out: but we awoke stifi", rheumatic, and cross. 
The weather was damp or rainy for several days, and few of 
us got our clothing dry under four days. It has rained 
about five days of the week." 

Burnside had marched rajDidly to Falmouth ; but, before 
he was ready to cross the river, Lee, whom he had run away 
from at Warrenton, was in his path again, occupying in- 
trenchments five miles long in the rear of Fredericksburg. 
At last, every thing was ready. Sumner and Hooker were 
to cross their grand divisions at Fredericksburg, and Frank- 
lin two miles down the river. 

Before dawn of Dec. 11, the pontoon-boats were launched 
from the teams, and men hastened to build the floating 
bridge. As soon as the fog lifted slightly, they were opened 



PLUNDERING IN FREDEHICKSBURG. 291 

upon at short range by rij9emen concealed in houses upon 
the opposite bank ; and this fire became so vigorous, that, by 
eleven o'clock, the 57th and 66th New- York' were driven from 
the work with a loss of a hundred and fifty men. Franklin 
had crossed the river below. Sumner became impatient : 
something effective must be done. 

At this juncture, one hundred men of the Eighth Connecti- 
cut, under Capt. W. P. Marsh of Hartford, assisted by Lieuts. 
Henry E. Morgan of Stonington and Roger M. Ford of Meri- 
den, volunteered to lay the bridge, and dashed down the 
slope to the work. They shouldered boards, and pushed out 
on the wooden pathway ; when, as they reached the end, the 
rebel sharpshooters, who had been silenced for a time, re- 
commenced a rapid and accurate fire ; and the men wore 
quickly recalled. After a time, the Union artillerists were 
able to depress their pieces sufficiently to drive the rebels 
from their covert, or tumble the buildin2:s about their heads ; 
when, at three o'clock, the 7th Michigan made a splendid 
dash across the river, and held the opposite bank, while the 
bridge was laid by the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers and 
Other regiments. By five o'clock, our forces were in the 
city. 

The night was spent by the soldiers in the city in pilla- 
ging and skirmishing by turns. Next morning (the 13th), 
many more crossed ; and by noon two-thirds of the right 
grand division were in the streets of Fredericksburg. The 
chaplain of the Eighth wrote, — 

'"^ The city has suffered frightfully. There is hardly a house in the lower 
part which is not pierced by at least one huge shot. Many are knocked 
to pieces almost beyond repair. I counted twenty-seven ragged cuts and 
perforations in the walls of the Baptist church, — five through the steeple. 
Some thirty or forty buildings were burned to the ground in the business 
part of the city, including the Bank of Virginia. The streets are full of 
brick, splintered timbers, and rubbish of various kinds ; and the soldiers 
have made the desolation complete. The houses and stores have been pil- 
laged thoroughly. Fifty dollars' worth has been destroyed where one has 
been carried away for use. 

" I saw men break down the doors to rooms of fine houses, enter, shat- 
ter the looking-glasses with a blow of the ax, knock the vases and lamps 
off the mantle-piece with a careless swing, and then lay down the ax to 
rummage for plunder. A cavalry man sat down at a fine rosewood piano, 
and drummed away till laugiied at for his bungling performance ; when up 
he started with an oath, drove his saber through the polished keys, then 



292 CONNECTICUT DURING THE llEBELLION. 

knocked off the top, tore out the strings, and carried away one or two as 
trophies. One man entered a large parlor carpeted with a Brussels worth 
at least two hundred dollars. He cut out the center-piece, some four feet 
by six, for a saddle-blanket. I entered the finest jewelry store of the city. 
The large glass of the windoAvs was all broken, the splendid plate-glass of 
the cases dashed to pieces, the regulating clock smashed, drawers emptied, 
and the contents of the shelves tumbled upon the floor and trampled to 
dirty fragments ; and so throughout the lower part of the city. I never 
wish to see the like again." 

There is no need to characterize such conduct as atrocious 
and brutal ; but it would be salutary for those who wantonly 
invoke the demon of war to take some account of the in- 
evitable vandalism that marches with the conqueror. 

By the evening of the 12th the whole army had crossed 
the river, and was preparing to move next morning on the 
hights in the rear, where Lee was still strongly intrenching. 
Couch's (2d) corps occupied the town; while Wilcox's (9th) 
corps extended south-east towards Franklin's grand division. 

The Fourteenth was the only Connecticut regiment that 
was warmly engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg. Long- 
street held the Confederate left. His advance artillery was 
stationed on Marye's Heights ; and two brigades of infantry 
were posted behind the stone walls at the foot of the declivity. 
Burnside opened the battle on the right by hurling French's 
division against this position. 

The Fourteenth had slept during the night in the shelled 
and bullet-riddled houses of Caroline Street; and in the 
morning moved promptly out by the flank to the plateau 
back of the city, and formed in line of battle with the divis- 
ion that had done such noble service at Antietam. "No 
sooner had this division burst out on the plain than from the 
batteries on the hights came a frightful fire, — cross-showers 
of shot and shell, — opening great gaps in the ranks ; but, 
closing up, the ever-thinning lines j)ressed on, and had passed 
over a great part of the interval, when met by volleys of 
musketry at . short range." ~ From the semicircular crest 
of the hill came a direct and converging fire. 

The Fourteenth crowded on to the foot of the steep, and 
began to mount. They were now surrounded by an artillery- 
fire (for the cannon in the rear were nearly as troublesome 

2 Swinton's Army of the Potomac. 



THE TWENTY-SEVENTH AT EEEDEEICKSBURG. 293 

as those in the front) ; and from the stone wall came showers 
of bullets. Men fell on every hand. The regiment wavered, 
recoiled, rallied, and again advanced ; firing steadily all the 
while. Three separate charges were made: in the last, 
Lieut-Col. Perkins fell at the head of the res^iment. The 
men ralHed around their wounded chief, and fell back with 
the line of the division. 

Hancock now led his division to the charge ; and with it, 
in the front ranks, steadily moved the Twenty-seventh Con- 
necticut, — nine-months' troops. The regimental historian, 
Lieut. Winthrop D. Sheldon, gives the following sketch of 
the charge : — • 

" As soon as we arrived at the railroad depot, several rebel guus, 
trained upon the spot with fatal accuracy, welcomed us to the encounter. 
Very near this point fell Capt. Schweizer, the first of the long list of casu- 
alties. . . . The division now advanced by the double-quick into the 
open field ; then, after resting a few moments on the ground, at the order 
' Charge ! ' moved by the left flank with fixed bayonets, passing French's 
division, which had been obliged to fall back. A second brief rest, then 
on again ; while shot and shell plow the ground in front, burst over our 
heads, or make fearful gaps in the line. Yet on we rush. The wounded 
are left where they fall. Not a word is spoken ; not a gun fired. As we 
approach nearer the rebel lines, all the elements of destruction that inge- 
nuity can devise are concentrated upon the narrow space. From rows of 
rifle-pits, protected by a heavy stone wall, bursts a continuous roll of mus- 
ketry ; from rieighboring houses flashes the deadly fire of sharpshooters ; 
while batteries posted on the higlits behind strong field-woi-ks, and sup- 
ported by infantry, sweep the field with shot and shell, and grape and can- 
ister. Enfilading batteries on the right and left of the rebel semicircle 
pour in their swift discharges. . . . The line now begins to waver, and 
with some disorder presses forward to a brick house, from which a bi'isk 
musketry-fire is kept up in the direction of the stone wall. At this time, 
the various regiments became mingled together ; and the Twenty-seventh, 
in consequence of the confusion, separated into several fragments, advan- 
cing to the right and left of the house. The time for a sudden dash had 
passed ; and unable longer to stem the avalanche of fire, which seemed to 
gather intensity as we proceeded, the charge was continued only as fur as 
a board-fence, all full of bullet-holes and torn with shot, less than a hun- 
dred yards from the famous stone wall." 

Here the Twenty-seventh, remained all the afternoon, 
holding the advanced position ; while division after division 
charged towards the hill, and recoiled before the terrible 
tempest of death. 

A correspondent of the London 't'imes, on Lee's staff) said 
that " no braver men ever lived than those who forced their 



294 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

way up Marye's Heights that day," and that their conduct 
extorted joraise from the rebel chieftain. 

After this, similar charges were made up the impregna- 
ble slope by Howard's, Sturgis's, and Getty's divisions, and 
finally by the divisions of Hooker's corps, all with similar 
result ; while Franklin, after a sturdy grapple with Jackson, 
had been repulsed on the left. 

On the morning of this day, Col. Harland had, by order 
of Gen. Getty, placed his (the 2d) brigade on the bank 
of the river below the town, where the troops were con- 
cealed from the enemy, and sheltered from their fire. The 
Eleventh Connecticut, present eighteen officers and two 
hundred and fifty men, was detached, and moved forward to 
support the pickets of the 1st Brigade. Its casualties were 
few, and it rejoined the brigade, which had occupied its shel- 
tered position during the day; while Burnside, in a spirit of 
apparent desperation, was hurling forward his troops to 
slauo-hter on the rio;ht and left. 

Col. Harland says in his official report, " About five, p.m., 
1 was ordered to move forward to the support of the 1st 
Brigade. I advanced the brigade in two columns, — the 
Twenty-first Connecticut and the 4th Rhode-Island consti- 
tuting the column on the right; and the Eighth, Fifteenth, 
and Sixteenth Connecticut that on the left. On the street 
in front of the slaughter-house, I re-formed the line, and 
advanced until the right was nearly up with the 9th New- 
York, and the left had arrived at the foot of a steep hill 
about ten rods in rear of the railroad, where the Eleventh 
Connecticut Volunteers had been stationed during the day." 

The brigade remained in this position during the night, 
picketing in front, and in the morning was returned to the 
location of Friday night. The Fifteenth Connecticut, Lieut- 
Col. Samuel Tolles commanding, was detached to support a 
battery. Capt. Charles L. Upham with a detachment occu- 
pied the ground in front and the block-house near the rail- 
road. On the morning of Monday the 15th, the Eighth 
Connecticut, under Capt. H. M. Hoyt, reported to Capt. 
Upham ; and the picket-line was extended along the brow 
of the hill. At dark, the brigade, with these exceptions, 



THE FAILURE AT FEEDERICKSBUEG. 295 

was moved about two hundred yards in rear of Gen. Wil- 
cox's headquarters, where it spent the night. Next morning, 
the whole force was recalled across the Kappahannock ; and, 
with the exception of two companies, — D under Capt. 
Samuel Hubbard, and I under Capt. Frank M. Lovejoy, 
detailed under Major Hiram B. Crosby on fiitigue-duty, — 
Harland's brigade returned to camp near the Lacey House. 

To say that the terrible battle had been a terrible failure 
is to speak quite inadequately of the result. The magnitude 
of the blunder seemed to be equaled only by the magni- 
tude of the losses. The Union casualties numbered twelve 
thousand three hundred and twenty-one killed, wounded, and 
missing ; while the Confederate loss was less than half that 
number. Connecticut suffered less, proportionately, than 
any other State that had regiments engaged. The ratio 
came near being; reversed. 

After the decisive repulse of Saturday, a return across 
the Rappahannock was urged by the chief commanders ; but 
Burnside, mortified by defeat, had apparently lost his mental 
equipoise, and resolved to form the remaining 9th Corps in 
a column of attack by regiments, the Eleventh Connecticut 
Volunteers in advance, and lead it in person to scale the 
bights. He was at last dissuaded from the desperate 
scheme by his counselors ; and the bloody and useless 
slau'ji-hter came to an end. 

The retreat over the central pontoon-bridge was mate- 
rially assisted by Major H. B. Crosby of the Twenty-first, 
provostrmarshal of the 9th Corps. Gen. Wilcox, command- 
ing the corps, says in his official report, " The whole body, 
numbering about sixteen thousand officers and men, were 
withdrawn noiselessly in less than two hours. The most 
perfect order prevailed ; no confusion in the ranks ; no signs 
of alarm or demoralization, notwithstanding many hours of 
passive exposure to the enemy's fire. The ease with which 
this remarkable withdrawal was effected was due partly to 
the excellent judgment of Major Crosby in carrying out the 
special orders of Gen. Wilcox. With a pioneer party and 
a cavalry patrol he paved the way smoothly and rapidly for 
the movement." Major Crosby muffled the bridge with dirt 



296 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

about three inches deep, so as to conceal the retreat from 
the enemy, whose gnns commanded the bridge. It was 
dark, cold, and stormy ; while he sat on his horse, and re- 
peated in hushed tones private orders to commanders till 
near daylight, by which time the army was again in 
camp. 

The Eighth Connecticut had lost one killed and two 
wounded ; the Eleventh had one wounded ; the Fifteenth, 
two killed and eight wounded ; the Sixteenth, one wounded ; 
the Twenty-first, one killed and five wounded. 

The Fourteenth had lost twenty-four killed, or died of 
wounds, and eighty-one others wounded. Among those who 
were killed, or died shortly of wounds, Avere Capt. Elijah W. 
Gibbons of Middletown, and Lieuts. Theodore A. Stanley of 
New Britain, William A. Coomes of New Haven, and David 
E. Canfield of Middletown. 

Capt. Gibbons was, before the war, a citizen of Middle- 
town, where he had many friends. He was an active and 
faithfid supporter of the Sunday school. When the war 
broke out, he went as first lieutenant in the Fourth Reg:i- 
ment, but resigned his commission in May, 1862, and, re- 
turning home, raised a company for the Fourteenth. Capt. 
Gibbons shared all the fortunes of his company, never being 
behind the regiment a day. In the attack on Marye's 
Heights, his thigh was shattered by a shot, and he was borne 
to the rear. He Imgered a few days, and died in great suf- 
ferincj;, but with becomino- resio:nation. 

Lieut. Stanley was one of the gallant young Stanleys 
from New Britain who gave their lives for the country ; and 
Lieuts. Canfield and Coomes received their mortal wounds, 
as soldiers should, at the head of their men. 

The Twenty-seventh had lost sixteen killed and eight}^- 
nine wounded. Among the slain was Capt. Bernard E. 
Schweizer of New Haven, a brave German soldier. Among 
the mortally wounded was Capt. Addison C. Taylor, also of 
New Haven. He was a pupil and military instructor in the 
Commercial Institute in that city when the war broke out, 
and drilled Capt. Joseph R. Hawley's company in the three- 
months' service. 



SUFFERINGS OF THE SEVENTEENTH. 297 

At Fredericksburg, also, fell Sergeant Richard H. Fowler 
of Guilford, of a patriotic family, William A. Goodwin, 
Thomas E. Barrett, Frank E. Ailing, and George H. Mimmic. 
Young Ailing was a student at Yale when he enlisted; and 
Sergeant Barrett was a much-esteemed and successful teacher 
at the Eaton School in that city. 



While the contest for Maryland was going forward at 
Antietam, the Seventeenth remained at Fort Marshall, 
menacing the rebels of Baltimore. When the excitement 
subsided, Col. Noble asked of the authorities at Washington 
that the regiment might be permitted to join Sigel's corps 
according to previous understanding. Gen. Wool was much 
incensed ; and, instead of this, it was ordered to Tenallytown, 
and put at work intrenching a hill that was afterwards 
known as Fort Kearney, in the northward defenses of Wash- 
ington. For a fortnight, the men shoveled dirt here ; when, 
Nov. 3, the regiment was sent into Virginia to report to 
Sigel, commanding the 11th Corps, and pressing forward 
beyond Manassas. 

It marched during that week to Thoroughfare Gap and 
other points beyond Centreville, but met no enemy, and 
was withdrawn to a camp at Chantilly, nearer Washington. 
The reg-iment suffered considerable discomfort in snow-clad 
" shelters " and in long marches through Virginia mud. Not 
having been paid off, and the men needing money, Private 
Ehas Howe advanced the thirteen thousand dollars due 
them. 

The Seventeenth was not called upon to participate in 
the aflair of Fredericksburg, but moved to the vicinity, and, 
after the battle, established its winter camp at Broolcs's 
Station, south of Stafford Court House. Here the men 
found time to build for themselves semi-comfortable bar- 
i-ficks, — huts of logs and mud, — made habitable by many 
ingenious devices. They endured the ordinary privations 
and exposures of military life, and passed the cheerless 
months in drills, parade and picket duty, song and jest, 



298 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

reading and social intercourse. Capt. James E. Dunham 
of Company G was appointed provost-marshal of the di- 
vision. 



Soon after the Twenty-second took the field, in the fall of 
1862, it was called upon to do picketrduty out at Langley's, 
on the Washington and Leesburg Turnpike. A member of 
the regiment confesses, that " though still in the rear of cav- 
alry-scouts and an advanced picket, and at least fifty miles 
from the enemy's picket-line, our first week of outpost-duty 
was fraught with more thrilling events and hairbreadth 
escapes from death or captivity than belonged to the whole 
remaining period of our service." 

On Oct. 22, the regiment marched to Miner's Hill, three 
miles from the fort, and was merged in Gen. Cowdin's bri- 
gade, already consisting of regiments from New York, Massa- 
chusetts, and Rhode Island. Within a week, the boys began 
to think of the coming winter, and, more ambitious than 
the other regiments, resolved to build for themselves a vil- 
lage of wooden houses, and fold their breezy tents until 
summer. Some of the other regiments were skeptical as to 
the profitableness of the job ; but the Twenty-second went 
heartily at work clearing the land, cutting down pines, dig- 
ging stumps and pulling roots, and carting them out of the 
way, and preparing the timber for their new habitations. 
So vigorously did tbe work proceed, that in sixteen days tlie 
whole was accomplished, and a general " moving " took place. 
The ground had been cleared, the logs cut, and a hundred 
and thirteen cabins, ten by fourteen feet, were completed 
and occupied, all uniform in size and style, alike provided 
with doors and windows, and thatched, ventilated, and com- 
fortably warmed by means of the portable camp-stove. All 
was done with only the most indispensable of tools, — the 
saw, ax, and hammer. Subsequently, all the streets of the 
new city, " Camp Burnham," were corduroyed, and a large 
chapel was in process of erection. 

Dec. 12, the day before the battle of Fredericksburg, the 
regiment was under marching orders, and prepared to leave 



THE FIFTH AND TWENTIETH AT WASHINGTON. 299 

on the cars; but, after waiting two hours, the order was 
countermanded, and the 1st Brigade, in which was the 
Connecticut Twenty - seventh, was sent forward instead. 
Dec. 29, the regiment was aroused by the long-roll, and 
marched over eight miles of the worst of the roads to inter- 
cept Stuart's cavalry. After watching twenty-four hours, 
they marched back ; that famous raider having vanished in 
an unexpected direction. 

The regiment, during the four months of its stay here, 
occupied its time profitably in company and battalion drills 
and occasional reviews. Feb. 12, the men left their com- 
fortable cabins, and spent two months in preparing the 
groundworks of Forts Craig, McDowell, and McClellan. 



On Sept. 4, the Fifth once more crossed the Potomac 
into Washington, and with the main army proceeded 
slowly northward towards the fords where Lee's army was 
simultaneously crossing into Maryland. The regiment was 
halted at Frederick ; and here, on familiar ground, while 
the battle was progressing at Antietam, it was assigned 
to j)rovost-duty. It remained nearly three months mend- 
ing its shattered ranks. Col. Chapman here returned to 
the regiment after a short experience in rebel prisons, his 
health seriously impaired. On Dec. 10, the regiment was 
assigned to the 12th Army Corps, Gen. Slocum. 

The Twentieth was kept in front of Washington 
until Lee had retreated below Culpeper; and, Sept. 29, 
Avas ordered to proceed by cars to Frederick, Md. By some 
blunder, the men were directed to leave their knapsacks 
in Washington. All night they waited at the depot for 
transportation, starting before daybreak, and made their 
next bivouac near Frederick without tents or blankets. At 
Sandy Hook, Oct. 2, the Twentieth was brigaded with 
some New- York regiments, and attached to the 12th Corps, 
like the Fifth Connecticut Volunteers. Thenceforth their 
fortunes lay mainly together. 

Rigid discij^line was now adopted in the Twentieth ; drills 
were required daily ; schools of instruction were instituted ; 



300 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

and guard and picket duty regularly performed. Gen. 
Gordon, commanding the division, issued an order not un- 
usual in the army, but widely at variance with the idea 
citizens sometimes entertain of military life. The following 
is the principal part : 

Headquarters First Division, Twelfth Corps, 
Maryland Heights, Oct. 20, 1862. 

General Orders, No. 40. — "The evil, where it exists, of commis- 
sioned officers associating with enlisted men in any other relation than 
an official one, is, to both officers and men, most pernicious in its elFects, 
and must in future be totally discontinued. Hereafter no enlisted man 
can be jDcrmitted to visit the tent or quarters of a commissioned officer 
for the amusement of either party. Except for official purjjoses, it is 
highly unmilitary for officer and private to associate together," 

The beautiful w^eks of autumn had vanished while Lee 
was retreating, and McClellan had not pursued. The early 
winter rains were about to set in, making of the plastic 
Virginia clay a compound through which locomotion was 
almost impossible ; and the army w\as ordered to prepare for 
an offensive move. Perhaps such a state of things was un- 
avoidable; McClellan so asserted : but Lieut.-Col. Buckingham 
expressed the feelings of the army and the country when he 
wrote in his diary, " If it takes a month to recover from the 
effects of a victory. Heaven save us from the necessity of 
ever being; oblioced to recover from the effects of a defeat ! " 

About the 1st of November, the regiments north of the 
Potomac crossed the river, and advanced into Virginia. The 
Twentieth occupied Keyes Ford and Manning's Ford of the 
Shenandoah. Nov. 9, it moved over the mountains east- 
ward into the Loudon Valley ; and the forward movement 
seemed to be ended. An order was issued to the men to 
build huts, and make themselves comfortable for the winter. 

The manuscript regimental history of the Twentieth, by 
Lieut.-Col. Buckingham, says, " Some of the old regiments 
in three or four days had nice, comfortable huts built, with 
doors, floors, windows, and chimneys, and then came and 
laughed at our awkwardness. There were in the regiment 
carpenters, shipijuilders, masons, wheelwrights, tinners, black- 
smiths, men who could make the hair-spring to a watch or 
build a locomotive ; but, when it came to producing log-huts 
without tools, they could not ' get the hang of it.' We won- 



THE FIFTH AND TWENTIETH UNDER AEMS. 301 

dered where the veterans obtained windows and various 
other fixings that added so much to their comfort, and were 
told that they ' drew them.' After a while, the greenness 
wore off from our men ; and they, too, learned to ' draw 
things,' not always of Uncle Sam's quartermasters. Boards 
were afterwards sometimes ' drawn ' from the side of a barn 
two miles from camp ; windows were ' drawn ' a still greater 
distance ; and then they managed to ' draw ' hay or straw for 
a bunk. It takes soldiers a year to learn how to keep com- 
fortable." That confession will answer for all the regiments 
during their unseasoned period. Sickness prevailed as the 
result of the exposure and the new life ; and, during the 
winter, more than thirty died. 

On Nov. 10, Slocum's corps moved to join the main 
army near Fredericksburg. The Fifth Connecticut, which 
had been detailed on provost duty at Frederick, now 
rejoined the corps. 

Passing through Hillsborough, Wheatland, Leesburg, Chan- 
tilly, and Fairfax Court House, they reached Fairfax Station, 
on the Oran2i:e and Alexandria Railroad, on the 14th. Thev 
crossed the Occoquan next morning at Wolf-run Shoals, and 
pushed on through rain and mud for two days, while heavy 
guns were pounding away at Fredericksburg. On the 17th, 
Burnside having escaped from his cul de sac, they turned 
back to Fairfax Station, and began to make a winter 
camp. 

For a time, rations were poor and scanty ; and many 
actually suffered for food. While the 12th Corps was at 
Fairfax, the rebel Stuart rode with his cavalry entirely 
around the force, and passed out below Leesburg unmolested. 
The Fifth and Twentieth were under arms for a time ; but 
there was no fight. The men built half-comfortable log- 
huts, and were beginning to settle down for the third time 
for a winter's rest, when orders came to march to Stafford 
Court House. Again the drudgery and toil of moving were 
repeated : the great wagons were loaded, and dragged on 
four miles a day, the corps keeping along so as to help the 
stalled teams out of the mud. Soldiers were most of the 
time on half-rations. 



302 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLIOK. 

The full army-ration is enough for any man. It consists 
of meat, either fresh or salt, hard or soft bread, or flour, 
beans or peas, rice or hominy, coffee or tea, sugar, vinegar, 
candles, soap, salt, pepper, potatoes, and molasses ; but 
after a battle, or during the prevalence of a long storm or 
deep mud, and very often when no sufficient reason was 
visible, this was diminished to suit circumstances. At Staf- 
ford Court House, the men found food, rest, and the army 
j)aymaster. Capt. Cogswell of the Fifth, and Lieut. Beards- 
ley of the Twentieth, were detailed as brigade-inspectors; 
and Major Buckingham acted as assistant inspector-general 
of the division. Col. Chapman of the Fifth, to whom, mainlj^, 
the regiment owed its efficiency in discipline and drill, Avas 
compelled on account of ill health to resign, and was suc- 
ceeded by Col. Warren W. Packer of Groton, who went out 
as captain of Company G. A correspondent wrote the 
Providence Journal at this time as follows : — 

" We learned a day or two since some interesting facts of 
the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, which, for army-life, is as 
anomalous as it is pleasing. Its commander. Col. Packer, 
we are assured, is a teetotaler ; neither drinking any intoxi- 
cating liquors himself, nor allowing any to his men. Its 
chaplain. Rev. Mr. Welch, is declared to be the very best in 
the army, though never preaching a sermon; and its sutler, 
Mr. Randall, who acted in this capacity over two years, never 
sold or offered for sale a single drop of liquor." 

At Stafford Court House, the men once more built them- 
selves winter huts; and occupied them, with only the 
usual incidents of camp-life, until the army was thawed out 
in April. 




CHAPTER XX. 

The First Connecticut Battery and Seventh Eegiment in Florida. — Capture of St. John's 
BhifF. — Sixth and Seventh in South Carohna. — Battle of Pocotaligo. — The Twelfth 
at Camp Parapet. — Yankee Enterprise. — Anecdotes of the Thirteenth. — Sen^ices 
and Sufferings of the Ninth at Vicksburg. — The Battle of Baton Rouge. — The La 
Fourche Campaign. — Battle of Georgia Landing. — Thanksgiving. — The Nine- 
months' Regiments leave Long Island. — The Twenty -eighth at Pensacola. — Destruc- 
tion of a Rebel Gunboat. 

UPvING the heat of the summer of 1862, the 
Sixth and Seventh, with the First Battery, re- 
mained at Hilton Head ; while military inaction 
reigned, and the jurisdiction of the department 
contracted. The members of the Seventh 
named their camp " Camp Hitchcock," after their lamented 
comrade. 

In September, an expedition was planned to' capture a 
fort at St. John's Bluff, Fla., which had considerably annoyed 
the navy, but was on such high ground, that the gunboats 
were unable to destroy it. The Seventh Connecticut, 47th 
Pennsylvania, Capt. Rockwell's First Connecticut Battery, 
and one company of Massachusetts cavalry, were selected 
for the purpose. They left Hilton Head on board the 
steamers Ben. Deford, Bo.ston, Cosmopolitan, and Neptune, 
on the thirtieth day of September, -1802, arriving off the bar 
at the mouth of St. John's River on the morning of Oct. 1. 
They went over the bar; landed at a place called May- 
port Mills; traveled across the country for miles, through 
swamp and mire, the most of the time through mud and 
water knee-deep; and came across a rebel cavalry camp, 
charging through it, and putting the cavalry to flight with 
an exchange of shots, but no loss of life to either side. The 
fugitives left their dinner smoking hot ; and the Union boys, 

303 



304 COXNECTICUT DUiUNG THE llEBELLIOX. 

tired, wet, and hungry, did ample justice thereto. After a 
two-days' farther march, they came upon the rebel stronghold, 
only to find they had abandoned it in a hurry a short time 
before, leaving every thing behind them, — camp-kettles on 
the fi re with their rations in them, and guns unspiked. The 
fort v/as immediately dismantled, and all the guns sent to 
Hilton Head. The force went up the river as far as Jackson- 
ville, bringing away a number of white and black refugees 
from llebeldom, who hailed our men as their deliverers. 

In the afternoon of Oct. 21, two brigades under Connec- 
ticut officers, with Gen. Branrian in command, started on 
an expedition inland to burn the railroad bridges between 
Charleston and Savannah. Sergeant Robert Wilson, an in- 
telligent scout from Stamford in the Sixth Connecticut, had 
been out with a negro examining the rivers, landings, &c. ; 
and he now piloted the raid. 

The Sixth, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Speidal, was in the 
1st Brigade, under Col. Chatfield ; and the Seventh in the 2d 
Brigade, under Gen. Terry. The Connecticut regiments had 
each five hundred men. The Seventh Reoirnent embarked on 
the Boston ; and the whole force moved up Broad River to 
Mackay's Point, where they landed next morning, the 22d. 

The line of march was taken up, the 1st Brigade ahead ; 
and the force, in column by companies, moved briskly some 
five miles inland, where they discovered the enemy posted 
on rising ground beyond a marsh which was flanked by thick 
woods. The rebels opened with howitzers and musketry. 
The 1st Brigade advanced in line of battle, and soon became 
hotly engaged : but the rebels fled along the road before the 
2d Brigade was fairly up ; and our men jumped the ditch, 
waded through the swamp, and pursued. 

Another rapid march of two or three miles, much of it at 
the double-quick ; again the skirmishers were driven in ; the 
enemy had taken a new position. Two field-pieces were 
posted on a slope beyond some sparse woods, while their 
infantry was stationed in the thicket, or concealed behind 
houses near by. The Sixth Connecticut, a New-Hampshire, 
and two Pennsylvania regiments, moved into the woods to 
dislodge the enemy. These regiments were subjected to a 



THE DEAD OF THE SIXTH A:ND SEVENTH. 305 

galling fire of both artillery and musketry. The Sixth suf- 
fered severely at this point ; Col. Chatfield and Lieiit.-Col. 
Speidal being both struck with canister-shots while bravely 
leading their men. The line moved steadily forward, cut 
up by shot and shell, tangled by thickets, the men now stand- 
ing, now lying down, now carefully advancing, pressing the 
enemy closer and harder in a fight of two hours ; when, de- 
spite their advantage of ground, the rebels again fled, protect- 
ing their guns, however, as they dragged them sullenly to 
the rear. During the fight, Capts. Chamberlain's and Bur- 
dick's companies of the Seventh had also done good service as 
sharpshooters, and the rest of the regiment had been for a 
short time briskly engaged. 

Again our forces pursued ; but the rebels retired deliber- 
ately, our column being much harassed by guns unlimbered 
on commanding points in the road, and infantry firing from 
the fences and woods. The need of cavalry was much felt. 
Our troops successively charged upon and dislodged the 
enemy for a distance of nearly four miles ; when the rebels 
retreated across the Pocotaligo River, burning the bridge 
behind them. Across this creek, which, though narrow, was 
deep, the enemy posted batteries ; but some of our men pro- 
ceeded to fell trees across for bridges. During the lull, a 
locomotive whistle was heard in the distance ; then a train 
loaded with rebel soldiers thundered into the village, and 
was received with cheers for " South Carolina." At night- 
fall our forces returned to Mackay's, which they reached 
before daybreak, and re-embarked for Beaufort. 

The Sixth had lost five killed and thirty-three vv^ounded ; 
Orderly Sergeant Robert B. Gage of Bridgeport, a brave 
man, being killed by a rifle-ball in the side. Of the wound- 
ed, Corporal David G. Shepard and Private Taylor died of 
their wounds. The Seventh lost in killed two, wounded 
twenty-seven. Five died of their wounds. 

The expedition did not result in any advantage to the 
Union cause. 

Our regiments in Louisiana were living by no means an 
inactive life. They had recruited their ranks to the maxi- 



^06 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

mum number. At periods during the summer, the Twelfth 
was called upon to do provost-duty at various posts. Com- 
pany A was at Jefferson City in June and July, Capt. Lewis 
provost-marshal. Company F went to Lake Pontchartrain 
durinc*- the same period, and, out of seventy men, returned 
with only fifteen fit for duty. Capt. Nathan Frankau was 
provost-marshal at Carrollton, Avith his company for guard. 
A detail of ten men captured the Laurel Hill, the largest ves- 
sel at New Orleans, afterwards of great service to the gov- 
ernment. In Jul}^, half the regiment, under Major Peck, 
went on an expedition to Lake Pontchartrain, having for its 
object the destruction of the railroad bridges and the capture 
of the rebel force at Pass Manchac and Pontchatoula. Two 
companies of the Thirteenth under Capts. Comstock and 
Blinn, and several companies of the Ninth under Major Frye, 
were also a part of the force. The expedition was but par- 
tially successful. The rebels rallied, and drove our troops 
back, inflicting a severe loss. Assistant Surgeon Avery of 
the Ninth was among the prisoners. There is a story, that, 
while a captive, the shrewd doctor beat the rebel command- 
ant, Jeff. Thompson, at cards, got him drunk, challenged 
him to a horse-race, and came near breaking his neck among 
the trees. 

Camp Parapet, the headquarters of the Twelfth, was one 
of the outer defenses of New Orleans, and there were fre- 
quent alarms. 

The camp was terribly muddy ; and, in the later summer, 
typhoid-fever made fearful havoc. Sometimes a hundred 
were in the hospital at once. More than forty died dining 
those months, including Capt. Toy of Collinsville, a faithful 
and excellent officer. The surgeons were constantly occu- 
pied ; and Dr. Fletcher of Southington, a private in Compa- 
ny 1, on the meager pay of extra duty, devoted himself un- 
tiringly to the care of the men. Lieut. Charles W. Corn- 
■wall of New Haven, provost-marshal on Gen. Phelps's staff, 
also fell a victim to the climate. Of him Lieut.-Col. Led- 
yard Colburn wrote, " In the name of the regiment, I would 
declare our sorrow and sadness at the untimely death of one 
beloved and respected by all." Lieut. Stanton Allyn, of 



FIRST REGIMENT OF LOUISIAXA VOLUNTEERS. 307 

Company K, was for a time prostrated, and obliged to go 
into hospital, but subsequently, and when quite out of health, 
rejoined his regiment to participate in the siege of Port 
Hudson, where perilous labors awaited him. 

More steamboats were wanted in New Orleans ; and the 
general commanding, knowing that the Yankees could do 
almost any thing, and hearing that Col. Colburn of the 
Twelfth knew something about steamboats, applied to him 
in the dilemma. " The colonel, after looking about him and 
making inquiries, soon discovered thai lumber was the impor- 
tant item wanted ; but being of a progressive, ingenious, 
and go-ahead disposition, soon took his measures to obviate 
the difficulty. He went to Fort Pike, where he found a 
large raft of logs that had been placed in the Rigolets for 
the purpose of preventing the passing of our vessels. These 
were fastened together with several tons of chains, which 
were removed, and the logs got out. The next thing was a 
saw-mill ; but this was soon built, and was so successful, that 
the necessary lumber was made from the logs obtained at 
the Rigolets. The engine was also built under the colonel's 
direction ; and the result was a steamer a hundred and fifty- 
four feet long by forty broad over all, stanch and durable." 

Col. Deraing was seldom with the regiment, being ap- 
pointed Mayor of New Orleans, — an office which he ably 
administered. 

The Thirteenth remained at New Orleans. During: the 
summer, Company A was stationed on the lake ; Company 
E, Capt. Tisdale, was detailed as provost-guard ; Comj^any I, 
Capt. Schleiter, was stationed at Gen. Twiggs's house as a 
body-guard for Gen. Butler; Company K, Capt. Mitchell, 
guarded Col. Birge's headquarters. 

In July, Major Holcomb of the Thirteenth was authorized 
to raise the 1st Regiment of white Louisiana Volunteers. 
Commissions were also issued to Sergeants Charles A. Tracy, 
Oscar F. Merrill, George A. Mayne, James T. Smith, James 
M. Gardner, Charles H. Grosvenor, George G. Smith, Cor- 
poral Devereaux Jones, and Private Leonidas R. Hall. 

In August, Companies A and K, under Capt. Mitchell, made 
a successful foraging expedition up the Mississippi, and 



308 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

brought back a few prisoners, and an immense number of 
horses, mules, cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry. On Sept. 22, 
Capt. Sprague with Company H went up the river a few miles 
on a steamboat. They found a Frenchman with four hundred 
cattle trying to cross the river. A pass from Dick Taylor 
being found on him, the cattle were confiscated ; and, after 
hours of exciting labor, one hundred and seventy-six were 
driven aboard, the rest having escaped to the woods, or 
plunged into the river. The captain also captured eight 
hundred hogsheads of 'sugar, and landed the whole at New 
Orleans. He reported to Gen. Butler, who, after a brief 
examination of the facts, said, " Captain, you did right : 
' when you're in doubt, take the trick.' " 

On the last day of September, the regiment left the Cus- 
tom House, and went to Camp Parapet, where it was bri- 
gaded with the Twelfth under Gen. Weitzel. Here they 
had Sibley tents, and were comfortable. Both regiments 
had now acquired an excellent discipline ; and soldiers and 
citizens came to w^itness their dress-parades. 

We transfer from Col. Sprague's admirable history of the 
Thirteenth some anecdotes showino; the wit and humor of 
Quartermaster J. B. Bromley : — 

" The principal difficulty at this time was in getting wood. Our 
quartermaster, never long at a loss for expedients, finally proceeded to the 
depot of the Cai'roUton Railroad, and commenced loading his teams. The 
superintendent is said to have come up, and to have held the following 
dialogue with Bromley : — 

" ' What are you going to do with that Avood? ' 

" ' Cook rations. (Go on with your loading, corporal.)' 

" ' Who are you?' 

" ' Bromley, Quartermaster of Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteeers. 
Allow me, sir, in turn, to inquire whom I have the distinguished honor to 
address.' 

" ' I'm superintendent of this railroad.' 

" ' All right. (Go on with your loading, corporal.)' 

" ' The wood belongs to the railroad.' 

" ' So I supposed.' 

" ' But I forbid you to take it.' 

" ' Put your protest in writing in red ink. Tie it with a piece of red tape. 
I'll approve it and forward it. You see, we've got to have wood to cook 
with. Can't eat beans and poi'k raw. Pel prefer 'em raw ; but the men 
are so unreasonable they want 'em cooked.' 

" ' But that wood's necessary for the use of the railroad.' 

" ' It's necessary for the use of the Thirteenth Connecticut.' 

" ' I should like to know how a locomotive is going to run without 
wood.' 



THE NINTH SENDEE, SIGNAL SERVICE. 309 

" ' I've often wondered how a regiment could be run without wood.' 

" ' Gen. Butler orders me to run this railroad.' 

" ' Col. Birge orders me to run the Thirteenth Connecticut.' 

'"Who's Col. Birge?' 

'"Who's Col. Birge ?' Why, the d deuse ! don't you know Col. 

Birge? If there's one man above another that everybody knows, it's 
Col. Birge.' 

" ' Will Col. Birge pay for the wood? ' 

" ' Col. Birge pay for the wood ! Wliy, no ! It's a reflection on your 
sagacity to ask such a question.' 

" 'Who tcill pay for it?' 

" ' The Quartermaster's Department. If there's one thing above another 
that I admire in the Quartermaster's Department, it's because they'll 
always pay for wood. Now, my friend of the railroad persuasion, if 
you'll come and see me, I'll give you receipts, and help you fix up the 
proper papers to present to the Quartermaster's Department.' 

*•' ' How long will it be before I get pay? ' 

"'It will be at some future day, — the futurest kind of a day, I'm 
afraid.' 

" The superintendent posted oif to see Col. Birge. Bromley preceded 
him, however, and cautioned the sentinels to admit no citizen without a 
pass. ' Halt ! ' said the sentry ; and the superintendent gave up the 
pursuit in despair. 

" The instructions which Bromley gave to Corporal Strange, a member 
of his staff, as he termed him, were quite significant. ' Strange, we're 
going on an expedition. I want my staff to be on the lookout for turkeys, 
geese, pigs, and sheep. Don't be the aggressor in any contest. Stand 
strictly on the defensive ; but, if you're attacked by any of these animals, 
show fight, and doii't forget to hring off tlie enemy's dead.'" 

During the last week in June, the Ninth, with Williams's 
brigade, left Baton Rouge, and went up the Mississippi on 
the Diana, William Benton, and Sally Robinson, river 
steamboats. Coming in sight of batteries which the rebels 
had posted here and there to command the river, the in- 
fantry would go ashore and attack by land on the flank, 
driving the enemy from the position, and enabling the fleet 
to pass up. The Ninth was several times engaged in these 
operations, and rendered much service. The vessels went 
up to the very guns of Vicksburg, when the brigade was 
landed on the west side of the river, and advanced to 
Young's Station, opposite the city. 

Here Commodore Farragut had already arrived, and had 
set large numbers of soldiers and negroes at work digging 
the famous canal for a new channel of the river ; and the 
regiments of Williams's brigade at once joined enthusiasti- 
cally in the excavation for the cut-off. Col. Cahill of the 



310 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE llEBELLION. 

Ninth was the ranking colonel, and commanded in the 
absence of Gen. Williams. 

Here the Ninth again suffered greatly. There was nothing 
to eat for weeks but pork and hard-tack ; no water to drink 
but the muddy water of the Mississippi. The swamp reeked 
with malaria, and the men slept upon the mud. The supply 
of quinine, that panacea for all the soldier's aches and ills, 
was exhausted : there was little medicine of any sort. Re- 
quisitions were sent as far as New Orleans ; but the medical 
Dogberry declined to honor them on the ground of " irregu- 
larity." Almost the whole of the Ninth Regiment was at one 
time on the sick-list with fever caused by exposure and pri- 
vation. The poor fellows died sometimes at the fearful rate 
of a score a week ; and, out of the three hundred and fifty 
Connecticut members present, the State catalogue of troops 
shows that one hundred and fifty-three died during this 
season, — a mortality not equaled by any other of our regi- 
ments within a similar period. 

After a month of this deadly service, the engineers dis- 
covered that the water was falling, and would not flow 
through their canal; and the work was abandoned. Wil- 
liams's brigade returned down the river again about the 1st 
of August ; Breckinridge pursuing along the shore. On the 
boat Algerine left behind were three hundred sick, in charge 
of Surgeon Gallagher of the Ninth, — a brave and devoted 
officer, and friend of the suffering men. 

The Union troops, arrived at Baton Rouge, immediately 
took possession, and began to fortify, anticipating an attack 
from the rebels advancing in heavy force. Williams had 
seven small regiments and three batteries, which he disposed 
on the north-east of the town. The Ninth Connecticut and 
4th Wisconsin were on the left of the line, on a hill over- 
looking the Bayou Gras, where was expected an attack 
from the rebel ram Arkansas, that had just caused such 
havoc in Farragut's fleet up the river. At daylight of Aug. 
5, Breckinridge threw his whole force against the Union 
center under cover of a fog, but was met with unflinching 
bravery. Again and again he assailed with great vigor, but 
each time was driven back with heavy loss on either side. 



CAPT. SILAS W. SAWYER. 311 

When the battle had raged several hours, Gen. Williams fell 
mortally wounded ; and Col. Cahill of the Ninth succeeded 
to the command of the Union forces, Lieut.-Col. Richard 
Fitz Gibbons leading the regiment. Fifty men from the 
Ninth were detailed as artillerists to Winn's battery, and five 
to Everett's battery ; and the regiment was swung round to 
the support of the center. Col. Fitz Gibbons says in his offi- 
cial report, " To complete this manoeuver, the regiment 
marched alono- the North Road until it came within ran^i-e 
of the enemy's guns, when it filed across the road in the midst 
of a shower of grape and canister, and formed in line of bat- 
tle in a cornfield, the battery opening fire from the road. 
The enemy at this juncture appeared directly in front, yell- 
ing, and firing volleys of musketry, which, however, did but 
little damage ; the shot mostly going over us, owing to the 
proximity of the enemy, who, on delivering his fire, fell back. 
The left tiank being exposed, we were ordered to its de- 
fense ; and the regiment resumed its first position, which it 
retained the remainder of the day and night." 

After the gahant leader was shot down, the valorous 
troops were skillfully led by Col. Cahill; and the enemy, 
having lost fearfully, finally retired in disorder, leaving the 
Union forces in possession of the field. Col. Cahill sa^'^s, 
" Capt. Silas W. Sawyer, Company H of the Ninth Connecti- 
cut, deserves mention for his bold reconnoissance on the 
morning of the 6th, going out on the Bayou-Sara Road three 
miles, and finding no trace of the enemy. Taking a cattle- 
path through the woods, he came out on the Clinton Road, 
beyond the original line of our pickets. He scoured the 
country to Bird's Plantation, in scouting round which he 
found one of the enemy's caissons, and, near by, three others. 
Crossing; over to Bernard's Plantation, he found another 
and a damaged ambulance." Returning to headquarters, he 
brought them safely in. 

Lieut.-Col. Fitz Gibbons mentioned Adjutant Kattensbroth 
and Sergeant-Major Curtis for gallant service. The regi- 
ment tool^ twenty-four prisoners, and lost one killed and 
nine wounded. 

The enemy fell back, but rapidly gathered re-inforcements. 



312 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

The general commanding the department ordered an evac- 
uation of the post on account of its evident insecurity ; and 
the Union forces under Col. Cahill, acting brigadier-general, 
moved on transports down to Camp Parapet. Here the 
Ninth was again on outpost-duty, picketing the shores up 
and down the river. 

On Sept. 7, the Ninth, Major Frye commanding, partici- 
pated with three other regiments in an expedition across 
the river to the neighborhood of St. Charles Court House. 
The object was to capture or disperse a camp of two thou- 
sand rebel infantry said to be stationed there. The Ninth, 
vnth the 14th Maine, landed at daylight of the 8th at a 
point above Carrollton, and advanced westward ; the other 
regiments going six miles higher up. Major Frye says in his 
official report, — 

" The artillery shelled the woods ; but, failing to dislodge the enemy, the 
Ninth Connecticut were thrown forward as skirmishers. After moving 
forward several miles through woods, swamps, bayous, and canebrakes, 
everywhei'e finding traces of a flying enemy, — abandoned haversacks, 
blankets, bundles, paper, &c., — it was found that the enemy, mostly cav- 
alry, attempting to break through in this direction, had been driven back, 
and, abandoning their horses, saddles, and equipments, had fled into an al- 
most impenetrable swamp. But, being suri'ouuded on all sides, our troops 
killed and wounded eight, taking about forty prisoners, and bringing in 
upwards of two hundred horses ready equipped. This was accomplished 
without loss on our side." 

Stores and other property were also captured ; and 
the expedition then returned to camp at Carrollton with 
the booty. Though the Ninth had not recovered from the 
effects of the Vicksburg and Port-Hudson expeditions, we 
are told " not a man lagged." The regiment had earned an 
excellent reputation; and a correspondent of the Tribune, 
in giving some account of its movements, said, " I may be 
allowed to acknowledge the services of one of our oldest 
and best-disciplined regiments, the Ninth Connecticut, which 
was the second regiment debarked at Ship Island. Col. T. W. 
Cahill has been for the past year an acting brigadier-general, 
and is still serving in that capacit}^" For a time, both Col. 
Cahill and Col. Birge commanded brigades, under Major- 
Gen. Beckwith, also from Connecticut. 

During September, the Thirteenth lost a popular and en- 



THE TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH IN BATTLE. 313 

terprising officer in Lieut. Isaac F. Nettleton of Kent. " He 
was the first of our officers to die," says Col. Sprague. " His 
death caused a deej) gloom and heartfelt sorrow among his 
associates." 

On Oct. 24, Weitzel's brigade, at Carrollton, including 
the Twelfth and Thirteenth Connecticut, embarked, and pro- 
ceeded ninety miles up the river to Donaldsonville. Next 
morning they moved westward, along both sides of the 
Bayou La Fourche, which, twenty miles from the Mississippi, 
courses southwardly through a district much broken by 
swamps and lakes, and connects with the Gulf In order 
to concentrate, the enemy retired down the bayou. The 
Union column advanced ; while negroes thronged the way, 
and clamored their extravagant benedictions in bad English, 
only too happy to " tote " musket and knapsack for the 
weary soldier. 

On Oct. 27, the brigade came up with the rebel position 
at Georgia Landing, near Labadieville. There two veteran 
regiments occupied rifle-pits behind a stout cypress fence. 
To this position, from the left bank, the rebel force hurried 
to cut off the 8tli New-Hampshire and Perkins's cavalry be- 
fore relief could reach them. Weitzel divined the move- 
ment, and threw the Twelfth and Thirteenth Connecticut 
across on an extemporized bridge of flat-boats. The rebels 
opened a fierce cannonade on the frail structure ; but the 
Twelfth dashed across, and deployed into line of battle. 
Again we copy from Col. Sprague's History of the Thir- 
teenth : — 

" For the first time, the Thirteenth was fairly in battle. The big solid 
shot were pounding upon us, and the rifled shells wei'e whistling demoni- 
acally over our heads. We had great confidence in Gen. "Weitzel and Col. 
Birge, but not yet in ourselves. Would our men stapd fire? Would they 
resist a cavalry charge ? for the enemy were superior in cavalry. Would 
our men march straight against a bristling fence of bayonets ? . . . Such 
questions agitated our breasts as the enemy's shot came ripping up the 
ground, smashing the trees, or screaming and exploding overhead. 

" We neared the opening in the levee. Our step changed to the double- 
quick. . . . ' P^ile left ! ' commanded Col. Birge ; and the regiment at 
double-quick gilded down the bank and upon the bridge, with muskets at a 
right-shoulder shift. Our pace quickened almost to a run, while the can- 
non-balls were flying over us or plowing up the water under our feet. 
Up the steep bank on the other side, and straight out among the brambles 
40 



314 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

and trees. . . . "We reached the middle of the field. ' Battalion, halt ! 
Front ! On the center, dress ! ' rang out the voice of Col. Birge. A shell 
exploded over his head at this moment, and a large fragment dropped un- 
der his horse's feet. ' A piece of shell for you, boys,' said he, smiling. 
They soon came thicker than was amusing. 

" The three regiments were now in echelon descending from the right, at 
about ten rods lateral and perpendicular distance between the steps ; the 
Eighth resting on the bayou, the Thirteenth in the center, the Twelfth on 
the right. The Twelfth were already in motion to the front when 
our colonel commanded, ' Battalion, forward ! Guide center ! March ! ' 
Through the thick thorn-bushes and among scattering trees, over stumps 
and ditches, we pressed forward, ... It gave us real pain to see the line 
become wavy. There was an astonishing and somewhat shocking quan- 
tity of swearing expended to keep the ranks closed and companies even 
with the colors. There was, however, no lagging, except when an 
exhausted, sick, or wounded man fell behind. The Twelfth and Thirteenth 
were moving steadily forward. . . . 

" We were a little more than a quarter of a mile from the rebel line, and 
had not yet fired a bullet, when the enemy's infantry opened upon us with 
a rattle like the discharge of an endless string of fire-crackers. The invis- 
ible messengers came humming and singing in our ears, and striking a 
man here and there with a quick chuck ! that sounded far uglier than the 
rush of the larger missiles, which can often be seen and frequently give a 
little warning before they strike. Here we passed the band of the Thir- 
teenth Connecticut, and some of the drum corps, not standing up or 
marching to the front, blowing and drumming as if their life depended 
upon it, as one sees them represented in pictures, but lying flat on the 
ground behind stumps, and clinging fondly to mother earth. 

"We passed a few rods farther, halted, dressed accurately on the center, 
and stood a {qw minutes in a line, while the hail flew over us. David 
Black, private of Company F, dropped dead, a bullet passing through his 
heart : others fell wounded. A large tree stood in touching distance of the 
line. A quick rush was made by a dozen soldiers and two or three officers 
to get behind it. ' Come out from behind that tree, and go back to your 
places in the ranks, or I'll blow your brains out ! ' exclaimed our colonel, 
with a succession of oaths that sounded at the time emphatic rather than 
profane. Weitzel came up. 'It's getting pretty warm,' said he. 'You'd 
better lie down.' — ' Lie down !' commanded the colonel. This order did 
not need to be repeated, nor did any other. We had passed through the 
severest test of discipline, — that which requires a soldier simply to stand 
straight up and be shot at, without flinching, and without returning the 
compliment." 

"As Weitzel stitt on his horse at our left, intently watching 
the enemy, he suddenly said, ' Rise up ! ' A moment after, 
he quietly remarked, ' Their cavalry are coming.' Bayo- 
nets were fixed ; but there appeared not to be time to form 
square. We stood breathlessly awaiting the onset. ' You 
may lie down. They're not coming,' said the general : ' we 
must charge them. Rise up! Battalion, forward ! Guide 
center! March!' Col. Biro;e aa:ain commanded. The 



THE TWELFTH AND THIETEENTH IN ACTION. 315 

Twelfth were in motion the same instant, and the final grand 
charge began. The enemy's fire redoubled its fierceness. 
From their cover in the edge of the wood, and down in their 
rifle-pits behind the stout fence, they had a full view of the 
four hundred men of the Twelfth and the long line of six 
hundred bayonets of the Thirteenth that came steadily for- 
ward with unbroken ranks ; while we could see very few of 
our antagonists, though the innumerable puffs of white smoke 
and the terrible roll of musketry and cannon fully revealed 
their position. With difficulty, by savage threats, we 
restrained our men from shooting; while the tempest of 
missiles was hissing past us, tearing through our colors, our 
clothing, and our persons. How we longed to return the 
fire ! But our leader seemed to rely on the bayonet alone. 
The flanking force which the enemy had sent round might 
fall on our rear at any moment. Not a second was to be 
lost by stopping to fire even a single volley. Forward, still 
forward, we pressed, shoulder to shoulder : and still we were 
the targets of their two batteries and three infantry regi- 
ments. Our impatience to be shooting grew extreme; and I 
think the sweetest sound that smote upon our ears during 
the war was the sudden crash of the four hundred rifles of 
the Twelfth Connecticut on our right. Heavens, what a vol- 
ley ! Unable to hold back longer, the Thirteenth instantly an- 
swered with a tremendous roll of musketry. Both regiments 
poured in an unceasing fire, all the while marching steadily 
forward. The fence beneath which the first line of rebels 
lay was splintered, riddled, honey-combed. The excitement 
grew intense. Will they stand a bayonet-charge ? See, the 
rebel line wavers ! Their officers frantically brandish their 
swords, and in vain try to hold their men. Many are leap- 
ing out of the rifle-pits ; many more are fluttering their 
white handkerchiefs in token of surrender." 

Both regiments now rushed over the rebel position, sweep- 
ing infantry, cavalry, and artillery away. They captured 
two hundred prisoners, a piece of artillery, and many arms 
and accouterments. Gen. Weitzel addressed the reafiments 
briefly, expressing his approbation ; while Capt. Tisdale 
continued the pursuit to pick up stragglers. The Twelfth 



316 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

lost nineteen and the Thirteenth fifteen killed and wounded. 
Next day they marched to Thibodeau, and unfurled the flag 
of Connecticut, frowned on by the whites, and hailed by 
thousands of negroes as the emblem of emancipation. 

The battle of Georgia Landing was decisive. The rebels 
fled from all the region of the La Fourche, and west beyond 
Brashear City. 

The Ninth Connecticut Volunteers was part of a co-opera- 
tive force that went by rail to the crossing below Thibodeau ; 
but it was not engaged. 

Assistant Surgeon M. C. Leavenworth of the Twelfth, 
from Waterbury, died Nov. 16. Lieut. John T. Wheeler 
of the Thirteenth, from New Haven, and Lieut. Andrew T. 
Johnson of Montville, were instantly killed, Nov. 7, by 
the explosion of an ammunition-car on the railroad. 

At Thibodeau, Weitzel's brigade made a camp, and called 
it " Camp Stevens." There was an insufficiency of food, and 
the soldiers were sometimes very hungry. Foraging was 
freely carried on ; and the Twelfth and Thirteenth managed 
to keep in good spirits. 

The last Thursday in November, 1862, was celebrated by 
the regiments as a grand holiday, in memory of the Con- 
necticut Thanksgiving. There were all sorts of races and 
games. Col. Birge temporarily abdicated his position, and 
allowed the regiment to choose a colonel for the day. They 
selected Sergeant Ezra M. Hull of Newtown, who arrayed 
himself as an Indian chief, and issued a series of amusing 
orders founded on the rule that whoever should do any thing 
right during the day should be put into the guard-house. 
The orders were strictly enforced, and great fun resulted, 
though there were few offenders against the edict. Then a 
good dinner was provided. " The whole concluded with a 
sham dress-parade, in which the line-officers, in disguise, per- 
sonated a band of music, and the whole regiment, attired in 
a style that would have broken Falstaff''s heart, obeyed the 
standino; order to do nothing; rio-ht." 



The nine-months' Connecticut regiments — the Twenty- 
third, Twenty - fourth, Twenty -fifth, Twenty - sixth, and 



ARRIVAL AT SHIP ISLAND. 317 

Twenty-eighth — did not tarry many weeks on Long Island. 
On Nov. 29, 1862, the Twenty-third and Twenty-eighth 
broke camp at Centreville ; and seven companies of each 
marched to Atlantic Ferry, Brooklyn, and embarked on the 
steamer Che-Kiang (Sea-King) to join the forces of Gen. 
Banks, now assembling in the Gulf Department. About 
the same time, the Twenty-sixth and five companies of the 
Twenty-fifth crowded the steam-vessel Empire City ; and the 
rest took passage later on the Mary A. Boardman and Mer- 
rimack. Col. Almy found it impossible to get adequate trans- 
portation ; and the vessels were terribly overloaded, to the 
great injury of the health of the men. 

The first sea-sickness over, the soldier-passengers did not 
find it difficult to amuse themselves, and several pleasant 
days were passed. On the evening of Dec. 5, off Hat- 
teras, the usual storm burst upon the vessels in all its fury, 
threatening; to ino;ulf them. The Che-Kians^, with its 
freight of a thousand men, refused to obey the helm, and 
wallowed helpless in the trough of the sea, shivering under 
the mountainous weaves ; while flash after flash of lurid light- 
ning revealed the terrors of the situation. However, the 
vessels all weathered the storm, and at last, after touching 
at the Tortugas, arrived safely at the rude wharf of Ship 
Island, and disembarked. '^ This low sand-bank is the crea- 
tion of the restless Mexican Gulf It boasts but little vege- 
tation. A few grasses, cacti, flowering herbs and shrubs, and 
some stunted pines, exhaust the list. Nor is the fauna 
more extensive than the flora. A dilapidated cow and an 
untimely calf, some splendid horses and refractory mules, 
ugly alligators, venomous spiders, and spiteful mosquitoes, 
w^ould chiefly claim the attention of the naturalist. The 
encircling waves swarm with fish." ^ 

Here the regiments rested a few days, and inhaled fresh 
air, after their trying confinement ; then resumed their jour- 
ney, and passed up the river, depositing an overgrown mail 
at New Orleans. The Twenty-third and Twenty-eighth 
landed at Camp Parapet, the northerly defense of the city, 
on Dec. 17, and laid out a camp. 

1 Chaplain Richard Whcatley. 



318 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

Hcardly had the tents been pitched, and the wearied sol- 
diers begun to think of the night's rest, when orders came 
from headquarters for the Twenty-eighth to re-embark, and 
repair to Pensacola, FLa., to relieve the 91st New- York. In 
two hours, the regiment was again on board ; and the trans- 
port dropped down to the citj^, and proceeded through the 
Gulf, arriving at Pensacola on the 22d ; and the city appeared 
in sit^it when the vessel came over the bar ten miles off. 
" Its solitary church-spire, houses, and streets looked prettily 
enough to eyes so utterly tired of the briny deep; nor did 
it look less cosy and comfortable after a personal inspection. 
Three months were very pleasantly spent in that ancient, 
unenterprising city, with its singular population, gathered, 
apparently, out of every nation under heaven." ^ 

The city had already been encircled with a barricade of 
strong stakes and an abatis of tree-tops ; and a small fort and 
redoubt commanded the principal approaches. Under Gen. 
Neal Dow, the Twenty-eighth and two other regiments 
strengthened these works, added masked batteries, and made 
the place defensible. Chaplain Richard Wheatley, in a 
sketch of the regiment in the Stamford Advocate, says of 
the occupation of Pensacola, "F.^vored with good food, 
regular rest, clear skies, a balmy and delicious atmosphere, 
and an occasional scrimmage with the enemy, we should not 
have objected to spend the period of our enlistment there." 

But it was not so ordered. By direction of Gen. Banks, the 
city, being of no strategic importance, was evacuated ; and 
troops, ordnance, and materiel were removed to Fort Baran- 
cas and Warrington Navy-yard, eight miles west, and oppo- 
site Fort Pickens. At Pensacola died the amiable and 
popular Capt. Francis R. Leeds, formerly cashier of the 
Stamford Bank. Detained at home by typhoid fever when 
the regiment went away, he had not wholly recovered 
when he rejoined his comrades in Western Florida, and was 
received with general joy. In another week, he had fallen 
a victim to the climate of the South. There was genuine 
grief at his loss. 

The regiment now Comfortal)ly settled in the edge of the 

2 Narrative in Stamford Advocate, by Chaplain Eichard Wheatley. 



IN CAMP AT BATON ROUGE. 319 

pine-woods near Barancas. Seven weeks sped swiftly by 
while encamped on that lovely spot ; the loose and yielding 
sand absorbing the moisture as it fell, the rustling branches 
of the dark old pines affording some protection against the 
rays of the sun, and the heat attempered by the invigorating 
breezes that daily came in from the bright and beautiful 
Gulf. The camp was neat ; the tents admirably if not ele- 
gantly furnished ; the culinary arrangements hardly suggest- 
ing the privations of a state of war Here the winter 
(1862-3) wore pleasantly away. Of course, there was picket- 
duty and occasional alarms, disease and occasional death. 
Several faithful men went to sleep under the branches of the 
pines, whose leaves were vocal with a perpetual dirge in 
memory of the unreturning brave. 

The Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Regiments imme- 
diately ascended the Mississippi to Baton Rouge, landing on 
Dec. 17, as the rebels evacuated the town under the fire of 
our o:unboats. Aarain the national flag; was unfurled from 
the summit of the State House, and again a populous village 
of tents sprung up in the arsenal-grounds and the open 
places of the city. The Thirteenth also arrived about this 
time from the La-Fourche Campaign, and was at first with 
the Twenty-fourth, and afterwards with the Twenty-fifth, in 
a brigade under Col. Birge. The regiments suffered less 
than many others during this period of acclimation. 

The Twenty-sixth had remained with the Twenty-third at 
Camp Parapet, drilling, doing guard-duty, and on detached 
service. Some private soldiers died there ; and their remains 
were generally sent home in metallic coffins, by the compa- 
nies to w^hich they belonged. Not an officer of the Twenty- 
sixth died while in service. On Jan. 27, 1863, Lieut. Jonah 
F. Clark of the Thirteenth, from New Haven, fell a victim of 
fever. He was mourned as a gallant officer and a true man. 

The Thirteenth had left Thibodeau for Baton Roug;e on 
Dec. 27 ; but the Twelfth remained with Weitzel's brigade. 
Lieut.-Col. Colburn was made superintendent of the railroad, 
and Major Peck was in command of the latter regiment. 
In January, 1863, the brigade went on an expedition up the 
Teche to destroy the gunboat J. A. Cotton. 



320 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The inflmtry marched overland, sleeping the first night in 
a cornfield near Pattersonville. Next morning, the Twelfth 
went on in line of battle through a field of cane ; and before 
noon the huge boat was in plain view, and, being aground, 
she remained until they were quite abreast of her. After 
some of her men were shot by our sharpshooters along the 
bank, and under a terrible fire from our artillery, she backed 
off around a bend in the bayou. Her armament was power- 
ful, and she used it well while she could. The obstructions 
prevented our gunboats approaching. 

" After a few hours, her black smoke was seen at the bend 
in the bayou ; and all eyes were turned up the river as her 
shot plowed up the ground around us : but our line 
wavered not. In a moment, the artillery opened upon her, 
and taught her, by many a shot crashing through her wood- 
work, she must be ofi", or sink. We slept that night in a 
canefield, in the extreme advance. It was bitter cold, and 
a moderate rain added not a little to our discomfort. Our 
rations that day were raw pork and hard bread; but food never 
tasted better. By daylight next morning, we saw the bright 
fire made by the burning of the saucy gunboat. She was 
so disabled, the rebels concluded to fire her ; and she lies 
in the Teche a charred, unsightly mass." ^ 

The brigade now returned, and regained the camp at 
Thibodeau. In February, the Twelfth moved to Brashear 
City, and remained in Camp Reno and Bayou Boeuf during 
the remaining weeks of the early Southern spring. 

In March, Company A was detailed to go on board the 
sunboat Diana on a reconnoissance into Grand Lake. The 
rebels opened upon them so severely with artillery and 
musketry, that they were obliged to surrender. Lieut James 
L. Francis of Hartford was shot through the body. He had 
just returned to the regiment, having been taken prisoner 
at Labadieville ; and, after a few weeks on corn-meal in sev- 
eral of the Confederate prisons, was exchanged. Thirty 
men of Company A were captured. One private was killed, 
and several wounded. Company A's revolving rifle, a 
present from Col. Colt of Hartford, was fired while the am- 

8 Narrative in the Connecticut War Record. 



GALLANTRY OF LIEUT. BUCKLEY. 321 

munition lasted, and then taken apart, and thrown into the 
bayou in different places. 

" They are said to have fought with the greatest gallantry^ 
and only surrendered when surrounded by greatly superior 
numbers, after the boat had become disabled. After the gun- 
ners of the boat had been driven from their pieces by the 
enemy's sharpshooters, Lieut. William S. Buckley, with the 
assistance of a small boy, loaded and fired a 20-pound Parrott 
gun three times; the last time sending ramrod and all."^ 

* Official Report of Col. Frank H. Peck. 



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CHAPTER XXI. 

Spring Election of 1863. — The Peace Wing of the Democracy again Demonstrative. — 
Buckingham z^ersMs Seymour. — " No more War ! " — The Phitforms. — Gov. Seymour's 
Letter. — Appeals from the Connecticut Regiments in the Field. — Sharp Extracts. — 
The Vote. — Eaton's Resolutions in the Assembly. — After Fredericksburg. — The 
Eighth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-first at Newport News. — Siege of 
Suffolk. — Skirmishes and Reconnoissances. — Capture of Fort Huger. — Raising 
of the Siege. — Evacuation. — " The Blackberry Raid." 

RECEDING the spring election of 1863, the 
campaign was far more exciting than the last 
had been. Again the Democrats resolutely 
contested the State, this time boldly rallying 
mider the banner, " No more war." 
Two years of conflict had not seemed to carry forward 
the national army. The Confederates stoutly held about 
all they had at first claimed ; and recognition by foreign 
powers appeared to them nearer than ever. The Army of 
the Potomac, a hundred thousand strong, still struggled with 
Virginia mud within sight of Washington. The humiliating 
Peninsular campaign and Fredericksburg were behind, and 
Gettysburg and Vicksburg still ahead. President Lincoln, 
in the nation's dire strait, had just struck the Achilles heel 
of the Confederacy ; and the Republicans were called on to 
defend this " unconstitutional " blow at slavery, without yet 
being able to point to any of the compensating advantages 
that had been predicted. Some of the great Middle and 
Western States had just given Democratic majorities; and it 
was plain, that, in a close State like Connecticut, even the 
popular incumbent. Gov. Buckingham, might be defeated. 

Again the " peace men " gathered strength, increased in 
numbers, frankly avowed their principles ; declaring that 
the Union could be saved only by an immediate cessation 

322 



EXCITING POLITICAL CONTEST. 323 

of hostilities. The Democrats were somewhat elated, and 
entered the field with great spirit. Their State Convention 
assembled in Hartford in February; and by the shrewd 
management of Alfred E. Burr, editor of the Times, Hon. 
Thomas H. Seymour was nominated for governor. W. W. 
Eaton, the ablest and boldest advocate of the peace doctrine, 
reported the platform of the party. 

The resolutions set forth that " the United States are a 
confederacy of States co-equal in sovereignty and political 
power ; " and that " the Administration has, for nearly two 
years, been in armed collision with the people of more than 
one-third of the States composing this Confederacy ; " and 
declared, " while we denounce the heresy of secession as 
unwarranted by the Constitution, the time has now come 
when all true lovers of the Constitution are ready to 
abandon the ' monstrous fallacy ' that the Union can be 
restored by the armed hand." They further called on all to 
unite in saving the Union by withdrawing our army from 
the field, and proposing a compromise. 

The Republicans opened the campaign with equal earnest- 
ness ; renominating Gov. Buckingham, declaring plainly for , 
the suppression of the Rebellion by war, and avowing that 
" the Emancipation Proclamation has our hearty support as 
a measure of military necessity alike expedient and just." 

Both conventions thanked the soldiers in the field for 
their patient endurance and courage, and both parties em- 
ployed the usual weapons. 

The Democratic candidate for governor had, a short time 
before, written an anti-war letter to a Thomas Lawrence of 
New York. A copy of this was found in the possession 
of Capt. Gladding of the rebel navy, detained at Hilton 
Head as a spy ; and it was greedily seized and published 
by the Republican papers over and over. The Hartford 
Times accepted it in Mr. Seymour's name, and declared 
that it was "a splendid letter." The following are some 
extracts, rendered important by the fact that the epistle was 
made his platform : — 

. "Your allusion to 'constitutional liberty ' suggests pain- 
ful reflections. Since the inauguration of this war, the men in power at 



324 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Washington have been robbing us of our rights. The great safeguards of 
the citizen, protecting him against illegal arrests and false imprisonments, 
have been struck down bj ignorant or wicked rulers. 

" I abhor the whole scheme of Southern invasion, with all its horrible 
consequences of rapine and plunder. You cannot but see, sir, what thou- 
sands of us are beginning to see, that no Union can be got in this way. 
The war might have been avoided, and the Union saved. This is getting 
lo be the prevailing opinion. And it would have been avoided, but for a 
frantic set of men besieging the president, and who wanted blood and plun- 
der. They have got both, and humanity weeps over the wrecks of body 
and soul. Those who drive the car of war at this time have no more idea 
of saving the Union by their bloody sacrifices of this sort than they have 
of changing the course of nature. Still they go on. 

" In presence of the appalling fact, which should haunt them like a ghost 
of the damned, that we are losing our young men at the rate of 'twenty 
thousand a mouth, aside from those who fall in battle,' — in presence of all 
this, they demand new levies for the hospitals, the marshes, the ditches, 
and the gunboat shambles. 

" Depend upon it. Heaven will frown on such a cause as this : it can 
not and will not come to good. I would rather have the good opinion of 
fellow-citizens, who, like yourself, have given me their sympathy in a time 
of some considerable trial for one's faith, than to be first among the slayers 
of kindred, or wear the bloody laurels they may gather in a fratricidal war. 
I doubt if the Union can be restored at all : things have gone so far now, 
that the only possible chance will be by the adoption of a Christian policy, 
very different from that which pi-evails at Washington at the present 
time. 

" Though I only know you, sir, by your very kind letter, I shall not 
soon forget that it was written, or by whom." 

Dr. Crary of Hartford being among the vice-presidents of 
a Democratic mass-meeting in Hartford, the Press next 
day copied the following certificate of a birth returned to 
the register's office by him : — 

"Father, — Leverett B. Owen; house. Main Street. Occupation, — 
Oflf South, murdering as many of our brethren there as possible " 

The campaign was bitter. The passions of the State were 
roused ; and the soldiers at the front, having no immediate 
fight of their own, took a hand in this. Almost every regi- 
ment of the twenty-four in the field adopted an " Appeal to 
the Citizens of Connecticut " to re-elect Gov. Buckingham. 
These ransjed in leno;th from one-half to a whole news- 
paper column each ; and they were generally adopted by 
unanimous acclamation, and signed by nearly every officer 
on duty. 

The appeal from the Twentieth came first. It was signed 



APPEALS FROM THE REGIMENTS. 325 

by Col. Eoss, and indorsed " unanimously adopted by officers 
and men." The followins; is an extract : — 

" The cry of ' peace ' is too old to deceive an intelligent patriot. We 
remember that the ' peace-men ' of the Revolution fled to British men-of- 
war. We remember that the ' peace-men ' of 1812 furnished the enemy 
with supplies, or sought refuge from conscription by cowardly flights to 
Canada. We know of no definition for ' peace-men ' in time of war but 
enemies of the government which protects and defends them. 

" Let the people of Connecticut remember that the issue is fairly before 
them, whether they will make a cowardly surrender of the cause of free 
government ; whether they will basely desert the thousands who are fight- 
ing their battles to strengthen the arms and direct the bayonets of the foe ; 
whether they will cast contumely upon the noble dead who have already 
fallen in this struggle, and whose headstones point the way to duty. We 
are willing still to bear the hardships and brave the dangers of the field : 
we call upon you to decide whether you will sustain us, or give comfort 
and strength to our enemies. To us the Southern skies are brightening 
with the light of hope : let not defeat at home turn back ' the shadow on 
the dial.' " 

The following is a paragraph from the appeal of the Nine- 
teenth : it was signed by more than four hundred officers 
and men, whose names were published in the Litchfield 
Enquirer : — 

" Men of Connecticut ! did you encourage us by your bounties, your 
banners, your words, and deeds, to leave homes, friends, every thing, to 
fight Southern rebels, only that we might look back, and see foes not less 
malignant, and not less dangerous, assailing us from behind ? We pray 
you not to crush our resolution and palsy our arms by electing for your 
governor and ours a man who hopes for our defeat and humiliation." 

The Connecticut regiments in the 9th Corps at Newport 
News sent forward an earnest address, somewhat acrimonious 
withal, from which the following is a quotation : — 

" Yie may justly feel a soldier's respect for our foes on the James and 
the Rappahannock on account of their skill and courage ; but towards the 
enemies of the Republic on the Thames, the Connecticut, and the Housa- 
tonic, we can have no other feelings than those of unmitigated scorn and 
contempt. The former are foemen worthy of our steel ; for the latter we 
feel no such chivalrous regard." 

This appeal, of a column, was signed by eighteen com- 
missioned officers of the Eighth, eleven of the Eleventh, 
seventeen of the Fifteenth, eighteen of the Sixteenth, and 
twenty-three of the Twenty-first, — nearly all that were 
present. 

On March 8, a soldier in the Twenty-second wrote to 



326 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

the Hartford Times, that three-fourths of the regiment were 
Democrats. On the 10th, he wrote, that, on the previous 
day, they were marched out in column by company, and " the 
colonel told them that the officers had unanimously adopted 
the resolutions for Buckingham. The adjutant then read 
them, and put them to vote, asking all who approved to say, 
' Yes,' and all who disapproved to say, ^ No.' The ' Yes,' " 
says the correspondent, " was freely given by Republicans 
and Democrats together. When the dissentients were called 
upon to speak out, not one man dared to raise his voice. 
Even the boldest would not dare to record his dissentient 
vote whilst out here in Virginia." 

The Fourteenth, in camp near Plymouth, passed similar 
resolutions, brief and unambiguous. 

The Seventeenth, just getting ready to march to battle, 
unanimously wrote to Fairfield County, — 

" Can it be true that any considerable number of you, fellow-citizens, 
will be enticed by base appeals to the meanest motives that can actuate 
niankiud, — those of avarice and cowardice, — to be false to your professions 
and pledges to us, recreant to your principles, and traitors to the thousands of 
your gallant brothers and countrymen with us in the field ? We can not 
believe it. Plere, in the very tramp and bustle of movement to actual 
conflict, we, your sons, your brothers, and your friends, as the last appeal 
which we may make to you on earth, implore you to redeem your pledges, 
and be true to your duty." 

The Twelfth, at Brashear City, issued an appeal of unusual 
eloquence, of which the following sentences are extracts : — 

" "We call on Connecticut citizens to be as brave by their firesides as they 
expect Connecticut soldiers to be on the battle-field. We call on you, 
across a thousand miles of hostile territory, so to decide that we can look 
into the eyes of our Southern friends and our Southern foes, without being 
ashamed of you. When we face the rebel cannon, we do not wish to see 
your masses behind them giving them better support than that of their 
own infantry. And if Connecticut joins her voice with that of our own 
enemies^ and the enemies of our country^ we do not desire ever to tread her 
soil again. 

The enlisted men of the Seventh held a meeting, where 
they had songs and speeches, and passed, almost imani- 
mously, resolutions concurrent in spirit with the above. The 
ofiicers signed and sent home an appeal (written by Col. 
Hawley), of which the following is a paragraph: — 



MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE. 327 

"Fellow-citizens of New-Haven County, remember your own Hitch- 
cock who died so nobly, and your adopted citizen the lion-hearted William 
Kay, who, with his wounds yet unhealed, hastened to another and fatal 
field of battle. Citizens of Hai'tford County, recall to mind Upson and 
William Soby and Francis Brainard. Men of Litchfield County, remem- 
ber Palmer, the idol of his home and of his command, and Serijeant 
Reynolds. People of Windham County, remember your own Hibbard 
and Corbin. Citizens of Fairfield County, do not forget Starr, and the 
brave Thomas Horton, and Holmes, dying a prisoner, and wounded, and 
Eaton and Cooke. Men of New-London County, remember Joab Jeffrey. 
Remember these, your brothers and ours, and a multitude besides ; and for 
God's sake do not dishonor their fresh graves by declaring that they died 
in a fool's cause ! " 

Such appeals as these, signed in camp and hospital, on 
the hasty march and at the nightly bivouac, could not be 
unheeded in the canvass. The Democrats received them 
with the assertion that soldiers had no rig-ht to meddle in 
the affairs of the State, or that the dissentients had not been 
permitted to express themselves ; and the radical peace-men, 
sincere in their earnest jourpose, went from town to town, 
and from house to house, and, in the name of the Prince of 
Peace, besought the men who had sons or brothers at the 
front to stop the unholy war, and save the lives of their 
kinsmen. 

The Republicans prosecuted the campaign with an energy 
that could not have been mustered a few weeks before; and 
the little State was rocked from end to end with the fierce 
and turbulent passions of partisan foes. Many soldiers came 
home to vote. 

Yet all the agencies Republicans could bring to their aid 
barely saved the State, always close in contested elections. 
Buckingham was re-elected by a majority of 2,637 in a total 
vote of 79,427, — a poll of nine thousand over the total vote 
of 1862, and more than two thousand over the aggregate 
presidential vote of 1860. 

The General Assembly convened at Hartford on May 6 ; 
the Democrats having eight members of the Senate, and 
about ninety members of the House. The Senate organized 
by the election of G. W. Phillips as president pro tempore ; 
and Erastus S. Day was chosen clerk. The House elected 
Hon. Chauncey F. Cleveland, speaker, and H. Lynde Har- 
rison and William T. Elmer, clerks. 



328 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Gov. Buckingham in his message, delivered in the darkest 
day of the war, just after the bloody repulse at Chancellors- 
ville, spoke the words of courage and hope. He said, — 

" The conflict inaugurated at Sumter niust go on until the government shall 
conquer or be conquered. Let no one be deceived by the artful device of 
securing peace by a cessation of hostilities, or by yielding the claims of our 
enemies. A peace thus obtained would cost a nation's birthright ; while our 
adversaries design a perpetual separation of the United States, and proclaim 
from every public assembly, from every legislative hall, and from every 
battle-field, their determination to continue the war until their independence 
shall be acknowledged. . . . Civil war is cruelty. Its fruits are desolation, 
sorrow, and death. Fear, hesitation, and a timid use of the forces of war 
to check its progress, will eventually increase the terrible sufferings. They 
will be diminished by courage, vigor, and severity. Humanity demands 
that we should endeavor to overcome the power and spirit of the enemy by 
assaulting his most vulnerable point, and by following up every advantage 
we may gain by the use of all the means which God and Nature shall place 
at our command. . . . Would it not be right for the parricide to perish by 
the instrument which he had forged for the life of his guardian and protector ? 

"Whatever of trial, suffering, or privation, may be in store for us, or 
however long may be the controversy, firm in the faith that our nation will 
be preserved in its integrity, let us, in adversity as well as in prosperity, in 
darkness as well as in light, give the Administration our counsel, our con- 
fidence, and our support ; that its power may drive those who have conspired 
against the liberties of the people, as vagabonds and fugitives through the 
earth, or inflict upon them the penalties justly due for their treason. Let 
the retribution be so terrible, that future generations shall not dare to repeat 
the crime. Then, and then only, shall the wrongs of an outraged people 
be avenged, human rights be vindicated, and constitutional authority be 
re-established." 

William W. Eaton, on May 13, introduced a series of reso- 
lutions known as the " Vallandigham Resolutions," which 
were under discussion for weeks, and created more excite- 
ment than any other political proposition ever presented to 
the General Assembly of Connecticut. 

Clement L. Vallandigham had just been arrested, tried by 
court-martial, and sent beyond the Confederate lines, for 
inciting to rebellion by certain seditious speeches in Ohio ; 
and the preamble set forth that his arrest was in wanton dis- 
regard of his constitutional rights, and the first resolution 
denounced it accordingly. The succeeding resolutions em- 
bodied, in the following cautious language, the doctrines of 
Calhoun, the principles whereby Jefferson Davis and his 
coadjutors sought to justify their treason : — 

2d, That the General Assembly of Connecticut doth unequivocally 
express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution of the 



DEBATE ON THE PEACE EESOLUTIONS. 329 

United States aud the Constitution of this State, against every aggression, 
either foreign or domestic ; and that they will support the Federal Adminis- 
tration in every measure warranted by the former. 

3d, That this Assembly dolh explicitly and peremptorily declare that it 
views the powers of the Federal Government as resulting from the compact 
to which the States are parties ; as limited by the plain sense and intention 
of the instrument constituting that compact ; as no further valid than they 
are authorized by the grants enumerated therein ; and that in case of a 
deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted 
by the said compact, the States who are parties thereto have the right, and 
are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, 
and for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and 
liberties appertaining to them. 

These resolutions, plainly affirming the right of any State 
to resist the Federal Government whenever that government 
goes beyond the spirit and letter of the Constitution, and 
making a raajjority of the people of any single State the sole 
and final judge whether the Constitution has been so vio- 
lated, raised the very question which was being debated with 
savage emphasis by the thinking -bayonets and throbbing 
cannon at the front, — the question, " Is the United States a 
nation, or a voluntary copartnership ? " 

Nearly every prominent member of the House spoke upon 
one side or the other; and the floor and galleries were daily 
crowded. Mr. Eaton delivered the most carefully-prepared 
argument in favor of the passage of the resolutions, showing 
great power and scholarly research ; and Col. Dexter li. 
Wright, the recognized Republican leader, in a masterly 
speech of considerable length, eloquently maintained the 
duty of loyalty to the Federal Union, and roused the House 
and galleries to a high pitch of enthusiasm. 

On June 24, a vote was taken ; and the resolutions re- 
ceived the ninety-four votes of the Democrats in favor, and 
one hundred and twenty-seven votes of Republicans against ; 
twelve members beincr absent. The effect of the discussion 

o 

was to unite the Republicans more heartily in the prosecu- 
tion of the war, and to commit the Democracy of the State 
more decidedly to the position of hostility, — an attitude 
which the party now seemed to have officially assumed. 

Laws were enacted authorizing State banks to change to 
National ; appropriating the interest of the Agricultural-col- 
lege Fund to the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale ; and, 

42 



330 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

early in the session, a bill introducecl by Sherwood Sterling 
of Fairfield became a law, passed by a strict party-vote, 
enabling persons holding funds in a fiduciary capacity to 
invest the same in State and National bonds. 

Other States had repeatedly furnished regiments of their 
militia, for short periods, to meet exigencies of the govern- 
ment ; and it was felt desirnble that Connecticut should be 
able to respond similarly. The existing militia-law having 
become practically a dead letter. Col. VAight, chairman of 
the military committee, prepared a bill which provided for 
a compensated volunteer force, not to exceed ten thousand 
men. This force was to be armed, uniformed, and equipped 
by the State ; and the several regiments were to be drilled 
at an encampment one week in every year : the commuta- 
tion-tax to be paid by the inactive militia to be about equal 
to the annual expense of the whole system ; and the gov- 
ernor to have the power of turning over any portion of 
this force to the General Government for short service. 
The bill met with violent opposition from the Democrats, 
and was finally lost between tlie two houses. A law simi- 
lar in its leading features was enacted by the stronger Re- 
publican legislature of 1864 and 1865 ; and under this an 
efficient militia was organized. 



The smoke rose, and floated off from the hard-fought 
field of Fredericksburg ; the wounded were sent home ; the 
dead were buried ; and thinned ranks answered the morn- 
ing roll-call. The Twenty-first was now wdth the 4th Rhode- 
Island, the 25th New-Jersey, and the 13th New-Hamp- 
shire, in a brigade commanded by Col. Arthur H. Dut- 
ton ; leaving the regiment under Lieut.-Col. Burpee. The 
Eighth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Connecticut Re- 
ofiments were still brio-aded tOsrether. Burnside resolved 

o DO 

upon another attack on the enemy's works ; and the regi- 
ments that were to form the right had moved several miles 
up the river, when a severe and protracted storm rendered 
the assault impracticable. It was consequently abandoned ; 
and the men marched back in rain and mud. The command- / 



THE CONNECTICUT BEIGADE AT SUFFOLK. 33^ 

ing general was soon succeeded by Hooker ; and once more 
the picket reported, " All quiet along the Rappahannock." 

After this the time passed for weeks with only the old 
daily routine of duty, and nothing of importance to vary the 
sameness of soldier-life, except that now and then the 
muffled drum sounded out the departure of a comrade to 
another life. Rations were scanty, the weather was inclem- 
ent, and disease active. 

At last marching-orders broke the comparative quiet. On 
Friday, Feb. 6 (1863), the regiments of the 9th Army Corps 
bade adieu to Falmouth. The Connecticut brigade evacu- 
ated Camp Mud, as they had designated their location, and 
took the cars for Acquia Creek. Here they embarked on 
transports. Precisely at noon of the 8th, the signal for 
departure sounded ; and next morning they found themselves 
at Fortress Monroe. In the afternoon, they proceeded to 
Newport News, and pitched their tents. 

Here a quiet month was passed in log-barracks, when on 
March 13 they went to Norfolk in transports, and thence by 
rail to Suffolk. The Connecticut brigade went into camp 
close by the town, in Gen. Peck's division. The programme 
was now somewhat changed ; for, instead of daily drills with 
the musket, the men were exercised in " the manual of the 
shovel and the hoe," excavating rifle-pits and erecting forti- 
fications. The Twenty-first was ordered about four miles 
below Sufiblk, upon the Nansemond River, to build a fort. 
Here they laid out a splendid camp ; and much ingenuity 
was displayed in the construction of rustic seats and chairs, 
ancl other articles of camp-furniture. They also planned a 
fort called Fort Connecticut, and worked upon it daily until 
it was nearly completed ; when, the siege of Sufiblk having 
commenced, they left it yet unfinished on the 11th of April, 
and proceeded to the defense of the city. 

Meantime the other Connecticut regiments had sprung 
into line at the sound of the long-roll ; and the alarm was 
repeated from night to night. The men slept on their arms. 
At last the pickets were driven in, and Longstreet began 
the siege of Sufiblk. Gen. Getty commanded the Federal 
troops. During the succeeding weeks, considerable valor and 



332 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

vigilance were expended on both sides over the possession 
of a town so utterly without strategic importance as not to 
be worth either capturing or defending. April 14, the regi- 
ments went into their rifle-pits ; and during the night, and 
everv subsequent night, there was more or less skirmishing 
between the pickets, but no battle. The works of defense 
were unfinished ; and the alarms, watchings, and constant 
fatigue-duty, were very exhausting and dispiriting. It was 
•not long before the men became pretty thoroughly disgusted, 
feeling (for even enlisted men frequently took that liberty) 
the uselessness of the work upon which they were engaged. 

About this time, the Twenty-second Regiment left its camp 
at Arlington, and joined the forces at Suffolk. The men 
worked for a time on Fort Connecticut and the Nansemond 
sand-batteries. They also helped to construct the miles of 
rifle-pits, and were out on picket almost constantly. Here 
the regiment found soldiers' fare, and suffered much from 
privation and exposure. 

The Twenty-first picketed on the Nansemond, below the 
city ; the rebels holding the opposite bank. At first the 
pickets shot at each other; but their hostility relaxed; so 
that they began to converse familiarly together, and in some 
instances they swam the river and shook hands. 

A single brilliant episode relieved the dullness of the siege. 
It occurred on April 19, — a patriotic anniversary which 
might stimulate any American to deeds of valor. 

The rebels had advanced cautiously to a slight elevation 
near the west bank of the Nansemond, and re-occupied Fort 
Huger, an old but unnoticed work of theirs, known to our 
troops as Hill's Point Battery, refitting it, and planting 
five new brass guns, — four 12-pounder howitzers, and one 
24-pounder. 

The fortification was so located at a bend as to sweep the 
stream for a long distance, annoying our gunboats exceed- 
ingly, and rendering all operations near that point quite 
perilous. It was thought best to dislodge the rebels. Late 
in the afternoon, six companies of the Eighth Connecticut, 
with six companies of the 89th New- York, in all about two 
hundred and eighty men, commanded by Col. John E. Ward 



CAPTURE OF A REBEL BATTERY. 333 

of the Eighth, were embarked on board the gunboat Step- 
ping Stones. A canvas screen drawn up around the boat 
effectually concealed the men. The orders from Gen. Getty 
were, " When the boat touches land, get off at once. Do not 
stop to call the roll or form a line, but let each officer rally 
all the men he can ; push right forward, and take the bat- 
tery." After these orders, the gunboat steamed up the river 
as if to run past the battery ; and the rebels made ready to 
fire. They waited for her to come past a small bluff which 
sheltered the boat for a short distance from the view and 
the fire of the enemy. Instead of passing, she quickly 
turned, and made for shore. As she struck, the gang-planks 
were shoved off. The boat swung round with the current, 
making the gang-planks useless ; but the men leaped into 
the mud and water up to their arm-pits, rushed along the 
side of the friendly bluff and into a small ravine which led 
around past the rear of the intrenchments. The rebels, dis- 
covering the ruse, now opened a sharp fire of musketry. 
Companies and regiments were hopelessly interspersed and 
commingled. Pausing a moment, they rallied around the offi- 
cers indiscriminately ; then, Lieut. H. E. Morgan taking the 
lead, started at full run along the ravine, up the banks, over 
the rifle-pits, and into the enemy's works, without firing a 
shot. " We cave ! " screamed the astonished rebels : " we 
cave ! don't fire, don't fire ! " And the boys did not ; for the 
victory was won. 

The Connecticut and New- York soldiers were side by side. 
Both battalions dashed into the works together ; and the two 
old standards, torn by bullets in many battles, were planted 
on the breastworks. 

But the task was not ended. " Work quickly, boys ! " was 
the word. The prisoners, a hundred and twelve in num- 
ber, were marched on board the gunboat ; and the howitzers 
were rolled out of the works across a plowed field, and, 
within fifteen minutes, drawn to the beach. 

Hardly were the prisoners secured, when the rebels were 
seen swarming from the adjacent woods to retake the battery. 
The guns just captured were ranged as by magic around the 
bluff, and turned upon them with deadly effect. Meanwhile 



334 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

the marines had, with great labor and celerity, transferred 
several howitzers from the gunboat to the bank, and then 
dragged them up the bluff. They, too, opened on the rebels 
at the edo-e of the woods and in the woods with wonderful 

o 

rapidity and accuracy. 

The rebels fell back. By this time, the other four compa- 
nies of the Eighth were ferried over ; pickets were thrown out 
one-fourth of a mile ; and the whole remaining force were set 
at work vigorously digging rifle-pits in the rear of the in- 
trenchments. The pickets were once driven in, but soon 
rallied, and again took their position. 

To capture a strong battery with two hundred men, while 
thousands of rebel troops were within a mile, is no common 
achievement ; and the men were proud of the feat. 

The coolness and fearlessness of Col. Ward won for him 
the admiration and abiding confidence of the veterans of his 
regiment. 

The Union position in front of Suffolk was still almost 
incessantly shelled. The men had been without proper 
rations, and those in front obtained little refreshing sleep. 
On April 24, the whole division moved south and west on a 
reconnoissance in force. The Connecticut brigade advanced 
southward on the Edenton Road, under Gen. Corcoran ; the 
Eighth being left to hold the position if attacked. 

The companies of Capts. Luther G. Riggs and E. B. Pres- 
ton of the Twenty-second were placed in support of a Wis- 
consin battery that did good execution. The Sixteenth was 
deployed to skirmish at the head of the column, and its com- 
panies moved forward on both sides of the road. After pro- 
ceeding half a mile, they encountered the enemy's pickets, 
and pushed them back steadily for an hour, replying rapidly 
to the rebel musketry-fire. The Eleventh advanced in line 
' of battle on the right, and the Fifteenth on the left. The 
enemy was driven from his rifle-pits and into his batteries. 
At dark, the force was recalled. 

On May 3, another reconnoissance in force was made to 
hasten the raising of the siege already begun by Longstreet. 
A force, including the Eleventh, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Con- 
necticut Regiments, advanced across the Nansemond, north- 



CASUALTIES DUEING THE SIEGE. 335 

westward towards the Black water, along the Providence- 
church Road. The enemy skirmished spiritedly, still falling 
back, and that night departed from the front. 

The Twenty-first had marched down the river, north, to 
Sleepy Hole, with a section of the Wisconsin battery, crossed 
the broad Nansemond at three in the morning, and pushed 
directly into the enemy's country westward. Major Hiram 
B. Crosby led the regiment; Col. Button being in command 
of the 3d Provisional Brigade. As they advanced, the rebels 
fell back to the village of Chuckatuck, and retreated through 
it. Major Crosby ordered Capt. William Spittle, with com- 
panies, to skirmish along the Reed's-ferry Road, while another 
company took the road to Everett's Bridge. On the latter, 
the rebels in ambush fired upon our force, killing one, and 
wounding two. They were soon driven off, and the regiment 
again advanced. When approaching the West Branch, the 
skirmishers, under Capts. Spittle, J. H. Shepard, and N. A. 
Belden, were again sharply engaged ; the skirmish resulting 
in the capture of one rebel officer and fifteen privates. 

Major Crosby tried to form a junction with the forces at 
the left, but found that they had all been withdrawn, and the 
regiment was unsupported. It then returned to the river, 
threw up intrenchments, and encamped behind them for the 
night, recrossing the river next morning. The regiment 
received the thanks of Gen. Getty. 

During the siege, the Eighth had lost two killed and four 
wounded ; the Eleventh, one killed and four wounded ; the 
Fifteenth, two killed and seven wounded ; the Sixteenth, six 
killed and twelve wounded ; the Twenty-first, two killed and 
five wounded. 

Capt. Charles A. Tennant of the Sixteenth (from tlart- 
ford) received a severe flesh-wound in the right thigh in the 
affair across the Nansemond. He was taken to Fortress 
Monroe, where he died in hospital on the 24th, of lockjaw. 
He went out as second lieutentant, and was one of the best 
officers in the regiment. 

Lieut.-Col. John H. Burnham of the Sixteenth was wounded, 
also Capt. Randall H. Rice of the Eleventh. 

An officer of the Eighth wrote, " For about two weeks 



336 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

we were kept busy at making gabions [barrel-shaped baskets 
open at both ends, to hold the earth in the construction of 
forts] and building a corduroy road. Our works, unlike those 
attributed to good men, will not probably live after us. As we 
failed to feel the importance of building the road, and did 
not think that a reputation for great mechanical skill would 
be for our advantage while in the field, we took care not to 
earn such a reputation. The boys styled themselves, after 
the manner of sensational authors, ' Peck's Avengers ; or, the 
Basket-Makers of the Nansemond.' " 

On May 5, the Twenty-second Regiment went to West 
Point, at the head of the York River. Here it remained a 
month, the men working on rifle-pits, breastworks, for- 
tifications, building military roads and bomb-proofs, and 
doing picket-duty. The force went on an expedition to 
White House, within twelve miles of Richmond, the very 
spot where Stonewall Jackson cut McClellan from his base 
of supplies a year before ; and, as the peril became realized. 
Gen. Dix withdrew the division to Yorktown. On June 9, 
the troops began a reconnoissance in force, marching to Wil- 
liamsburg, Fort Magruder, Barhamsville, and the Chicka- 
hominy^; remaining out a week. The Twentj-second lost a 
colored servant killed by guerrillas, — the only man con- 
nected with the regiment who was shot by the enemy during 
its term of service. 

About the middle of June, Gen. Getty evacuated Suffolk, 
and fell back north-eastward to Portsmouth, across the Eliza- 
beth River from Norfolk, and almost within sight of Fortress 
Monroe, rising over the broad James only twelve miles dis- 
tant. Here they occupied some incomplete fortifications, 
and fell at work to finish them. 

During the last week in June, 1863, while the armies 
of Hooker and Lee were going towards Gettysburg, Gen. 
John A. Dix conceived the idea of moving on Richmond, 
up the peninsula; hoping to draw off Confederate troops 
from the Army of Virginia. Gen. Getty's division was 
immediately started from Getty's Station on transports, and 
moved around to Yorktown. Here the troops remained two 
days, the few rebels on the peninsula giving them plenty 



FORAGING AND MARAUDING. 337 

of room. The movement was continued up to White House, 
where the Twenty-first Connecticut was detached for provost- 
duty ; Col. Button still commanding the brigade. 

'At six o'clock on the morning of July 1, the force crossed 
the Pamunkey River at White House, on the railroad bridge. 
The day was extremely hot; but the column moved slowly 
northward, passing Lanesville and King William Court 
House, encountering no enemy. The Connecticut brigade 
bivouacked in a clover-patch of a Mr. Pemberton, while 
the horses were turned loose in fields of juicy oats. Mr. 
Pemberton was away at a meeting ; and every man for miles 
around was absent, — "gone to mill," "gone to see his sister," 
gone to an indefinite meeting at some indefinite place for 
some indefinite purpose. 

Next day the force made eleven miles more, passing still 
westward towards Mongohick. Chaplain Morris, in a letter 
to the Palladium on that day, said, " There is a general 
order strictly prohibiting foraging by irresponsible parties ; 
but I regret to say that it is openly disregarded in some 
regiments by both officers and men. The woods resound 
with the crack of the rifle ; and in all directions men are 
entering camp loaded with poultry, fresh pork, beef, and 
mutton. In an adjoining field, while I am writing, there lie 
as many as fifty sheep-skins. 

" We passed just after mid-day the princely mansion of 
Dr. Fountain, whose wife is a daughter of Patrick Henry, 
and is an outspoken and zealous rebel. The planter had 
gone to Richmond ; and the woi^ien fled in terror at our 
approach, leaving the splendid establishment in the hands of 
the blacks. When we arrived, marauders had been before 
us. Every chair and table was broken, marble tables and 
mantels, mirrors and picture-frames, smashed to fragments ; 
one old family portrait was cut from top to bottom, and 
hopelessly ruined ; bureaus were broken open, destroyed, 
and their contents torn and scattered and trampled by 
muddy boots ; bedposts were spHt in twain by axes ; jars of 
preserves were dashed against the clean white walls; a 
splendid library was tumbled from the shelves, and many 
books chopped in two and stamped to pieces. Nothing 



338 CONNECTICUT DURING THE KEBELLION. 

escaped the ax, or the butt of the musket: every room 
was strewn thickly with fragments and tatters, bedaubed 
and unsightly where every thing had been costly and 
tasteful. 

" The indignation of Gen. Getty, and of every decent 
man, was unbounded. A guard was immediately posted, 
and every effort made to detect the miscreants. Several 
were arrested, anS tried this afternoon by a drumhead court- 
martial ; but I regret to say the evidence was too meager 
to convict any of the despicable knaves. The perpetrators 
doubtless were professional stragglers. A majority of the 
soldiers, I am happy to say, condemn and execrate such 
men, and would deem the death-penalty inadequate pun- 
ishment." 

On July 3, the Connecticut brigade had the advance, the 
Eit>-lith out as skirmishers. It was fiercely hot, and many 
fell sun-struck. Surgeon Sabin Stocking of the Eighth, 
and the chaplain, impressed from the plantations along the 
march all the horses, mules, carriages, and carts they could 
discover to transport the loads of sick and fainting men. It 
was a motley collection of carts and gigs, of colts, toothless 
nags, and broken-down mules, uniform only in leanness and 
worthlessness ; but they served the purpose to the extent of 
their feeble ability, and \ ^ere turned loose at the journey's 
end. At night, the force reached a point due north from 
Richmond, opposite Hanover Court House, on the Pamun- 
key. 

The next day, the 4th of July, was spent near the bivouac, 
on the plantation of Mr. John Taylor, one of three wealthy 
brothers, — a keen, cruel, sensual man, and a bitter rebel. 
Mr. Taylor was in a frame of mind to enjoy the day and the 
scene. Being a wily, fluent, and vehement talker, well 
posted in political history, and not at all backward in de- 
claring his views, he volunteered to make a speech to the 
sokliers from his porch. Some of his slaves and quadroon 
women were peeping from the windows of the mansion. 
His wife had long been divorced. He spoke of the " inva- 
sion of the South," but especially of slavery, in regard to 
the workings of which he claimed to be well informed. He 



A BLACKBEREY EAID. 339 

said it was a patriarchal institution, good for the happiness 
of both races. He spoke freely of his kindness and gentle 
care of his slaves; admitted that he had to punish them 
occasionally, but explained that he stood in a paternal rela- 
tion to them (which, in many cases, was believed to be the 
exact truth); that they regarded his correction as inflicted for 
their own good ; and that they were devoted to him, and ready 
to do or die for him. Deluded orator ! at that very instant 
the hiding-place of his own son, a member of Stuart's cavalry, 
now home on furlough, had been betrayed by some of his 
most trusted "servants;" and others were pointing out his 
secreted treasures of meat, wine, grain, and store ; while 
every black that could hobble was gathering what he could 
to " tote " to the land of freedom. 

In the mean time, it transpired that the Connecticut brigade 
had been left as a reserve to assist Mr. Taylor in a proper 
celebration of Independence Day; while the other regiments 
of the division had tried to cross the Pamunkey into Han- 
over for the purpose of destroying the Richmond and Fred- 
ericksburg Railroad. The passage of the river was success- 
fully resisted ; and, after burning a bridge or two, they 
returned to Taylor's next day. The expedition was sub- 
stantially a failure, and the troops felt disheartened as they 
turned their faces again to the rear; their chagrin being 
modified, however, by exhilarating rumors from Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Early fruits were in their prime, and the troops lived 
voluptuously. The soldiers from the hard hills of New 
England had never before seen such a wealth of berries, 
especially of running blackberries, as now bestrewed the 
route of march. A man could sit upon the ground, and, 
without changing his position, pick as many as he could 
eat. An officer recalling this time says, " I picked a 
water-pail three-quarters full from the vines within my 
tent." These promoted the health of officers and men, pre- 
viously inclined to dysentery; and the column returned 
rapidly and in good spirits, five hundred thoughtless, care- 
less, jolly contrabands swarming upon the flanks and rear. 



340 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

The return through White House, WilUamsburg, and 
Yorktown, to Hampton, was made on foot, through a region 
too poor for plunder; and the division crossed the Roads 
next day, and again quietly encamped for rest and drill, 
cheering over the news from Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and 
resolutely subduing their feelings of pride as they rehearsed 
the achievements of " The Blackberry Raid." 




CHAPTER XXIL 

The Tenth Connecticut Volunteers at Newherne. — Expedition to the Interior. — The 
Tarborough Scout. — Forage and Rations. — An .Incident of Slavery. — The Battle 
of Kinston. — The Tenth at the Front. — The Contest for the Bridge. — Compli- 
mented by Gen. Foster. — Heavy Losses. — The Eailroad destroyed at Goldsborough. 
— Gallantry. — To St. Helena Island. — Camp and Surroundings. — The Eighteenth 
Connecticut Volunteers still at Baltimore. — Joins Milroy at Winchester. — The 
Situation. — Battle of the First Day. — The Second Day at the Intrenchments. — The 
Evacuation. — The Charge into the "Woods. — Surrender of the Eighteenth. — Casu- 
alties. — Colors saved. — Prison Life. 

EANTIME, in the summer of 1862, the Tenth 
staid at Newberne ; recovering its strength, 
and attaining admirable discipline. Major Pet- 
tibone had been promoted to be colonel, and 
Capt. Pardee became lieutenant-colonel. The 
latter resigned, however, in September, and was succeeded 
by Major Robert Leggett. Inaction seemed not to dull the 
spirit, or injure the morals, of the men. Rev. Henry Clay 
Trumbull, who had brought to the regiment all the charac- 
teristics of an admirable chaplain, wrote, " This is a noble 
regiment. I do not hesitate to say that the moral standard 
is now as high in the camp of the Tenth as with the same 
class of men in any part of Connecticut. I have heard more 
profanity in one day in some streets of Hartford than here 
in any week since my arrival. Many are far more manly 
than when they left home." 

The Tenth lost an excellent officer, Sept. 19, in Major 
Daniel M. Mead of Greenwich, who died of exposure to the 
debilitatino' influence of the Southern climate. He was a 
young man of sterling qualities, — of earnestness, bravery, 
integrity, — and he impressed himelf for good on all his 
associates. Capt. Thomas R. Mead, also of Greenwich, died 

341 



342 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION-. 

in October. He bad, witbin the single year of army life, 
been promoted from second lieutenant for bis efficiency. 

During November, the monotony was broken by a raid 
to the north-west. Moving round on transports to Washing- 
ton, at the confluence of the Tar and Pamlico Rivers, the 
reghnent was put in the advance of Foster's brigade, Capts. 
Goodj^ear's and Greaves's companies out as skirmishers. 
Going towards Tarborough, they received the first fire of the 
enemy at Little Creek. Then the whole regiment forded 
an ugly stream after dark, under a heavy fire of musketry 
and grape, and drove hack the enemy on the other bank. 
Two companies of a Massachusetts regiment were the only 
other inflmtry engaged. The rebels were pursued rapidly 
to Rawl's Mills, and shelled during their retreat. That 
night the Tenth bivouacked in the clear moonlight on the 
soft clay of the captured line of works. The next morning, 
Williamston was entered without opposition. There was a 
good deal of pillaging in the village.; pork, beef, and poultry 
being knocked over, and cooked in primitive fashion at 
fires in the streets, with fence-palings for fuel. Houses 
were sacked, our troops having been fired uj)on in the vil- 
lage ; and "' handsome furniture, pianos, crockery-ware, and 
every thing was turned topsy-turvy and destroyed by our 
soldiers, in search of relics and valuables."^ 

Next day the column, the Tenth still in advance, pressed 
on, and captured Rainbow Fort on the Roanoke, and thence 
to Hamilton, and across the country to the suburbs of Tar- 
borough. In two days, they returned to camp ; having been 
absent two weeks, and marched more than a hundred miles. 

Of course, negroes were everywhere encountered, whose 
experience furnished fresh arguments for the war. Lieut. 
Henry W. Camp of the Tenth wrote as follows concerning 
this class of people : — 

"■ I v>'as in a negro house yesterday, and had some conversation with 
the inmates. I asked a gray-headed old negress if she had ever had chil- 
dren sold away from her. ' Sold ! dey all sold ! — chil'en an' gran'ohiTen 
au' great gran'chil'en, — dey sell ebry one!' She clasped her bony hands 
over her head, and looked up at me as she spoke. ' Dere was one, — de lass 
one, de o'ny gran'chile I did hab lef. He neber knowed his mammy. I 

^ Letter of a member of the Massachusetts 44th. 



THE TENTH AT KINSTON BRIDGE. 343 

took him when he dat little. I bringed him up to massa, an' I say, " Massa, 
dis my little gvau'chile : may I keep him 'bout heah?" An' he say, ''I 
don't care wot you do wid him." So I take him : he dat little. Den one 
moi'uin', Aven he all rolled up in blanket 'tween my knees, Massa Green 
comed in an' say, "Dis boy sold!" and dey take him 'way. O Lord 
Jesus, help me pray ! ' " 

In the Tenth, and in most of the other Connecticut regi- 
ments, Thanksgiving was duly observed, as far as the limited 
facilities would allow. On Nov. 15, Col. Pettibone resigned, 
and returned to Connecticut, after faithful service. 

Great courage is sometimes shown in facing apparent 
peril, even where none actually exists. The Tenth had now 
an experience of this kind. Report came to Newberne that 
the New- York Marine Artillery Regiment, which had with 
some justice felt aggrieved, had mutinied at Roanoke Island, 
and taken possession; disobeying and defying the officers in 
command. Foster turned to the Tenth, — always held by 
him in higher regard than any other regiment, — and 
ordered it to Roanoke to subdue the insurgents. It started 
promptly; but for the first time the men were depressed in 
spirits. They were on a hazardous mission, — to fight their 
own brother-soldiers, brave men who would fight desper- 
a:ely, knowing that death was the penalty of their offense. 
Eut it Vv^as a false alarm. There had been no rebellion, and 
the Tenth was recalled. 

On Dec. 11, Foster's division left Newberne for a west- 
ward expedition, to strike the Richmond and Wilmington 
Railroad. The force was twelve thousand strong, with fifty 
pieces of artillery. On the next day and the next, the 
advance had skirmishes with the enemy. At ten o'clock 
Sunday morning, the 14th, fiirther progress was opposed by 
a body of rebels well posted, with several guns, in and about 
an old church an eighth of a mile from Kinston Bridge on 
the Neuse. Our artillery wheeled into position, and replied 
vigorously. The Tenth, with other regiments, formed line 
of battle in rear of the batteries. 

The enemy had great advantnge in position. Col. Mallett, 
a rebel prisoner, said afterwards, " We had you just where 
we wanted you." The approach to them lay through a* 
seemingly impassable swamp. A charge was ordered ; and 



344 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the troops, throwing off encumbrances, rushed through the 
swamp, and halted for orders on the other side, the Tenth 
beino" held back in the third line. The regiments were now 
under a very heavy fire from the front. 

Chaplain Trumbull thus writes of what followed, " About 
noon. Gen. Foster, sending for Lieut.-Col. Leggett, told him 
he wished the Tenth to pass over two regiments lying imme- 
diately before them, and find the enemy ; not returning until 
they had cleared them out. Our boys were well pleased 
with being preferred above other regiments, old and new, 
for the most difficult and dangerous task of the day ; and 
charged gallantly through a short piece of woods, under an 
incessant and murderous fire. Then seeing just the posi- 
tion of the enemy, and being within short range, the regi- 
ment opened fire, and continued it with telling effect." 

The Tenth was now in the first line of battle, some parts 
of which were already in disorder. Soon the regiment 
found itself in the extreme advance, and officers and men 
were falling rapidly. They were taken towards the rear, 
and the rest stood up stoutly to the work. Both the field- 
officers were struck down, and many others killed or 
wounded. 

After half an hour of incessaiit and close fighting, the 
regiment again pressed forward ; when the rebels broke, and 
ran towards the bridge. Then the Tenth, with a shout, 
charged down the hill upon the flying foe. The rebels set 
fire to the bridge as they crossed it, severely burning some 
of their own wounded endeavoring to escape. At the same 
time another rebel force, in line in a cornfield across the 
river, opened a cross-fire upon the Tenth as the latter 
dashed upon the burning bridge, extinguished the flames, 
captured a hundred prisoners, and pushed across, taking a 
Confederate flag and the enemy's artillery. " The regiment 
was in line of battle on the Kinston bank before any other 
[Union] infiintry had crossed the bridge. At the close of 
the battle, Gen. Foster rode to the front, and, taking off' his 
hat, publicly thanked the gallant Tenth for its part in the 
action. He said it had showed itself now, as before, the 
bravest among the brave ; and, if it would stand by him as 



THE TENTH STILL FIGHTING. 345 

hitherto, he could sweep the State of North Carolina. . . , 
But oh the cost of such a compliment ! We went into 
action with three hundred and sixty-six officers and men ; 
and, of these, one hundred and six were killed or wounded. 
Of these, twenty-three were killed outright, or died within 
four days. Five died afterwards of their wounds." ~ 

" Among those who fell," says Chaplain Trumbull, " were 
some of our best and bravest. We sadly miss and mourn 
them. Our officers say that the fire of the rebels in rapidity 
and accuracy surpassed any thing they had met before. A 
number of our men were shot in two and three places at the 
same time. Three brothers Shepard and two brothers Zuich 
were in Company A ; and all were wounded." Drs. Newton 
of Suffield, and Hart of Hartford, were tireless in caring for 
the men. 

The Confederate flag was a lone-star banner, and was cap- 
tured by Corporal Edwin D. Ayres, formerly of the Palla- 
dium office, but was afterwards stolen by some " bummers " 
belonging to the New-Jersey 9th. 

Next morning the force pressed on towards Goldsborough ; 
and Tuesday afternoon the flying foe made another brief 
stand at Whitehall, where they had burned the bridge. The 
action here was mostly by artillery and sharpshooters, the 
Confederates having both posted on the opposite bank. 
Again the shattered Tenth was ordered to the front, and 
opened fire to the left of the road. Finding no ford, Col. 
Leggett called for volunteers to swim the stream. Five 
brave hoys immediately stepjDed forward and stripped ; and 
on that, cold December day they swam the broad river with 
axes on their backs, and felled tall trees on the opposite 
bank, while others did the same on this. In half an hour 
more, a bridge would have been built ; but an order came to 
discontinue. The regiment met with no loss. 

Again, on Wednesday, they pressed forward, and had sharp 
fighting, both morning and evening, at the railroad bridge 
near Goldsborough. This was burned, and the track de- 
stroyed for some distance ; when the force returned to New- 
berne. 

2 Letter of Chaplain H. C. Trumbull. 



44 



346 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

This was perhaps the severest battle in which the Tenth 
was ever eno-aged. It had more than one-fourth of all the 
casualties of the expedition, notwithstanding its small num- 
bers. Its j)i'<'^i^e was on the lips of all. A colonel of one 
of the Massachusetts regiments which had been walked over 
at Kinston said he could not look upon a man of the Tenth 
V, ithout feeling the highest respect for him. 

Sergeant Henry E. Chitty of New London bore the colors 
until his right arm was shattered; and his subsequent anxi- 
ety seemed to be only for the safety of the colors. Corporal 
Albert F. Wheaton of North Branford, one of the color-guard, 
was shot through the body, and died the next day. He said, 
" I did what I could to guard the colors : I'd stand by them 
to the last. Where's the regiment now ? " he asked. " It 
has gone on to do its work," answered the chaplain. 
" Glory ! " he cried. " If I die," he added, " tell my friends I 
gave my life for liberty, and I'd gladly give another." 

Five officers of the Tenth had fallen to fight no more, — 
Capt. Henry A. Wells of Hartford, and Lieuts. John M 
Simms of Stamford, John C. Coffing of Hartford, William W. 
Perkins of New London, and Theron D. Hill of Coventry. 

Capt. Wells, before the war, w^as in the United-States ma- 
rine service ; and, when the call to arms came, he entered the 
first regiment for the three-months' service. Chaplain Trum- 
bull says, " He was one of the bravest men we had : indeed, 
he was conspicuous among brave men. He was light-hearted 
amid the greatest dangers, and performed the severest ser- 
vice with a cheerful alacrity that always inspirited the men." 

Lieut. Coffing was mortally wounded, and did not long 
survive. The enlisted men of his company resolved, " That, 
in his death, we have lost an officer endeared to us by all the 
qualities which command the respect, confidence, and affec- 
tion of his subordinates ; " and that he " died nobly in a 
cause which he devotedly loved." 

Lieut. Perkins was a son of Dr. N. S. Perkins of New Lon- 
don ; and he and his brother. Major B. R Perkins of the 12th 
United States, were the first volunteers from that city in the 
war. The New-London Star said of him, "It is seldom that we 
are called upon to mourn a firmer patriot, a braver soldier, or 



THE TENTH AT ST. HELENA ISLAND. 347 

a truer or more genial friend; than was Lieut. Perkins. He 
sprang to arms with alacrity at the first call of his country, 
and established an enviable reputation in five hotly-con- 
tested battles ; in the last of which he fell where a soldier 
v\^ould choose to fall, — leading the advance, — and expired 
amid the rattling volleys of his regiment and the loud cheers 
of victor}'." His body, like the remains of his comrades, was 
lu'ought home, and buried with all honors. 

Lieut. Simms went out as sergeant of Company G. He 
was promoted in order, and was presented with a handsome 
sword by the Baptist Sabbath school at Stamford, of which 
he had been an active member. A bullet passed into his 
body early in this action ; but it vv^as thought he would 
recover. In the .hospital prayer-meeting in the evening he 
joined in social worship, in song and prayer. He lived some 
months, and died in the perfect love that casts out fear. 

On Jan. 20, 18G3, the Tenth left Newberne by railroad for 
Morehead City, and the same day went on board of a trans- 
port in Beaufort Harbor. " To Wilmington I " was the word 
that passed round ; but, a monitor being lost, the expedition 
was turned to participate in the siege of Charleston. 

The Tenth had left behind all camp and garrison equipage 
and per.^onal baggage ; but the regiment was ordered to 
camp on St. Helena Island, a few miles above Hilton Head. 
They adapted themselves as well as possible to the situei- 
tion ; and of shelter-tents, with palmetto-trees as an auxiliary, 
soon made a comfortable and attractive camp on an old sea- 
island cotton-field. By sundown there was a home-like air 
to the whole encampment. Every day they expected to 
move ; but they kept at work, leveled the furrows, aud laid 
out a fine parade-ground. The shelter-tents were raised on 
walls of logs, or banks of earth, their ends plaited with pine- 
boughs or rushes, or thatched with palmetto-leaves or the 
long gray moss that hangs from Southern trees. Cosy wig- 
wams answered the purpose of company cook-houses. 

And finally a rustic chapel was erected at the end of the 
officers' avenue, sided and roofed vrith the feathery pine. 
Seats were made bv driving;; crotched sticks into tlie ii'round, 
and laying a stout pole across them. A cracker-box on four 



348 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

sticks was the pulpit-desk, and it was prettily curtained with 
palmetto-leaves. Here Sunday services were held, with 
preaching by Chaplain Trumbull ; also evening prayer-meet- 
ings, when three lanterns were pendent from the festooned 
rafters, and stars twinkled through the lattice. 

The regiment tarried here, with daily drill and occasional 
dress-parade, until March 27, when it proceeded on a trans- 
port to North Edisto Inlet, and took possession of the lower 
part of Seabrook Island. The upper part was held by the 
enemy, and picket-duty was sometimes exciting. 

Here were the tangled tropical undergrowth, palmetto- 
jungles, and low groves of live oaks. " Alligators moved 
lazily through the sluggish waters of the gloomy lagoon, and 
poisonous reptiles glided through the grass before the tread 
of the passing soldier."^ There were gnats, mosquitoes, 
spiders, lizards, scorpions, and moccasins. 

'' When you hear of mosquitoes," wrote Lieut. Camp in a 
moment of desperate humor, " you think of a small brown 
insect, don't you ? with legs and wings almost invisible, and 
a hum audible some inches from the ear? I wish you could 
see the animal that goes by the same name here. When / 
speak of a mosquito, I mean something that stands a little 
less than fourteen hands high (can't give the weight because 
we have no platform scales) ; whose wings are like Apol- 
lyon's in the Pilgrim's Progress ; whose muscular legs are 
horribly striped with black and white ; whose sting is like 
tlie dragon's which St. George slew; and whose voice is as 
the sound of many waters." 

Here the Tenth was doomed to stay, while down upon the 
breeze came the thunder of heavy guns pounding away at 
Sumter and Wagner. Gen. Terry, promoted after Pulaski, 
assumed command of these troops in May ; and here they 
waited, leading an uneventful life, until July 6, 1863, when 
they were ordered to participate in the advance being made 
on Morris Island. 

When the Seventeenth left Fort Marshall in Baltimore, 
the Eighteenth was transferred to it from Fort McHenry. It 

2 Chaplain Trumbull in the Knightly Soldier. 



THE EIGHTEENTH IN MARYLAND. 349 

was on higher ground, and much more healthful. Some of 
the men brought sickness with them, however : and Capt. 
Bromley appears to have had a touch of jaundice ; for he 
wrote to the Bulletin that he was "looking through the 
yellowest pair of eyes that were ever hung out as a wrecked 
liver's signal of distress." 

Col. Ely hoped to be able here to devote some attention 
to the necessary drill : but the next day the right wing, con- 
sisting of the companies of Capts. Isaac W. Hakes, jr., Mat- 
thewson, and Charles D. Bowen, went down along the rail- 
road near Havre de Grace, under Major Ephraim Keech, jr.; 
and Capt. Henry C. Davis's company was dispatched to 
Upper Marlborough, a secession town, but returned next day. 
" The only accident," says Bromley, " was the sudden death 
of a pig, who ran against a bayonet on the march froui Marl- 
borough back. He died so suddenly, that they roasted him 
to keep him from spoiling." 

The regiment remained all winter divided in Maryland, with 
headquarters at Fort Marshall. The men were industriously 
drilled in artillery and infantry tactics ; and the left wing- 
was so thoroughly exercised in battalion-movements, as to 
win the approval of Brig.-Gen. Morris, an old army ofl&cer, 
who was chary of his commendations. Comfortable quar- 
ters were built ; food was plenty, if not of a quality to tempt 
an epicure ; service was not arduous ; and, on the whole, the 
regiment had an easy time. Col. Ely was president of a 
military court, and Capt. Bromley judge-advocate. The 
officers enjoyed the society of the few Union fjxmilies in 
the city. Capt. Bromley wrote, " Col. Ely has won golden 
opinions from all the officers of the department with whom 
he has come in contact. No officer was ever more watchful 
than he for the welAire of the men, and none ever deserved 
more fully the confidence, which, without exception, they 
repose in him." 

At last, late in the spring of 1863, the monotonous life in 
barracks ended. Most of the men were tired of its unsol- 
dierly quiet, and rejoiced when orders came to go to the 
front, — even though that front was the oft-contested She- 
nandoah Valley. Already had the Rebel and Union forces 



350 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

been repeatedly driven through it from end to end, and 
ah-eady had veteran regiments learned to prefer any other 
service to the bewildering tramps through its rivers and 
ravines. 

By the middle of May, the detached companies had been 
called in from Havre de Grace and the Wilmington Road ; 
and on the 22d the regiment moved to the depot of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, took a train in waiting, and 
sped up the wild and picturesque valley. Crossing at Har- 
per's Ferry, it shortly left the crowded cars at Winchester, 
joining the command of Major-Gen. Milroy. 

As far back as the previous November, Gen. Halleck's 
chief-of-staff, Gen. Cullom, had reported, after careful examina- 
tion, not only that the works at Winchester were so located 
as to be indefensible per se, but that the place required no 
works, and should have no heavy garrison; being merely "an 
eye of the National army looking up the Shenandoah Val- 
ley." He recommended that all infantry be withdrawn, and 
only a strong cavalry picket retained. The recommendation 
was not heeded ; and Milroy remained with seven thousand 
men, while Lee's army, flushed with the victories along the 
Rappahannock, was pressing towards Pennsylvania. About 
the 9tli of June, Early, with Stonewall Jackson's old corps 
of thirty thousand men, pushed silently and swiftly north- 
ward through the valley, while Lee seized and held the gaps 
of the Blue Ridge. Next day, Milroy exultingly telegraphed 
to Gen. Schenck at Baltimore, that his advance had had "a 
splendid little skirmish" with the rebels, and added, "The 
enemy are probably approaching in some force. I am en- 
tirely ready for them : I can hold this place." And as late 
as the succeeding day, June 11, Col. Donn Piatt, chief-of-staff, 
possessed by the same delusion, telegraphed, " All works fine. 
Can whip any thing the rebels can fetch here. How is Mrs. 
Piatt?" He did not wait Ions;: for an answer. 

On Saturday, June 13, the Union pickets were driven 
towards Winchester, and brisk skirmishing ensued. Col. Ely 
of the Eighteenth was in charge of a brigade ; and he im- 
mediately advanced upon the Front-Royal Pike with his regi- 
ment (under Lieut.-Col. Nichols) and the 87th Pennsylvania, 



THE EIGHTEENTH ENGAGED AT WINCHESTER. 351 

and a section of battery, to " feel for the enemy." Tlie feeling 
was mutual. They had gone little more than a mile from town 
when they were opened upon by a battery planted in the 
edge of a dense thicket on the opposite side of a deep ravine. 

The Union battery was wheeled upon a knoll, and opened 
briskly; the Eighteenth lying down in high clover closely in 
the rear, except Companies A and B deployed as skirmishers. 
The enemy played upon our regiments at a distance of not 
more than four hundred yards, for an hour, with six Napo- 
leon pieces, and at last exploded the caisson of the battery, 
and silenced the guns ; when the brigade fell back. 

Nearer the city, the artillery-fight was resumed at long 
range. Meanwhile Early had thrown other brigades around 
on the west, and there had been severe fighting there. 

Night came on, and the city was besieged. Milroy ascer- 
tained that an overwhelming force was in front of him and 
on his flanks : this was his opportunity to retreat under cover 
of the blinding darkness and the heavy thunder-shower ; but 
some fatuity detained him. 

The Eighteenth was stationed all night in rifle-pits just 
outside the city, wet through with the drenching rain. By 
midnight, it was obvious that Early was closing in ; and Ely's 
brigade of four regiments was recalled to the fort, but at 
sunrise was sent out again. " The 1st Brigade, under Gen. 
Elliott, occupied the main fort; the 2d, under Col. Ely, 
held the town and the space outside ; the 3d, under Col. 
McReynolds, was posted in the star fort.'"* 

"The Eighteeutli" (commauded by Major Henry Peale) "was sta- 
tioned for a few hours iu the southeru part of the city, defending govern- 
ment property ; and some of the companies skirmished with small parties 
of rebels. The command was soon ordered to the defenses iu the north-east, 
commanding the Berryville lioad, iu which direction the lines of the enemy 
could now be discovered. Severe firing shortly ensued, which lasted for 
several hours. The rebels took possession of a large house within rifle 
distance of the regiment, and annoyed us severely ; delivering their fire 
whenever a head showed itself above the rifle-pits. It was resolved to dis- 
lodge them ; and a 24-pounder brass howitzer was procured from the fort, and 
turned upon the building. After the firing of several shots, some of which, 
penetrated it, a portion of the regiment (Companies F and H), under Capt. 
Charles D. Bowen of the latter company, charged, and captured eight pris- 
oners ; the rest making their escape." ^ 

* New-York Herald Narrative. * Major Pcale's Official Report. 



352 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

The 2d (Ely's) Brigade was now stationed near the ceme- 
tery, across which the principal firing took place. " About 
four in the afternoon, the rebel skirmishers charged up to 
the very edge of the town ; when a well-directed fire from 
our troops sent them back in confusion to their supporting 
line, which also caught the panic, and rushed back to the very 
edge of the timber." ^ Here several of the Eighteenth were 
killed and wounded. 

About this time the rebels charged upon and captured 
the important outworks held by an Ohio regiment, on the 
other side of the main fort ; and the 2d Brigade fell back 
to the works north-east of the fortification, in which the prin- 
cipal part of our forces were now besieged, and subjected to 
a severe bombardment. 

By sundown of the 14th, the city was three-fourths in- 
vested. Early's right crossed the Berryville Road on the 
north-east, and his left intersected the Front Royal, Strasburg, 
and Romney Roads. 

"At 1, A.M., on the 15th, the order was given for the silent 
evacuation of Winchester. The night was intensely dark ; 
but the column moved with order on the road leadinii: to 
Martinsburg, due north ; the Eighteenth Connecticut forming 
the advance of the center brigade. The command had pro- 
ceeded about four and a half miles, when the head of the 
1st Brigade suddenly encountered the right of the enemy 
posted in strong force in a piece of woods skirting the right 
of the road. The rebels threw forward with great rapidity 
a sufficient force to command the whole of the 1st Brigade, 
and a large portion of the 2d. One or more volleys were 
delivered by them and returned, but, owing to the extreme 
darkness of the morning, had little or no effect. At this 
time, the 1st Brigade charged ; and, having partially driven 
back the force immediately in its front, the larger portion 
passed on, and continued its flight to Harper's Ferry. The 
remainder of the 1st Brigade, together with the 2d, fell back 
in a field to the left of the road, and re-formed their partially 
disordered ranks." ^ 

A letter written by one of the regiment soon after gives 

^ New- York Herald Narrative. ^ Major Peale's OtBcial Report. 



or'> 



FIRST BATTLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH. 3jj3 

the following account of the gallant part borne by the 
Eighteenth in the charge of the 2d Brigade : " We charged 
into the woods ; but, in the gray dawn, nothing could be 
discerned but the flash of their rifles. We could not see a 
man ; and they had every advantage of us, as w^e charged 
from light into the darkness, where they quietly awaited 
our coming. The crack of rifles was for a time terrific ; 
but numbers and position finally prevailed, and we were 
obliired to retreat. 

O 

" We formed again, in perfect order, in the open field, and 
prepared for a second charge. By this time, we could form 
some idea of the rebel position; for we could see quite 
plainly. Gen. Milroy was behind us on his horse ; and he 
told us to take that battery ; that we could do it in ten 
minutes. Officers and men were cool again, and in good 
spirits. Well, the order w^as given, ^ Forward, Eighteenth ! 
Charge bayonets ! Double-quick ! March ! ' and away w^e 
went into those woods again. We were met with a murder- 
ous fire ; but forward sprang the line with a yell. Up the 
cross-road we charged, in point-blank range of the rebel 
battery. 

" A lono; line of fire streamed from thousands of rifles, 
interrupted now and then by the blaze of the battery. 
Trees w^ere peeled in all directions. We charged up to the 
battery and silenced it, killing or w^ounding every man 
that stood by it ; but they had plenty of artillery in re- 
serve : so we saw it was useless to attempt to hold it. After 
fighting desperately for some time, and losing many valu- 
able men, the order to retreat was given ; and we again fell 
back." 

This was the first battle in which the Eighteenth had been 
engaged ; and its behavior had deserved great credit. The 
above statement seems slightly colored by the interest 
which a participant would naturally feel; yet it is abundant- 
ly corroborated by the list of casualties, and by the account 
given by the Confederates themselves. 

The Riclunond Whig, during the same week, contained a 
letter written by a member of the 1st Maryland (rebel) 
Battery, of which the following is an extract : " About d^irk 

45 



354 CONNECTICUT DURING THE BEBELLION. 

the same night, Johnston's division moved off to the right, 
and came on the road leading to Cliarleston. We marched 
all night ; and at break of day, as we were going towards 
Winchester, we received a volley of Minie-balls. We imme- 
diately went into position : but, as it was dark, we could not 
see the enemy, who continued to fire upon us. . . . As 
soon as it was light, we commenced firing : then came a 
shower of Minie-balls such as I never heard before. With a 
yell, the Yankees charged our battery three times, and got 
within a few yards of it, but were driven off So many 
were killed at gun No. 1, that it had to be abandoned ; and 
we had fired every round of ammunition from gun No. 2, — 
these being the only guns of our battery firing on the 
charging columns of the enemy. Then the Yankees made 
a final charge, and got nearer than before ; and we thought 
we were about to be captured. Two or three horses having 
been killed, we were unable to move ofi! We then found a 
few rounds of ammunition in the caisson of No. 1; and, put- 
ting them in No. 2, we drove them back for the last time." 

The Eighteenth had lost' thirty-one killed and forty-four 
wounded, including five commanders of companies. After 
the last charge, Col. Ely looked about him for support, and 
found that the 3d Briu^ade had taken advantagre of the fio-ht 
to turn about, and make its way across the country towards 
Pennsylvania. Milroy and Major Peale had already escaped 
with a few men, including thirty from the Eighteenth. 

Col. Ely and Lieut.-Col. Nichols were dismounted, and 
were immediately summoned to surrender. The rebels now 
occupied the road in both directions. The Federals num- 
bered but a thousand men, jaded by two days' sleepless 
service, and now badly cut up. Under the circumstances, 
Col. Ely surrendered the command. The men were imme- 
diately placed under guard. 

Col. Ely's sword had been hit by a ball during the battle, 
shatteriuij; the blade near the hilt. When he delivered it to 
the rebel Gen. Walker after the fight, that officer asked, 
"When was this done, sir?" — "This morning." — "You 
deserve to keep this," was the rejoinder: "I will direct it 
to be retained for you." It was sent to Gen. Early, by 



DEATH OF CAPT. PORTEE. 355 

whose order it was finally forwarded through, by flag of 
truce, to the father of Col. Ely, while the soldier who had 
borne it gallantly was yet a prisoner. 

Besides the thirty who got away with Major Peale, Com- 
pany D of the Eighteenth, detailed as provost-guard, escaped 
intact. About half of the seven thousand of the division 
ultimately escaped ; stragglers coming into the border-towns 
of Maryland and Pennsylvania for a week, most of them 
unarmed and nearly famished. 

Within thirty minutes after Ely's surrender, Earl/s entire 
corps marched across the battle-field in swift pursuit of the 
fugitives. Many were captured. 

Among the killed in this battle was Capt. Edward L. 
Porter, only son of Dr. Isaac G. Porter of New London. He 
was a graduate of Yale of the class of '57 ; a young man 
of excellent literary taste, and had adopted the practice of 
law with fine promise. Surgeon Holbrook recently wrote 
of him, " I remember Capt. Porter as one of the noblest of 
our company of martyrs, who, on that memorable morning, 
offered up their lives on the altar of constitutional liberty. 
x\t my suggestion, he went to the hospital three days 
before ; being sick with what I feared might prove typhoid 
fever. I visited him on the day before the evacuation, and 
found him very weak, and was surprised, on the following 
morning, to find him at the head of his company. An offi- 
cer informed me that he seemed possessed of superhuman 
energy in the battle, and gallantly led his men in the 
charge, when he was struck by a bullet in the forehead, and 
died almost immediatel}'. He has left a bright record of 
honorable manliness. Dignified and gentlemanly, always 
prompt in the conscientious discharge of duty, he attested 
by his death the sincerit}^ of his patriotism, and sealed with 
his blood his love of liberty." His watch was returned to 
his father ; and on the inside he had written, -/ap epynai ro~ -. 
" For the night cometh." The words characterized his gen- 
eral thoughtfulness. 

The handsome regimental colors presented by the ladies 
of Norwich were not captured with the regiment. When 
they were inquired for, the men would not or could not give 



356 CONNECTICUT DURING THE KEBELLION. 

any Information as to tlieir wliereabouts ; but in two days, 
after many '' hairbreadth scapes," they crossed the Pennsyl- 
vania border wound about the body of Color-sergeant George 
Torrey of Woodstock, who had taken to the woods during 
the confusion. He was subsequently commissioned captain 
in the "United-States colored troops. 

About two hundred made good their retreat, and gradually 
o-athered again at Maryland Heights, under Major Peale. 
H. H. Starkweather immediatelj' went to the rendezvous, 
carr^nng food and other comforts from home, and sending 
back to the anxious relatives news from the regiment. 
Capt. Thomas K. Bates, a brave officer, severely wounded 
and a prisoner, was recaptured shortly after in a rebel 
hospital. 

The prisoners suffered from the first day of their cap- 
tivity'. The}' were not allowed to bury the dead of the 
regiment, as that would deprive the rebels of the Thenar- 
dierian privilege of robbing the corpses of the slain. The 
prisoners were hurried back to the fort, and next day were 
started for Eiclimond on foot. They made ninety-two miles 
in four days, arriving at Staunton on Monday the 22d, and 
thence took the cars for Richmond. They reached the Con- 
federate capital early next morning, and, without making 
any triumphal entree, marched straight to Libby Prison. 

The food on the journey consisted of a pint of flour and 
a very small piece of pork to each man. The officers and 
enlisted men were in separate squads, and were not permit- 
ted to communicate. 

On the second day, the privates were transferred from 
Libby to Belle Isle in the James River, now so infomous in 
the annals of the war. Here they staid a few weeks, on 
scant}- rations ; when they were taken back to Libby, paroled 
July 2, taken to City Point, released, and transported to 
Annapolis; having been under the stars and bars seven- 
teen days. They remained at Camp Parole until the 1st 
of October, when they were duly exchanged, and returned 
to the nucleus of the regiment, now in camp at Martinsburg, 
north of Winchester. 

The officers were not so fortunate. They were detained 



DEATH OF CORPORAL WORDEN. 357 

at Libby through many weary months ; hoping, fearing, 
expecting, and f^ometimes almost despairing. They had 
scarcely food enough to sustain life ; but the miserable 
rations were supplemented with heavy boxes of succulent 
and nourishing food, prepared with loving hands in Eastern 
Connecticut. Officers of other regiments brought away 
letters concealed in their Ijuttons. from Col. Ely, Capt. 
Davis, Lieut. Higgin.s, and others. Capt. Davis said, " On 
the prison-walls of the Conciergerie, in the days of the 
French Revolution, was written, • He who retains his patriot- 
ism can never be wholly miserable;' so here in these days, a 
parallel with that time in fraternal bloodshed, this sentiment 
sustains many a pri-soner. Deprived of liberty, and sub.sLst- 
ing on a scanty diet, we are not of all men the most misera- 
Ijle when we remember for what we are here." 

About this time. Corporal Samuel D. Worden of Canterbury 
died of wounds received at Winchester, and disease engen- 
dered on Belle Isle. He was liberally educated, a graduate 
of the Unitarian Theological Seminary at Meadville, and had 
occasionally occupied the pulpit of that denomination. He 
was an exemplarv Christian soldier, and fought as he had 
lived, in compliance with hi- conscientious conviciions. 
"When the second call for troops came, he had charge of a 
school at Greenville ; but he joined Capt. Davi.s's company-, 
and laid all the hopes and aspirations of his cultivated mind 
on the altar of American nationality. He finally died at 
home, where Rev. Mr. Stone of Brooklyn delivered a touch- 
ing address ; and the remains of the fl\llen hero were boiTie 
to the grave by his companions in arms. Such were many 
of the men who fouLdit in the ranks of our irreat armv. 




CHAPTER XXIII. 

Battle of Cliancellorsville. — Advance upon the Flank. — The Fifth, Fourteenth, Seven- 
teenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-seventh Connecticut Regiments engaged. — The 11th 
Corps overwhelmed by Stonewall Jackson. — Terrible Battle of May 3. — Heavy 
Losses of the Twentieth Connecticut Volunteers. — The Twenty-seventh Regiment 
captured. — A New Line of Battle. — Withdrawal of the Army and Failure of the 
Movement. — Losses of the Connecticut Regiments. — Prisoners of War. 

PRING came. It was 1863. Two years of the 
war had passed with little gain for the Union 
arms in Virginia. Hooker was in command of 
the splendidly-disciplined and plucky Army of 
the Potomac, which he declared to be " the finest 
army on the planet." His eight corps were eager to be led 
again towards Richmond, — this time by the soldier who had 
borne the brunt of battle at Antietam. Five Connecticut 
reo-iments were with him, — the Fifth and Twentieth in the 
12th Corps, the Fourteenth and Twenty-seventh in the 2d 
Corps, and the Seventeenth in the 11th Corps. 

In the march to Chancellorsville, the 11th and 12th Corps 
were in company ; while the 2d proceeded by the nearer 
route, via United-States Ford. 

On April 27, the reveille was sounded at three o'clock in 
the morning. Breakfast was dispatched ; tents struck and 
knapsacks slung ; officers' baggage sent to the regimental 
wagons; and at six o'clock the men were in line. They 
were supplied with eight days' rations of hard-tack, sugar, 
coffee, and salt. Mules bore a blanket and a shelter-tent for 
each man. Fresh beef was driven along in the train ; one 
ration to be issued every three days. The men were in 
good spirits : the day was beautiful. At ten o'clock, the 11th 
and 12th Corps were in motion ; the march of the day lying 

358 



FORDING THE RAPID AN. 359 

westward, parallel to the Rappahannock. They bivouacked 
upon a pleasant hillside near Hartwood Church that night ; 
waking early, and starting again at daybreak, still westward. 
At two o'clock, the Seventeenth Regiment halted, and ate a 
frugal dinner near Barrett's Ford ; where, on account of a 
drizzling rain, they waited until midnight. 

They then crossed in silence, and without opposition, and 
pressed forward towards Culpeper. At four o'clock in the 
morning, having been under arms twenty-five hours, the 
men dropped down in the woods, and slept till seven. Here 
the 12th Corps passed. The 11th Corps was shortly in 
motion again ; and towards evening both corps turned short 
to the left, and advanced towards Fredericksburg. 

The question of how to cross the Rapidan was next en- 
countered. The bridge was gone ; the banks were steep 
and high ; and the stream swollen by previous rains so as 
to be hardly fordable for artillery. Delay was defeat ; so 
a ford was ordered. " The men fixed bayonets, hung their 
cartridge-boxes on them ; and then, with muskets at right- 
shoulder-shift, clambered down the bank. It was a cold day ; 
the water was chilly ; and, as they plunged in, it was like the 
cut of a knife : but they wallowed on, singing, ' John Brown's 
soul is marching on,' some shouting, •' Who wouldn't be a 
soldier?' and others wondering why Hooker didn't make his 
regiments into gunboats, and use them in the naval service. 

" The current was so strong, as to carry several of them 
down stream ; but they finally reached the opposite bank 
some distance below, with the loss of musket and cartrid«:e- 
box. Here you would see a cautious fellow slip off his 
stockings, shoes, and pants, tie them in his handkerchief, 
and suspend the bundle on his bayonet to keep it dry ; then 
join the crowd to the river. Watch him : ten to one the 
current trips him, and he wets bundle and cartridge-box to- 
gether, and is lucky if he get to the shore without losing a 
part or all of his load. On the south bank were men drip- 
ping with water, and shivering with cold, wringing their 
drenched clothes."^ Two miles farther on, they spent the 
night around blazing fires. 

1 Col. P. B. Buckingham's MS. History of the Twentieth. 



360 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Companies A and H of the Fifth unpacked all the amrau- 
nition from the mnlcs, and carried it across by hand during 
the evening. In the night also, a detail of men, under Capt. 
Samuels. Woodruff of the Twentieth, threw a rude bridge 
across the river, which was very seviceable to the 11th and 
r)th Corps. They pushed up to the Rapidan in the evening, 
where they bivouacked, and enjoyed the easy slumber of 
the tired soldier. x\t one o'clock in the morning, they were 
awakened, and ordered to " fall in " to cross the river. Lieut. 
Wilcoxson of the Seventeenth, in a letter to his wife, wrote 
of this, — 

" A wild and weird scene it was. Moving down the road 
to the abrupt bank of the river, we came upon the abutment 
where had been the old bridge, and where the rebels had 
lately begun the construction of the new. Here, dividing 
our ranks, each man groped for himself a way down the 
steep bank to the foot of the abutment, from which a rude 
and trembling structure scarcely four feet wide, and but a 
tride raised above the surface of the ruvshino; and foaminij^ 

o CD 

river, led to one pier and another, and so to the opposite 
bank. The night was pitchy dark ; and, to enable us to avoid 
a tumble into the boiling flood, fires had been built on the 
piers, which lighted up the tortuous course of the phantom- 
like train as it slowly crawled out of the darkness on one 
side, across the flimsy bridge in the ruddy glare, and into 
the darkness beyond." 

Two miles farther, and another halt. One rubber blan- 
ket on the ground and another over him, the soldier's simple 
toilet is made, and he falls asleep to the music of pattering 
rain on the rubber covering. At daylight, the rain in- 
creased; but by noon both corps were again in motion, with 
a hot sun overhead. The march was rapid, without halt 
for dinner. They passed through the Wilderness, and at six 
o'clock arrived at Chancellorsville. 

The line of battle was disposed in the form of an irregular, 
inverted V ; the left leg resting on the river, and Mr. Chan- 
cellor's house being in the rather obtuse apex. The 11th 
Corps, under Gen. 0. 0. Howard, held the right of the whole 
line J Devens's division abutting on a dense wood assumed to 



OVER-CONFIDENCE OF HOOKEE AND HOWAED. 361 

be impenetrable. On the left was the 3cl Corps, and on the 
left of that the 12th ; while the 2d held a position to the left 
of Chancellor's house. 

The Seventeenth Regiment was stationed near the resi- 
dence of a Mr. Hatch, a native of Farmington, Conn. : and 
Satnrda}', May 2, found it supporting Dieckman's battery ; the 
right wing being in Hatch's garden, and the left deployed 
along the Culpeper Road in line of battle. The house was 
the headquarters of Gen. Devens, commanding the division 
at the extreme right of the army. 

Notwithstanding this exposed situation, neither he nor 
Gen. Howard seems to have guarded against surprise. Re- 
peatedly w-arned on Friday by the artillery duels at the right, 
and on Saturday by spies and scouts bringing information 
that the rebel infantry was massing there, they took no 
adequate precautions. Adjutant Wilcoxson, writing next 
day, said, '' For some time, troops were seen passing to the 
south-west, along the crest of a distant hill ; in regard to 
whom conjectures were various. Gen. McLean (command- 
ing the brigade to which the Seventeenth was attached) 
thought them to be rebels; but Gen. Devens was confident 
it was another corps of our own army. At one o'clock, in- 
formation came to Gen. Devens that the rebel batteries were 
moving around our right flank. I have since learned that 
our generals had been informed that the enemy were in 
strong force upon our flank ; and why a stronger force was 
not sent out as skirmishers, and the line of battle changed 
to front the foe, is more than I am able to understand," 

The fact is, that both Hooker and Howard w^ere over-confi- 
dent and incautious, and believed none of the stories of the 
flank-movement. Hooker w^rote~ to Sedgwick at this hour, 
'• We know that the enemy is flying, trying to save his trains. 
Sickles's two divisions are among them." Gen. (then Col.) 
Noble writes, " The disaster resulted from Howard's and 
Deveus's utter disregard and inattention, under warnings 
that came in from the front and flank all through the day. 
Horseman after horseman rode into my post, and was sent 
to headquarters with the information that the enemy were 

■^ Vide Swinton's Army of the Potom.ic. 



362 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

heavily marching along onr front, and proceeding to our 
rio-ht ; and, last of all, an officer reported the rebels mass- 
ino- for attack. Howard scouted the report, and insulted 
the informants; charging them with telling a story that was 
the offspring of their imagination or their fears." 

Two companies of the Seventeenth, Wilson French's of 
Rido-efield, and Albert H. Wilcoxson's of Norwalk, were out 
on picket, when they were attacked by the advancing hosts 
of Stonewall Jackson, and driven in upon the flank, rapidly 
pursued. As soon as the rebels were unmasked by the pick- 
ets, the regiment poured several volleys into them ; but they 
rushed forward in overwhelming numbers. The battery 
retreated without attempting to fire a gun. The German 
troops at the left, exposed to the same tremendous shower 
of grape and canister and shell, accompanied by an attack 
of infimtry, fell back, outnumbered ten to one. For a time, 
McLean's brigade alone remained on the contested ground, 
which had become a perfect Pandemonium, alive with shriek- 
insc shells and whistlinsr balls. 

" It was a complete surprise to this corps. Gen. Hooker 
had announced that the rebels were running away. Gen. 
Howard did not expect an attack ; and his men were cooking 
supper, some with their arms stacked, and hardly a single 
regiment in position to repel attack. Almost the first inti- 
mation the men had of the presence of the enemy in their 
immediate vicinity was a volley of musketr}^, and a shower 
of grape and canister in front, flank, and rear. They were 
panic-stricken, as most troops would have been." '^ 

The Seventeenth Regiment had been ordered to lie down. 
The heroic Lieut.-Col. Charles Walter rose to ascertain the 
situation. He was seen to drop suddenly. It was supposed 
that he had lain down again for protection ; but he had been 
shot through the head, and w^as dead. Many were slain si- 
multaneousl}^ in the fierce onset. The regiment yielded to 
vastly superior numbers pressing in on all sides ; and the 
two wings marched out by the left flank, under a most 
galling fire. While gallantly rallying his men to return the 
_ rebel fire, a shot struck Col. Noble in the arm, severing an 

^ Col. Buckingham's MS. History. 



THE TWENTIETH UKDER FIRE FOR FIRST TIME. 363 

artery. He remained on the field until so faint from loss of 
blood that he could no longer manage his horse ; when he 
was supported to the rear. The horse had been wounded, 
and died soon after. The reo-iment made a brave stand at 

o 

the rifle-pits, near headquarters, and remained there all night, 
supporting a battery ; while the 3d Corps was flung into the 
gap. 

The retreat of the 11th Corps, instead of being the rout 
and flight of poltroons, as described at the time, was inevita- 
ble after the impetuous Jackson had got in its rear with 
forty thousand infantry. But it is unquestionable that 
McLean's brigade contested the ground stubbornly. Ket- 
tell's History of the Rebellion says, " The brigades of Bush- 
beck and McLean held their ground for a time, but were 
compelled to fall back before the irruption of the enemy." 
The New-York Times' correspondent said, " The brigade of 
McLean remained fighting, and maintained themselves nobly 
as long as possible." The Tribune said, " McLean's men 
stood their ground manfully." 

The " Dutch " have been long enough held responsible for 
the repulse at Chancellorsville. The fact is, that less than 
half of the 11th Corps were Germans, and they were at the 
left of D evens. 

On Friday, the day preceding Jackson's assault on the 
11th Corps, the Fifth and Twentieth, with some other regi- 
ments, went on a reconnoissance in force towards Freder- 
icksburg, and were exposed to the fire of the enemy's 
batteries for two hours. For the first time under fire, the 
Twentieth behaved with great coolness and steadiness. It 
is not necessary to speak of the conduct of the Fifth. 

The repulse of the 11th Corps next day was a severe trial 
to both, holding the line innnediately on the left. Lieut. 
William A. Daniels, adjutant of the Fifth, in the official 
report of the action, says, — 

" At four o'clock in the afternoon, our corps was ordered out from the 
barricades, which had been constructed the previous night, to engage the 
enemy upon the left of our (corps) line. Before meeting the enemy, Ave 
moved about a mile and a half to the left, then formed line of battle, the 
Fifth Connecticut taking the right of our division, and forming part of the 
first line of battle ; Company H, under Capt. Daboll, being thrown forward 



364 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

as skirmishers. These having drawn the fire of the enemy, a rapid 
exchange of shots ensued, u-ntil within about fifty yards of the enemy's line ; 
when, the skirmishers being ordered to lie down, the regiment received 
orders to commence firing, which they did, ahernating front and rear rank, 
with good effect. 
V^ " After about a quarter of an hour's engagement, the entire line 
''"' received orders to fall back, firing as they moved, which was done in good 
' order the men conducting themselves with the most perfect coolness and 

regard for discipline ; our regiment in the mean time performing the diffi- 
cult maneuver of ' doubling on center.' 

" After moving to the rear about two hundred yards, the entire brigade 
was ordered to move at double-quick in the direction of the intrenchments 
formerly occupied. Upon arriving within two hundred yards of our barri- 
cades, we received a tremendous volley of musketry from the enemy, who 
had succeeded in obtaining possession of them in our absence, through the 
retreat of the 11th Corps, which had occupied a position upon the right of 
our intrenchments." 

It is not surprising that this bold attack in the rear threw 
the regiments into some disorder. The brigade, however, 
instantly charged, and retook the intrenchments ; but was 
forced to withdraw by the overwhelming numbers of the 
enemy. In this confusion. Col. Warren W. Packer anH five 
other officers of the Fifth were taken prisoners ; but the 
regiment rallied, and held a position near by. Col. Packer 
says he moved the regiment by the flank at this time, in 
obedience to explicit orders ; and that the whole regiment 
might have been captured if the rebels had been bolder. 

The Twentieth, early on the morning of the 2d, began to 
throw up intrenchments along its front. A member wrote, 
" The want of suitable implements for this work was felt ; 
but bayonets took the place of picks, cups and plates became 
the substitutes for shovels ; and so in a few hours our defen- 
sive arrangements were complete." 

During the afternoon, as has been seen, the 12th Corps 
was swung to the left through the woods towards Freder- 
icksburg, with the intention of cutting oif the rebel rear 
from joining Jackson in his retreat. The Twentieth was 
advanced through the woods, and was again under a severe 
fire of shot and shell. When the 11th Corps gave way, the 
regiment retired slowly and in good order to a position 
behind the breastwork previously constructed. • 

This was held for a time ; and still the retreating regi- 
ments went surging past, and the rebels pressed closely after 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESVILLE. 365 

them. Here some severe hand-to-bancl fighting took place ; 
and in the almost total darkness friend could hardly be dis- 
tinguished from foe, except when the fitful flash of musketry 
revealed the presence of one or the other. 

The 3d Corps had taken the place of the 11th ; and a skir- 
mish was kept up during the evening, sometimes bursting 
into sharp volleys, and then subsiding. " About eight o'clock, 
P.M., Jackson opened with artillery, and hurled his massed 
columns of infantry upon this portion of our line with a 
vigor that it seemed impossible to resist. The advancing 
column was met on our part with great steadiness and a 
firmness that coukl not be overcome. Guided in its aim by 
the flashes of musketry, our artillery threw shells into the 
solid masses of rebel infantry, carrying destruction and 
death. The roll of musketry was incessant; the air was 
filled with missiles of every shape; solid shot hissed through 
the air, cutting off the tops and huge limbs of trees that fell 
crashing to the ground ; shells, shrieking and howling 
through the darkness, could be traced in their pathway 
by the fire from the lighted fuses, until they burst into 
hundreds of ragged fragments, carrying death and horri- 
ble wounds on every side ; the red flashes from the mus- 
kets, and pieces of artillery, lighted up the woods ; and, as the 
smoke settled over the combatants, you could see, under- 
neath the sulpharoQS canopy, men begrimed with smoke and 
smeared with the blood flowing from their wounds, stalking 
about like fiends ; and one could not but think the whole 
scene belonged to the infernal regions."* 

The Fifth was here under fire in support of a battery ; 
the Twentieth held an intrenchment a little at the left ; and 
durino-the niyrht the Fourteenth had been removed from the 
left to this vicinity, and was engaged all day in a fierce 
guerrilla battle in the woods. 

The rebels pressed forward time after time during the 
night, apparently determined to break our ranks, or perish 
in the attempt ; the line swayed backward and forward ; 
charges and counter-charges were made ; our artillery, play- 
ing over the heads of our men, made terrible havoc in the 

* Col. Buckingham's MS. History. 



366 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

assaultiDg columns ; and the faces of the contestants glowed 
in the strange and grand illumination. During three long 
hours, our men stood firmly, holding the ground against the 
surging masses brought against them, and never yielding 
another inch. At eleven o'clock, the rebels lost a little 
ground, and shortly after ceased firing for the night. 

The Fifth, Fourteenth, and Twentieth were involved in 
the terrible fight next morning on this front. 

Major P. B. Buckingham of the Twentieth, commanding 
at the close of the action, reports : — 

" Both officers aud men mauifested a determination to hold the position, 
should an attack be made upon this portion of the general line, which was 
momentarily expected, as the enemy had driven in the extreme right of our 
line, held by the 11th Corps, and Avas making a murderous attack upon 
the center of our position, Avhich was but a short distance to the right 
of the portion of the line held by this regiment. 

" On Sunday morning, the 3d instant, the enemy appeared in force near 
the point of attack on our ceuter on the evening previous. The action 
soon became general, and extended along the left of the line till it reached 
the point occupied by the Twentieth Connecticut. The officers and men 
awaited with great coolness the approach of the enemy, Avho came up yell- 
ing like fiends, till they arrived in a ravine about twenty rods from the 
front of the regiment ; when the men rose, and discharged a well-aimed 
volley, which covei'ed the ground with the killed and wounded of the 
enemy, and caused them to fall back in disorder. They, again rallied, and 
advanced under cover of a battery of artillery, the fire from which enfi- 
laded a portion of the breastworks occupied by this regiment, up to, and 
some few rushed over, the works, aud were either shot or taken prisoners 
by our men." 

During the first assault, the rebels captured a battery on 
the right front, and turned it upon our men. The fire from 
these guns enfiladed the right of the 12th Corps, including 
the Twentieth Connecticut. It was a trying time. Occa- 
sional discharges of grape-shot came whizzing along ; and a 
constant hail-storm of bullets made the position one that 
would have tested the valor of any troops. 

" After maintaining its position for nearly five hours, and finding that 
the enemy had already driven our forces both on the right and left, and 
that the entire regiment was in danger of being surrounded and captured, 
Lieut. -Col. Wooster reluctantly gave the command to retire, which was 
executed in some disorder ; but the men rallied and re-formed, under the 
direction of the remaining officers, some half mile in the rear of the first 
position. It was behind the barricades, and during the time the regiment 
was falling back through the woods, that our entire loss occurred. The 
men, after leaving the barricades, were subjected not only to the fire of 
shot and shell from the enemy's artillery, but to a cross-fire of infantry." 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORS VILLE. 367 

During the retreat to a new position, the rebels, who had 
instantly dashed over the works in pursuit, hedged the regi- 
ment in upon both flanks, firing vigorously, and shouting, 
'•Halt!" "Surrender!" "Come in out of the cold, Yanks!" 
Some were captured here ; but the most of the men attained 
the new line, where our artillery was massed.^ 

Major Theodore G. Ellis commanding the Fourteenth, in 
his official report, says of the action of his regiment, 
"• About sunrise on the morning of the 3d itistant, the first 
line of battle having been forced by a terrific assault of the 
enemy, this regiment became engaged ; the enemy appear- 
ing on our front and right flank almost simultaneously. We 
were forced to retire, principally on account of there being 
no troops on our right to prevent the enemy, who had 
engaged the front line on our right, from passing through 
the unoccupied interval, and attaining our rear. After with- 
drawing, this regiment joined the remainder of the brigade, 
and was placed behind rifle-pits to the left." 

During the. 3d, the Fifth moved off to the left, and formed 
a portion of the third' line, lying in a very exposed position, 
where Capt. Benton was killed, and many wounded. 

In the mean time, disaster had overtaken the Twenty- 
seventh. During the afternoon of May 1, the regiment 
had participated in a reconnoissance to ascertain the ene- 
my's position. After going some distance, the regiment 
retired at a double-quick to meet a rebel movement threat- 
ening its right flank ; and soon after moved across the open 
ground near the Chancellor House, and down the road to a 
position in the tangled woods on the left. Here, though 
shelled vigorously, the men succeeded in throwing up an 
intrenchment. All next day they were engaged in extend- 
ing and strengthening their works ; and towards evening 
they heard the wild shout of triumph that burst from the 
rebel line as Jackson's troops swept over the earthworks of 
the 11th Corps. Doubt, apprehension, anxiety followed. 
Gen. Hancock rode up, and informed Col. Bostwick that the 

^ Capt. Andrew Upson of Southington was among those taken prisoner. In a letter 
to his v.'ife, he gives an interesting account of how he feigned death ; the rifling of his 
pockets by the rebels, and their quaint remarks as to how lie died ; and the final discovery 
of his ruse by a rebel surgeon lifting his eyelids. Capt. Upson was afterwards killed at 
Tracy City, Tcnn., while fighting guerrillas. 



368 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

regiment would hold the position, and significantly called his 
attention to the fact, that, in extremity, the men could fight 
on either side of the intrenchment. The roar of battle 
came nearer. Our artillery receded to a new position, and 
afj-ain the forest reverberated with the cannonading. At 
lemHh darkness dropped among the trees. The Twenty- 
seventh continued in position. 

Early on Sunday morning the battle was renewed, and 
ao-ain crept towards the left. After a hasty breakfast, the 
Twenty-seventh was ordered down into the intrenchments 
in the apex of the V, thrown up by the men on Friday 
niirht. This was in the extreme front, and very much 
exposed. The regimental history says, — 

" As the regiment advanced at double-quick, down the 
hill into the ravine, it was met by a heavy fire of musketry. 
A number were wounded, and several shot through the head 
just as they entered the breastworks. Not succeeding in 
their first attempt, the rebels made no further attack in 
force upon our part of the line ; but, concealed in the thick 
woods, continually annoyed us with a scattering fire. The 
men replied as they had opportunity, and with considerable 
effect, as the rebels themselves afterwards acknowledged. 
Col. Bostwick was particularly noticeable for the almost 
reckless exposure of himself to the enemy's fire while 
attending to his duties at different points in the line. . . . 
Suddenly from unseen batteries behind us comes a deep 
roar ; and the next moment shell after shell shrieks through 
the trees, and bursts almost in the rifle-pits. The thought 
flashes upon us, that the rebels are in our rear ; but it is 
dismissed with the reflection that it is only a Union battery 
firing too low, which will soon correct its false aim. Mean- 
while, our little band had been reduced to less than four 
hundred men, includino; two hundred and seventv of the 
Twenty-seventh ; and, this force being entirely inadequate 
to hold the extended line, Col. Bostwick dispatched Major 
Coburn for re-inforcements. 

" In a few moments the shelling ceased ; and flir up the 
road in front appeared a rebel officer waving a flag of truce, 
and slowly advancing, waiting for recognition. The men 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOKSVILLE. 369 

stopped firing in the immediate vicinity of the road; while 
for a moment the musketry became more brisk on the left 
flank. At length the officer arrived within a few paces of 
the works, where he was halted to await the presence of 
Col. Morris of the 66th New- York, commanding the whole 
line. This officer was not to be found ; and the responsi- 
bility of receiving the communication from the flag of truce 
devolved upon Col. Bostwick. 

" The rebel — a tall, rough specimen, yet with the man- 
ner of a gentleman — announced himself as Lieut. Bailey 
of a Georgia regiment. He said he had been sent to inform 
us that we were entirely surrounded ; that there was no 
possible avenue of escape ; and therefore he summoned us 
to surrender, and thus avoid the loss of life which would 
inevitably follow any resistance to the overwhelming force 
in front and rear. The colonel replied that he did not ' see ' 
it; and proceeded to investigate the actual state of affairs. 
Meanwhile, Lieut.-Col. Merwin went up through the woods 
in the rear, only to find it too true that the rebels were 
posted in strong force to bar any escape in that direction. 
Masses of the enemy pouring in on the right and left re- 
vealed at once the desperate position in which we were 
placed ; while the singing bullets from the woods behind, as 
well as in front, indicated that the foe were closing in upon 
us. 

" The first impulse among officers and men was to attempt 
to force our way through ; but it was evident that such a 
course would result in the destruction of more than half our 
number, while the remainder would inevitably fall into the 
hands of the enemy. After a hurried consultation among 
the officers, a surrender was agreed upon ; and the formality 
had hardly been completed, when a heavy line of rebel 
skirmishers swept out of the woods behind. Five minutes 
before, the men stood at their posts, undisturbed by even a 
doubt of their security ; now, astonished at the sudden 
denouement, we found ourselves about to enter upon the 
terrible uncertainties of rebel captivity. And this surprise 
and mortification was increased by the conviction that seri- 
ous disaster must have overtaken the Union army." 

47 



370 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

The impression was well founded. Our troops had been 
repulsed in a series of engagements along the right ; and 
Gen. Hooker had withdrawn his line of battle towards 
the ford, and i-e-formed it in an irregular semicircle, with the 
center of the front near a white house at the junction of the 
roads, and with both flanks resting on the river. Orders 
were sent to recall the Twenty-seventh ; but the carrier was 
intercepted, and the regiment was left to its fate. 

The rebels made a strong effort to seize the road leading to 
United-States Ford, and thus cut off the line of retreat ; but 
a storm of shot and shell from a hundred guns, supported 
by a concentrated fire from the 2d and 5th Corps, promptly 
repulsed the attack. One more assault was made on our 
lines during the day, with the intent to capture a park of 
artillery stationed near the center ; but again the enemy 
was hurled back by the combined fire of cannon and mus- 
ketry, leaving the ground strewn with his dead. 

During Sunday night, the new line was thoroughly in- 
trenched ; and Lee withdrew to overwhelm Sedgwick's corps, 
that had crossed and gallantly stormed Marye's Heights at 
Fredericksburg.*'' 

The Fifth Kegiment, under orders, recrossed the Rappa- 
hannock on the evening of the 3d, and was kept on provost- 
duty for two days by Gen. Patrick ; after which it was 
ordered to the camp at Stafford Court House, where the 
men arrived at nightfall of the 6th, in a drenching rain. 

The Fourteenth remained in the rifle-pits, under fire, but 
met with little additional loss. Early on the morning of 
the 6th, the regiment, now numbering about two hundred 
men, was withdrawn, and silently recrossed the river in the 
dark, and proceeded to its old camp. 

The Twentieth had lost fearfully. Lieut.-Col. William B. 
Wooster, " who had, through the whole action, manifested 
the utmost coolness and bravery," says the official report, 
was taken prisoner on Sunday.; and Capt. Sanford E. Chaffee 
thereafter led the regiment until the 5th, when Major Buck- 

*' Batteries P. and M had been detached from the First Connecticut in 1862, and were 
engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, winning commendation lor their conduct. They 
were still detained in the field, and were now stationed at Falmouth. They were of 
material aid in the capture of Marye's Heights. 



LOSSES IN THE TWENTY-SEVENTH AND FIETH. 371 

ingham was relieved from stafF-duty, and took command. 
On the 6th^ it returned to the camp near Stafford Court • 
House. 

When our artillery checked the Confederate advance 
on the night of the 2d, the jaded Seventeenth gathered 
again on the top of a hill in rear of the guns, and slept. 
Lieut. Wilcoxson wrote, " While the ponderous diapason of 
the artillery rolled along the vibrating air, and the solid 
earth trembled with the oft-repeated concussion, I fell asleep ; 
and, with the serenity inspired by a good position and heavy 
artillery, rested pleasantly till Sunday morning." All next 
day and night, while the battle raged, the regiment was kept 
vigilant in defending the road to United-States Ford in the 
rear. Tents, blankets, and baggage were gone ; and the 
men were on less than half-rations. Then came a tremen- 
dous thunder-shower, which subsided into a cold and settled 
rain. Two days more were spent in great discomfort ; then, 
after standing under arms all night, with the rain beating 
dismally about them, they returned with the army across 
the Rappahannock, and crawled buck wearily to Brooke's 
Station, — their old camp. 

The Twenty-seventh had nearly four hundred men on 
going into battle ; of these, the whole were captured, except- 
ing companies D and F, with small squads of other compa- 
nies ; numbering in all a hundred and sixty men, under 
command of Capt. Joseph R, Bradley. The regimental flag 
was still borne by these. This remnant of the regiment held 
an important point in Hooker's contracted line of battle ; 
being in the front of the line, whose entire base rested on 
the river. On the morning of May 6, it recrossed with 
the rest of the command, and constructed for itself a new 
and more comfortable camp near Falmouth. The regiment 
had two men killed and seven wounded ; of the latter, Capt 
C. M. Wilcox of Madison lost a leg. 

The Fifth had lost one killed (Capt. George S. Benton of 
New Haven), eighteen wounded, and forty captured. The 
death of Capt. Benton was a loss deeply felt. Adjutant 
Daniels said of him in the official report, " Having been 
connected with the regiment from its formation, he early 



372 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

won the respect and esteem of the entire command, without 
distinction as to rank or position. Ever promiffc to answer 
the call of duty, fliUing at his post upon the field of battle, 
none of our men has left a more honorable record as a leg- 
acy to his friends and native State than has George S. 
Benton." 

Of the Fourteenth Regiment, thirty-eight were wounded 
and nineteen taken prisoners. Of the wounded, Capt. Isaac 
R. Bronson died in hospital on June 2, of a severe wound in 
the u]3per right arm. He was a native of Middlebury, and 
a son of Leonard Bronson, but was residing at New Haven 
when the war broke out. He abandoned a prosperous busi- 
ness, and gave his heart and hand earnestly to the cause. 
After the repulse at Fredericksburg, he wrote, " I do Lope 
the government will not patch up a peace on account of this 
affair. I would rather a thousand times leave my bones 
here than have my children inherit a government exposed 
to what ours must be, if we now surrender to our foes what 
we refused to our friends." Lieut. Samuel Fiske wrote of 
him, — 

" He was one of the most earnest, honest, and fearless patriots whose 
life has been sacrificed in this great cause. In a camp-life, which is too 
often made an excuse for relaxing the principles of morality and religion 
that are a restraint at home, he led a pure and Christian life. Where pro- 
fanity and obscenity are (I am forced to say) almost the rule, and decent 
language the exception, no impure or irreverent words came from his lips, 
nor, unrebuked, from those of his men. Of a courage that never left him 
satisfied to be away from his post when action and danger were before us ; 
of an earnest patriotism that left none of us in doubt what were his motives 
in coming to the field ; of an enduring fortitude that shrank from no extremi- 
ties of hardship and privation that came upon us ; of a generous and cheer- 
ful spirit that was an example to us all ; he was a soldier Avorthy of our 
cause, a patriot without a blemish, a Christian that does not dishonor the 
name, a comrade of whose loss I can scarcely trust myself to speak. Since 
the death of the lamented Willard of my own town and home, slain at An- 
tietam, no stroke has come home so deeply to me personally. The first 
captain of our regiment to fall on the field ; and now, as yet, the last. 
Noble, Christian soldiers both ! — a tear to their memory and a lesson to 
each of us from their lives." 

Of the Seventeenth, two were killed on the field, thirtj-- 
four wounded, and eighty taken prisoners. Nine soon died 
of their wounds; but most of the wounded, with careful 
treatment, recovered. The regiment was fortunate in pos- 



HEAVY Ll)SS IN THE TWENTIETH. 373 

sessing a surgeon so accomplished, and so devoted to his 
duty, as Dr. Robert Hubbard of Bridgeport. He was one 
of the most skillful surgeons in the entire corps. 

Lieut-Col. Charles Walter was born in Copenhagen, Den- 
mark, in 1832, and came to America when young. He was 
a private in Capt. Speidal's company, in the First Regiment ; 
was promoted to be first lieutenant; and was aide on Gen. 
Tyler's staff at the battle of Bull Run, On account of his 
daring, he fell into the hands of the enemy, and spent a year in 
rebel prisons. On returning, he was made lieutenant-colonel 
of the Seventeenth. He was a man of education, of untiring 
energy, and great bravery. He showed singular coolness 
and resoluteness in battle; and his brother-officers said, "With 
deep sorrow and regret we have left him behind, in ground 
which needs no holier consecration than to entomb the re- 
mains of such a noble patriot." He was an admirable com- 
panion, possessing high social qualities, fine literary taste and 
culture, and excellent musical attainments. He was also 
something of a genius as an amateur artist, and made a 
striking sketch of the rebel prison, afterwards lithographed 
by his friends. 

Corporal Thomas D. Brown of Norwalk, whose wedding 
the company had attended on the morning of leaving home, 
died in hospital. His spirit took its flight just as he finished 
singing a patriotic song. Sergeant Martin V. B. Glover of 
Newtown also died at this time. He was an earnest and brave 
young man, and had, two months before, written to his neigh- 
bors and friends a stirring patriotic letter, beseeching them 
to carry on the war. 

The Twentieth Regiment had lost fully one-third of its 
number ; twenty-seven officers and men being killed out- 
right, sixty-two wounded, and one hundred and eight 
taken prisoners. Of the wounded, sixteen died. Col. Ross, 
commanding the brigade, was wounded in the leg in the 
early part of ithe action on Sunday, and compelled to leave 
the field. Lieut. David N. Griffiths of Derby was an officer 
of much promise. He was struck in the forehead by a bul- 
let, and instantly killed, while encouraging the men to stand 
firm. He fell with feet to the foe, and his sword grasped in his 



374 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

hand, — a pattern of determined courage. Sergeant-Major 
John S. Root of Hartford, killed by a grape-shot at the bar- 
ricades, exhibited almost reckless daring. Assistant Surgeon 
D. L. Jewatt of East Haddam remained with the wounded 
men who filled the Chancellor House. When our troops fell 
back, the rebels opened upon this hospital, and riddled it 
with balls. A man was killed under the hand of Surgeon 
Jewett, on the operating-table. Shells were exploded in the 
house; and at last it was set on fire and burned to ashes. 
The helpless men were all removed to a place of safety. 
Surgeon William B. Casey had been promoted to be brigade 
surgeon, and rendered efficient service. 

In this battle, the regiment lost Sergeants Albert Stillman 
of New Britain, and Charles H. Smith of Orange, Corporal 
Titus Moss of Cheshire (three brothers were fighting at his 
side), Corporal David W. Jones of Newtown, William A. Cole- 
man of New Britain, and a score of others, bravely fighting ; 
and on that field most of the young patriots lie in unknown 
graves. 

The battle of Chancellorsville was a Confederate victory ; 
yet the Federal arms effected one result, which, from a na- 
tional stand-point, almost compensated for the repulse, — 
Stonewall Jackson was dead ! 

" On to Richmond !" At least eight thousand of Hook- 
er's army were still marching towards the rebel stronghold ; 
disarmed, however, more or less disrobed, and subjected to all 
the indignities of prisoners of war. Five hundred and three 
of these were from Connecticut ; the Fifth having lost forty ; 
the Fourteenth, nineteen ; the Seventeenth, eighty-four; the 
Twentieth, one hundred and eight ; and the Twenty-seventh, 
two hundred and eighty-two. 

The prisoners were not detained long ; but their trials 
were severe even at this early day, before the world had 
been shocked with the horrors of Andersonville. Every 
thing was taken from them, — knapsacks, blankets, shelter- 
tents, and canteens. Lieut. Sheldon says, " One of the rebel 
skirmishers had hardly lowered his gun from an aim, when 
he walked up to one of our men, and said, ' Have you got a 



PEISONERS' EATIONS. 375 

knife to sell ? ' — ' No.' And, so me what abashed, he went to 
try his luck in a more promising field. Quite a crowd of 
' butternuts ' assembled to view the ' Yanks/ and prosecute 
their schemes of trade." Col. Wooster was deprived of his 
elegant cap ; the robbers substituting a rotten old slouched 
hat, almost too filthy for a rebel to wear. Lieut. A. E. 
Beardsley was similarly treated, and lost his coat besides ; 
but he defiantly refused any gift in exchange, and made 
his trip through the Confederacy and back to Annapolis 
bareheaded, protecting his head occasionally by a night- 
cap. 

Among the first to greet the prisoners was young Bob 
Stiles, a New-Haven traitor, who refused to shake hands 
with his old acquaintances, and contemptuously informed 
them, that, rather than live again under the hated Union, 
the Southern gentlemen would die in the last ditch. 

The next three days were days of speechless misery, 
hardly paralleled during the service of the men. They 
were broiled in the sun, soaked in the rain ; and no food had 
yet been dealt out. " At last the order is given, ' Fall in for 
rations ! ' We had almost concluded that this order would 
never again greet our ears until we should once more stand 
under the flag of the Union. Immediately our thoughts 
recurred to camp near Falmouth ; and in imagination floated 
visions of beef, pork, hard-tack, fresh bread : in fact. Uncle 
Sam's army-rations loomed up in bolder relief than ever 
before. In silent suspense we advance and receive — three 
pints of flour apiece ! The inquiry arose, ' What shall we do 
with it?' Our extremely limited culinary facilities soon set- 
tled that question. There was but one alternative ; and the 
men immediately built little fires, and were busily engaged 
in cooking up a bill of fare for the inarch to Richmond, — 
said bill of fare consisting simply of flour and water mixed 
together, and dried before the fire. A New-England fiirmer 
would regard it a personal insult if one should offer such 
stuff" to his hogs. . . . Two days later, at Hjuiover Sta- 
tion, each man received five medium-sized crackers and 
an ounce of bacon. Our guards were very uncommuni- 



376 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBElilON. 

oativo. but occasionally sung out. * Git in yer groups of foul's 
dar:--- 

Thousands poured into the roads all along the route to see 
the strange procession, and to deride the prisoners as they 
marched. " Well, here you are : you've got Kiohmond 
now I " shouted one. " Hardly an honest face among 'em." 
observed another. •• What you uns want to trouble we uns 
ihw?" screeched a slatternly female hanging over the fence, 
unable to comprehend the political situation. "What are 
you doing down here ? " demanded a man indignantly. 
•• Pall-bearers at Stonewall Jackson's funeral ! " was the re- 
ply. The angry rejoinder came. "If you were not a prisoner. 
rd shoot you I " 

So. insulted and exhausted, they arrived at Richmond, 
and were quarte^-ed at Libby Prison, the tobacco-lactory. and 
among the sands and wild onions of Belle Isle. Some were 
not dejected, and insisted on seeing the humorous side of 
the journey. This, under the circumstances, was an achieve- 
ment compared to which extracting sunbeams from cucum- 
bers wer^ a pastime. On entering the dismal walls of Libby, 
a lieutenant remarked to the grim keeper, that he " wanted 
to go home: he had some wood to saw and other chores 
to attend to." Capt. David S. Thomas of New Haven thus 
described the fare in Libby : — 

" The old fet qxiarterm aster of the prison used to visit us occasionally ; 
and, though he was a rabid old rebel, we rather liked him. He wasn't 
what we call a good provider, by any means ; but he was immense on dis- 
tributing consolation. The bacon he gave us looked as if cut from the 
side of a hog about two weeks old, and tasted as if the deceased had known 
uo other diet but granulated pebble-stones and black ink. With a slight 
proctjss of tanning, our rations of bacon would have made excellent half- 
soles for boots. The officers were allowed to purchase some provisions ; 
but this privilege was denied privates, and they sutfered eonaiderably for 
palatable food. 

*• It would astonish a stranger to see the variety of dishes we manufac- 
tured from corn-meal alone. Mixed with water to a consistency of paste, 
it made what we called pancakes. — a dish that constituted a large item in 
our diet. With a little less meal and more water, we had Indian pudding, 
to be eaten with a spoon. A more liberal donation of meal, with the 
same quantity of water, made a thiik substance, which, when baked in 
the oven, was styled Johnnif-cale. Then there are fish-balls, manui'actured 
from the same compounds. This receipt requires about four meals to one 

" XJcut. Sheldon's Eesimental Historv. 



OFFICERS AND MEN EXCHANGED. 377 

water, and, when moulded together, should be aljle to stand alone any- 
where. Divide the aggregate into cakes one inch thick, and about the size 
of the palm of the hand. Lay these in rows on the top of the stove ; and, 
if there is any fire at all inside, you Avill have superior fish-balls in from 
one to three hours." 

Within two Aveeks, most of the officers and men were 
exchanged at City Point, and hailed the old flag with shouts 
of welcome. 

48 




CHAPTER XXIV. 

Eace of the Hostile Armies Northward. — Battle of Gettysburg. — The Fifth, Fourteenth, 
Seventeenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-seventh Connecticut Regiments engaged. — 
Second Light Battery.— The Aflfair of July 1. — The Assault of July 2. — Attack 
on the Left Flank. — Terrible Fighting of July 3. — Connecticut Correspondents. 
— The Losses in our Regiments. — Scenes on the Battle-Field. — The "Fourth of 
July." — Tardy Pursuit of Lee. — Our Troops again iu Virgima. 

OOKER had been out-generaled, — defeated by 
superior skill rather than by superior numbers 
or courage. His army was diminished, but not 
disheartened ; for the men attributed their re- 
pulse to the proper cause, and felt, that, effi- 
ciently led, they were a match for any soldiers in the 
world. 

The Army of the Potomac had fallen into the habit of 
indulging in a long rest after every battle ; taking ample 
time for recuperation, improved by the rebels with equal 
zeal and profit. But Lee seemed inclined to act on the 
Napoleonic maxim, afterwards adopted by Grant and Sheri- 
dan, — "When we are weak, the enemy is weak: that 
is the time to strike." So now he did not wait for Hooker 
to re-organize. He believed the Union army dispirited, 
and in that fatal delusion projected an invasion of the 
North through Maryland. 

Hooker's army was hastily refitted for a severe campaign. 
The regiments from Connecticut held about the same rela- 
tive position as before Chancellorsville, except that the 
Fifth and Twentieth were now brigaded together in the 12th 
Corps. Col. Packer and other officers of the Fifth, Lieut.- 
Col. Wooster and his companions of the Twentieth, and Col. 
Bostwick, Lieut.-Col. Merwin, Major Coburn, and other offi- 

378 



THE POTOMAC ARMY AGAIN ON THE MARCH. 379 

cers of the Twenty-seventh, had been exchanged as prison- 
ers of war, and now returned to their commands. Col. 
Bostwick was unable to accompany the army on account of 
a painful and protracted illness. Most of the enlisted men 
captured at Chancellorsville were still absent on parole. 

Hooker watched the crafty rebel general, and, even 
before his purpose became apparent, moved his army 
towards Warrenton ; covering Washington on one hand, 
while pressing the rebel flanks on the other. The 12th 
Corps was the first to move ; leaving its camp at Stafford 
Court House on the 13th of June, and pushing northward 
all night, arriving at Dumfries early in the morning. Other 
corps followed closely ; the 2d being the last to leave the 
line of the Rappahannock. Lee maneuvered his forces with 
consummate ability, and kept his flank so covered with 
cavalry, that it was almost impossible to ascertain his loca- 
tion or his movements from day to day. 

The Fifth and Twentieth Connecticut remained at Dum- 
fries a day and night, and at three o'clock next morning 
were again in motion. The day was oppressively hot and 
dusty (the thermometer standing at ninety-five degrees 
in the shade), and many fell out by the way with sun- 
stroke ; but the column pressed on to Fairfax Court House, 
which place was reached at nine o'clock at night, after a 
march of thirty-three miles. Serious inroads were made in 
the ranks of all the regiments, as appeared at roll-call when 
tattoo was beaten that night ; and the corps rested here 
another day and night. Many of the men had blistered 
their feet during the severe march. Reveille sounded at 
two, A.M., of the 17th; and the regiments advanced to 
Drainesville, and again bivouacked. Sunrise of the next 
day found them in line, marching towards the Potomac. 
They encountered a violent hail-storm ; and, in crossing 
Goose Creek, the men waded up to their waists in the 
stream ; but, before taking their evening rations, they went 
into camp near Leesburg. From this point, the Union army 
lay stretched south-westward beyond Manassas. The 2d 
Corps, in which were the Fourteenth Regiment and the rem- 
nant of the Twenty-seventh, was picketing Thoroughfare 



380 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Gap, — a gorge in the Blue Ridge of strategic impor- 
tance. 

The 12th Corps remained at Leesburg nearly a week ; 
the Fifth Connecticut being there detailed to do provost- 
duty. Meantime, Lee was heard from, crossing the Potomac 
at Williamsj)ort, and appealing to the people of Maryland 
for support ; and on June 26 the corps crossed the Poto- 
mac at Edwards's Ferry, and moved rapidly northward in 
pursuit. The other corps had now come up ; and all crossed 
before night of the 27th, and advanced to intercept the 
audacious march of the rebel army into Pennsylvania. 

On the morning of July 1, Gen. George G. Meade, now 
appointed to the command of the army, started the 1st and 
11th Corps from their camp, four miles south of Gettysburg, 
with directions to move rapidly northward, and find the 
enemy, whose infantry was supposed to be at least one 
day's march distant. Gen. Reynolds, with the 1st Corps, 
pressed forward through the town, and found our cavalry 
engaged about three miles north-west of Gettysburg. The 
enemy showed no disposition to yield ground, and, in repel- 
ling cavalry-charges, had revealed something of an infantry 
force. Eagerly pushing on, Reynolds drew up his command, 
and engaged the enemy, whose divisions of infantry now 
poured upon and around him in overwhelming numbers. 
Howard hurried forward, deployed the 11th Corps on the 
right of the 1st, and took command when the brave Rey- 
nolds fell. 

In the mean time. Hill, with the advance of the Confede- 
rate forces, had been largely re-inforced by Ewell ; so that 
the Union troops were again outnumbered. The afternoon 
witnessed a furious contest. 

The Seventeenth Connecticut Volunteers conducted itself 
with much courage and steadiness. It was the first regi- 
ment of the corps sent forward as skirmishers ; and, while 
the left wing of the regiment was thus deployed under Major 
A. G. Brady, the other wing was gallantly led forward by 
Lieut.-Col. Douglass Fowler in a charge upon the advancing 
rebel lines. Ewell's troops had arrived ; and the Seven- 
teenth was flanked, and attacked fiercely on the right. 



CONNECTICUT REGIMENTS AT GETTYSBURG. 3833 

The regiment stood firmly, and lost heavily here ; Lieut- 
Col. Fowler and Capt. Moore being struck down in the same 
charge. Gen. Wadsworth was also outflanked on the left; 
and it soon became apparent that these two corps of seven 
thousand men were face to face with nearly the whole rebel 
army. Howard withdrew his men through Gettysburg, 
fighting till within the very streets, and took possession of 
a rano;e of hills a mile south of the town. 

The other corps of the army advanced rapidly across the 
Pennsylvania line, attracted tow\ards the sharp cannonading ; 
and joined the 1st, 11th, and 12th Corps in rear of the ceme- 
tery, where Meade hastily arrayed them for the coming 
contest. The men were despondent ; and Lee's army 
gathered exultantly around the pickets, shouting across, 
that they would " finish the Yanks to-morrow." The divis- 
ions of Meade's army were silently marched into position ; 
rude intrenchments were thrown up during the night ; and, 
before Lee was ready to deliver a general battle next morn- 
ing, the Union line was firmly formed. The 12th Corps 
held the eminences near Rock Creek on the right ; the 1st 
stood next at Gulp's Hill; then the 11th and 2d defending 
Cemetery Hill, the key to the position ; while the 3d and 5th 
were drawn up along the ridge to the left; and the 6tli was 
held in reserve. The line described an irre2:ular flatiron 
shape, with the toe tow^ards Gettysburg, and the heel to the 
south-east. Opposite, Lee was marshaling his forces on a 
corresponding series of liights ; while between the contest- 
ants lay a mile-wide belt of comparatively^ level and open 
ground. 

It will bo seen that the Connecticut regiments held posi- 
tions of importance and peril. The Fifth and Twentieth 
were on the extreme right flank, the Seventeenth in the right 
center, and the Fourteenth and Twenty-seventh along the 
left. The Fourteenth was now reduced to a hundred and 
sixty men, while the Twenty-seventh went into action with 
seventy-five men. The Seventeenth carried three hundred 
and sixty-nine muskets into the fight. Capt. Albert H. Wil- 
coxson, detailed as provost-marshal of the division, petitioned 
to be relieved before the battle ; and served nobly as volun- 



38-^82 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

teer aide to Gen. Barlow in the thickest of the fight. The 
Second Connecticut Battery, Capt. Sterling, had now come 
up, and took position with the 2d Corps in the left center. 

The forenoon of July 2 passed in continued preparations. 
Across the valley on Seminary Ridge, Lee was marshaling 
his men, and posting his artillery. Twelve o'clock came : 
only the intermittent and feverish discharge of musketry in 
the skirmish-lines told that the foe was still wary. One 
o'clock : Meade is painfully anxious, and every officer w^on- 
ders when and where the crash will come. Artillery-men 
lean upon their guns ; the infantry in front of the cannon 
lounge about on the grass, crack jokes, and speculate about 
the dark masses maneuvering on the opposite hill. Four 
o'clock : the oppressive silence is broken by a single cannon 
at the left ; and a single ring of smoke curls up from the 
rebel center. 

Within another minute, the air is filled with flying mis- 
siles from the muzzles of hundreds of hostile cannon. At 
last, away towards the left, the long gray lines of Longstreet's 
corps, with forty thousand bayonets glistening in the sun, 
quickly descend the- slope, and advance across the ii^terven- 
ing space. As they approach, the rebel cannonade slackens, 
and Tyler's artillery turn their guns upon them with terrible 
effect, throwing a shower of bursting shells into the midst 
of the solid masses, and, as they come nearer, serving them 
with deadly volleys of canister and grape. Rapidly moves 
the main line of the enemy, never flinching or Mtering 
under the incessant fire of our batteries. When within mus- 
ket-range of the 3d Corps, advanced beyond our main line, 
volleys of musketry are rapidly exchanged, and blend with 
the artillery in one continuous roar. Under the murderous 
fire with which they are received, the rebels first hesitate, 
then stagger back, and finally turn and fly. They are 
speedily rallied by Longstreet, and led again, yelling, to the 
charge, which this time is fierce, protracted, and bloody. 
The 2d and 5th Corps rush to the side of the 3d, which is 
now wavering and falling slowly back before the terrific 
onset. The fighting becomes more desperate ; and the foe 
is at last driven inch by inch beyond the wheatfield, where 
the first assault was made. 



THE SIXTH AND TWELFTH CORPS ENGAGED. 383 

The little band of the Twenty-seventh Connecticut has 
now become engaged. '• Lieut.-Col. Merwin fell while lead- 
ing the command with his accustomed bravery. Under 
Major Coburn, the line still pressed forward at double-quick, 
through the wheatfield and woods beyond, driving the rebels 
a quarter of a mile across a ravine, which on the farther side 
rises into a precipitous ledge. The men with much difficulty 
clambered up the rocky steep ; but, as they appeared upon 
the crest of the hill, the enemy, drawn up just beyond within 
pistol-range, opened upon them a withering fire. The con- 
test at this point continued for some time. Planting the 
colors upon the top, the men loaded their pieces under shel- 
ter of the brow of the hill ; then, rising up, delivered their 
fire. Meanwhile the troops to the right gave way ; the 
enemy advanced a large body of troops from that direction ; 
and Gen. Brooke ordered our shattered line to fall back, 
which was accomplished under a heavy cross-fire." ' 

Gen. Robert 0. Tyler commanded all the reserve artillery 
at Gettysburg, and was constantly with it at the front. The 
guns were fought with great bravery. Sometimes the rebels 
would charge up to the muzzles of the guns, disabling every 
man ; then they in turn would be hurled back by our deter- 
mined men. Gen. Tyler had a horse shot under him. 

The contest raged with doubtful result : first the rebels 
advanced with a wild yell, and then recoiled before our fresh 
troops ; and the surging masses swayed backward and for- 
ward till the sun passed behind the hills. In the mean time, 
the 12th Corps, ordered to the relief from the extreme right, 
came over and plunged down the slope to the fight just as 
the rebels had, in a most determined charge, swept back the 
Union lines, captured their cannon, and occupied their ground 
nearly up to the works on Cemetery Ridge. As this corps 
and the reserved 6th rushed down, cheering loudly, the 
rebels gave way, apparently unwilling to prolong the strug- 
gle with fresh troops. The men advanced rapidly ; and a 
brigade charged, recapturing a battery of 12-pounders that 
was being dragged off through the woods. As twilight 
changed to darkness, the rebels retreated from this portion 

1 Lieut. W. D. Sheldon's History of the Twenty-seventh. 



384 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

of the line, clinging tenaciously to the wheatfield ; when the 
contest ceased for the night. The danger being passed, the 
12th Corps was ordered to return to its position on the ex- 
treme right. 

During the night of the lst-2d, the Fourteenth Connecti- 
cut had been out on picket some two miles back : in the 
morning it was on provost-duty, and in the afternoon was 
moved to its position in the 2d Corps, and placed in support 
of a battery. It was under a heavy shell-fire during the 
afternoon, but met with little loss. 

In the center, on Cemetery Hill, our batteries had been 
assailed in a desperate manner; but the rebels had met equal 
valor, and been repulsed with heavy loss. The Seventeenth 
was posted behind a stone wall, and had acquitted itself nobly. 
After repeated onsets, the rebels had retreated to the town, 
leaving the ground strewn with their dead and dying. 

The 12th Corps toiled wearily back to its position on the 
right, only to be surprised at finding the works which they 
had vacated three hours before occupied in force by Ewell's 
corps of twenty thousand men. These troops had dashed 
up the hill after dark, and driven out Gen. Greene's brigade 
left in possession ; pouring into the intrenchments by the 
thousand. The woods were filled with solid masses of rebel 
infantry, waiting for the light of morning to give them surer 
footing. It was well for us that darkness enveloped the 
woodland here and now ; for another hour of daylight would 
have enabled the column to push on to the Baltimore Pike 
in the rear of our position on Cemetery Hill, when scarcely 
any thing could have saved the Union army from utter rout. 

As it was, the 12tli Corps was stationed along Ewell's front ; 
and the picket-line was pushed forward into the edge of the 
woods, as close as possible to that of the enemy. On the 
extreme right, some of the Union skirmishers advanced to 
the rifle-pits simultaneously with those of the enemy; and 
they mistook each other for friends in the darkness. They 
mingled and talked freely, then went to a spring near by to 
get some water, our men showing the "Johnnies" where to 
find it ; and, as they drank and filled their canteens together, 
a Union brigade moved up, and occupied the works. Return- 



HEAVY CANNONADE AT DAYBREAK. 3g5 

ing, one of Ewell's men had his suspicions aroused by the 
remark, "The Rebs have caught Hail Columbia on the left;" 
when he cried out to his companions, " H — 1 ! these are 
Yanks ! " A general melee took place : men rushed hither 
and thither; muskets were clubbed, and bullets flew for a 
short time ; and the rebels found themselves prisoners. Pick- 
ets were pushed closely forward all along the line. 

It was felt that Ewell would press his advantage at dawn ; 
and preparations to meet him were rapidly made. Troops 
moved into place and intrenched. Four new batteries were 
set, — one on McAllister's Hill to the right ; another on an 
elevation in rear of the Baltimore Pike to the left ; and two 
more on Power's Hill, directly in front of the point where 
the rebels lay in the gap. 

"Such of the men as could threw themselves on the 
ground, and tried to get a little rest : but occasionally some 
watchful sentry would fire his musket at an enemy whose 
tread he heard in the thick darkness of the wood ; and the 
flash, revealing his locality, would draw two or three shots 
from the opposing pickets, which would be answered bj^ half 
a dozen more, until the firina: extended all alonsr the rii^ht 
of the line, and presently a volley would burst forth. Roused 
by the tumult, our men in the line of battle would seize 
their muskets, and spring into their places, thinking that the 
expected attack had begun : but the firing would subside into 
pattering shots along the picket-line, and finally die out 
altogether; and all except the pickets, and the detail at 
work intrenching, would again stretch themselves out to rest, 
only to be roused again by a similar alarm." ~ The Twentieth 
Connecticut lay in line of battle in a cornfield, ready at a mo- 
ment's notice. 

With the first streaks of day, the men stood to their arms ; 
and the twenty-four pieces of artillery, whose muzzles pointed 
to the opening, began a terrible cannonade, hurling solid 
shot and shell over the heads of our infantry into the woods 
which concealed the rebel forces. This was continued for an 
hour; when the corps advanced to a fierce and bloody con- 
test to recover the works. 

2 Col. Buckingham's MS. History of the Twentieth. 
49 



386 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The Twentieth Connecticut occupied a post of honor, on 
the left of the front division-line ; and at five o'clock, a.m., 
the regiment, under Lieut-Col. Wooster, moved forward 
to the attack. At this point, there was a stone wall eight or 
ten rods in rear of the original line of works ; and this was 
early taken possession' of hy the regiment, and afforded con- 
siderable protection. Now a charge would be made, and the 
line of works reached ; then the rebels, in overwhelming 
force, would drive the regiment back, and it would take 
refuge behind the stone wall. 

On the right, the fight raged for hours ; the line swaying 
back and forth as ground was lost or won, until at last a 
firm and concentrated charge of the Union troops swept 
Ewell's forces through the woods, and regained the works. 
When the rebels turned and fled, a genuine Yankee cheer 
went up with an emphasis seldom heard, except in victory. 
Our lines on the right were completely restored before 
eleven, a.m. 

During the forenoon, also, there were frequent skirmishes 
upon the left. The Fourteenth Connecticut gallantly charged 
upon and took a house and a barn occupied by the enemy ; 
the two wings of the regiment being led by Major Theodore 
G. Ellis and Capt. Samuel A. Moore of New Britain. The 
enemy attempting to recover possession, the buildings were 
burned by our men. The regiment afterwards supported 
Arnold's battery, under a terrible fire, until the battery 
retired disabled ; when the regiment advanced, and occupied 
the position. 

Again, during the two hours of mid-day, silence brooded 
over the field ; only the stretchers, the ambulances, and the 
surgeons were busy. " Suddenly the boom of a single gun 
broke the stillness ; the shell came screaming over into our 
lines ; and, before its echo died away, two hundred and fifty 
pieces of artillery belched forth in one tremendous roar. 
From almost every part of the concave arch of the rebel line 
came solid shot and shell, chiefly aimed to dismount the 
guns along Cemetery Hill in the center. The Union gunners, 
undaunted, sent back a defiant reply from all the awakened 
artillery ; and for more than an hour it was like the crash 



DESPERATE CHARGES OF THE ENEMY. 337 

of iacessant and loudest thunder. The soKd earth trembled 
beneath the feet of the contending Titans ; above and close 
around was the smoke and crash of bursting shell ; and on 
every hand came some sort of missile charged with death." ■' 

Soon the cannonade nearly ceased ; and at half-past two 
o'clock, afar off, opposite the left center, comes the rebel 
infantry from its cover, and begins anew its charge over 
that field of death. Our artillery pour upon them once 
more a destructive fire, plowing up the earth, and strewing 
it with their dead. Quickly they press forward across the 
shot-swept plain, " in echelon by brigades," and approach the 
front of the 2d Corps. It is a grand sight ; and the daunt- 
less tread of the compact hosts tells that serious work is 
again at hand. Shells explode constantly above and among 
them. Our gunners have the range, and pour a storm of iron 
hail upon the advancing ranks, making great gaps, and 
throwing them into wild confusion. The officers rally the 
men, and on resolutely they come. Tj-ler's reserve artillery 
is brought forward ; and, as the rebels near our line, canister 
is showered upon them from two hundred pieces of artillery. 
Fearful havoc ! yet they stagger on, gathering impetus ; and 
now, within range, deliver a volley of musketry, and rush 
forward confident of victory. They are met by a storm of 
grape and bullets that is irresistible ; and again they are 
broken, and turn and run in the utmost confusion, while 
our artillery-men rain shot and shell upon the flying throng. 

Three times the lines were re-formed, and driven up into 
this tempest of death ; but each time they were repulsed. 
Now the shattered lines would almost reach our works ; and 
hundreds would throw down their arms, and rush into our 
lines rather than attempt to escape. A whole brigade, while 
being almost annihilated within a few yards of our infantry- 
works, threw down their guns, and held up their hands in 
surrender. 

The Fourteenth, Seventeenth, and Twenty-seventh Con- 
necticut, and the Second Battery, were here hotly engaged ; 
and the Twentieth Regiment, coming over with the re- 
inforcements, was for a time under a sharp fire. 

' Col. Buckingham's MS. History of the Twentieth. 



388 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

Major Ellis says of the action of the Fourteenth in his 
official report, — 

"Our men were formed in a single line of battle along an almost con- 
tinuous line of low stone wall and fence, which offered a considerable pro- 
tection from the enemy's fire. When the first line of the enemy had 
advanced to within about two hundred yards, our fire opened almost simul- 
taneously along the whole line. The enemy's first line was broken, and 
hurled back upon the second, throwing it also into confusion. Detached 
portions of the lines were rallied, and for a short time maintained their 
ground. Being mown down by our terribly-destructive fire, they com- 
menced falling back ; when a portion of this regiment charged upon them, 
capturing five regimental battle-flags and over fortj^risoners. 

" There also afterwards came into the lines of this regiment about one 
hundred or more of the enemy, some of whom were wounded, and gave 
themselves up. 

" Among the officers who personally surrendered to me were the fol- 
lowing : Col. John Fite, Lieut.-Col. N. J. George, Lieut.-Col. Parkers, 
and Major John G. Richardson. 

" Many of the field and line officers were captured. 

" The colors captured belonged to the following regiments : 14th Ten- 
nessee, 1st Tennessee, 16th North-Carolina, 52d North-Carolina, and 
•ith Virginia. The color of the 14th Tennessee Avas the first taken, and 
was captured by Sergeant-Major William B. Hincks ; that of the 52d 
North-Carolina Avas taken by Corporal Christopher Flynn of Sprague ; 
and that of the 16th North-CArolina by Private E. W. Bacon of Berlin." 

The Second Connecticut Light Battery was here envel- 
oped in the fiercest of the fight. Sergeant D. B. Lockwood 
wrote to the War Record, " Our battery was in position 
for fifty-six hours without being relieved, and a portion of 
the time under the hottest fire of the enemy's artillery. It 
was our first engagement in a pitched battle ; but the 
couraQ:e and coolness of our officers and men were such as to 
elicit commendation from experienced field-officers, and vete- 
rans in the ranks. It was an excellent opportunity to test 
the accuracy and destructiveness of our guns (the James 
rifle) ; and the result was highly satisfactory. . . . Amid 
such fearful carnage we providentially escaped without the 
loss of a man : three only were wounded. Three of our 
horses were killed, and a caisson exploded by a shell." The 
coolness of Capt. John W. Sterling was conspicuous. 

The Seventeenth had also been fiercely engaged at the 
cemetery, where the line was charged by the "Louisiana 
Tigers." The assault was reckless and desperate ; but our 
men, posted behind a stone wall, were immovable ; and as 



THE GEEAT VICTORY. 389 

often as the assailants gained the wall they were repulsed 
with slaughter. For hours the battle thundered here. 
Charge after charge was made up the hill upon the battery ; 
and the point was the focus of missiles from all the infernal 
enginery of war, while the regiment stood at its post return- 
ingj blow for blow. 

All of Gen. Robert 0. Tyler's reserve artillery was in the 
light. The enemy would charge up to the very muzzles of 
his guns, and sometimes disable every man, and seize a 
piece, only to be in turn rolled back to the valley, leaving 
the ground covered with the slain. Gen. Tyler had a horse 
shot under him. 

Finally the rebels reeled back from that carnival of death 
for the last time, fled across the plain, and would not be 
rallied ; while there went up from the thousands of loyal 
living a cry of joy, and shouts of, " Victory, victory ! " and 
exultant cheers which rolled around the hills to the right, 
bearing glad tidings. Men shook hands with each other as 
if they had not met in an age ; and tears stood in their eyes 
as they exchanged congratulations. 

" He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, 
Will stand a tiptoe when this day is named. 
He that shall live this day, and see old age, 
Will yearly, on the vigil, feast his friends, 
And say, ' To-raorrow is St. Crispiau.' 
Then will he strip his sleeve, and siiow his scar, 
And say, ' These wounds I had on Crispiau 's Day.' 
Old men forget ; yet all shall be forgot 
But he'll remember with advantages 
What feats he did that day." 

Twenty-three thousand killed and wounded and missing 
on the Union side, and twenty-seven thousand of the ene- 
my,* — these are the horrible figures that tell how much 
slavery and the dogma of " State sovereignty " cost during 
three pleasant summer days. 

The first report of the victory of Gettysburg was sent 
North by a citizen of Connecticut. Several young men 
from the State were regular correspondents in the field for 
the press : A. H. Byington of Norwalk, and W. A. Croffut 
of Orange for the New- York Tribune ; D. W. Bartlett of 

* Swinton's Army of the Potomac, p. 365. 



390 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

West Haven for the Evening Post ; Edmund C. Stedman 
of Winsted for the World ; Henry B. Brown of the navy 
for the Boston Journal ; and that quaint and genial philoso- 
pher, John Evans of Willimantic, for the New- York Times. 
One of the most tireless and enterprising of these was 
Byington ; and the " beats" for wdiich the Tribune became 
famous through his vigilance delighted Mr. Greeley even 
more than the productions of his model farm in West- 
chester. 

During the night after the first day's fight, Byington 
arrived near Gettysburg. How to get the news to New 
York was the first question. The telegraphs were cut 
for miles, and the instruments destroyed ; for the rebels had 
been to the north and east. He obtained a horse, and 
scoured the country round ; found a frightened operator 
with his telegraph instrument hidden under the bed ; 
brought it out and replaced it ; sent a squad of men ten 
miles along the line to repair the wire ; and, " click," — it 
was in working order. Byington sent a dispatch to the 
Tribune, and made arrangements for monopolizing the 
wire for two days as the price of having repaired it. As 
was then the rule, the dispatch could go to its destination 
only by way of the War Department. There it made a 
sensation. "What about this battle ? Who is Byington ? " 
asked Mr. Lincoln through the wire. " Ask Secretary 
Welles," was the reply. " Send us more," was the next 
dispatch. "On these conditions," was the answer, — "that 
you send my former dispatch immediately to the Tribune 
exclusively, and all others as soon as read." — " Agreed." 
And under this stipulation was sent forward an account of 
the battle from beginning to end ; while other correspond- 
ents were racing their jaded horses across Pennsylvania 
with news a day old. Byington offered his telegraph to 
Meade; and the general gladly availed himself of the oppor- 
tunity to renew communications with Washington. 

The Fifth Connecticut Vohmteers had been held in reserve 
much of the time ; and, having been subjected to little infan- 
try-fire, its losses were light, three wounded and five cap- 
tured comprising all. 



LOSSES OF THE FOURTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH. 391 

The Fourteentli had ten killed and fifty-two wounded • 
the latter including nearly all the officers present. Amon''- 
the killed were Corporals Samuel Huxham of Middletown, 
William W. Goodell of Vernon, and Walter F. Standish of 
Sprague. Among the wounded were Capt. Walter M. Lucas, 
Capt. James B. Coit, Lieut. J. W. Knowlton, Lieut. Freder- 
ick Shalk, Lieut. John A. Tibbetts, Lieut. Henry L. Snagg, 
Lieut. Frank E. Stoughton, Lieut. F. S. Seymour, and 
Lieut. S. H. Seward. Surgeon Frederick B. Dudley, who 
was constantly under fire, was wounded in the arm by a 
shell. 

The Seventeenth lost more than half its number, havino- 
been under a severe artillery and musketry fire during each 
day's battle. Twenty were left dead on the field, including 
its commander and a captain ; eighty-one were wounded, 
and ninety-seven taken prisoners. 

Lieut.-Col. Douglass Fowler of Norwalk was shot dead 
during the first day's fight. He had been in the w^ar from 
the beginning ; having led a company in the Third Regiment 
through the three-months' service, and afterwards raised a 
company for the Eighth. When he resigned his commission 
in the latter, he recruited a company for the Seventeenth. 
He was sick before the battle of Chancellorsville, and was 
borne to the fight in an ambulance ; but he afterwards 
fought with great endurance, being among the last to 
retreat. He w^as by nature a true soldier, brave and skillful ; 
and his genial temper, generous disposition, and buoj-ant 
spirits, united with a fervent interest in the loyal cause, had 
won for him an enthusiastic regard ; and the men followed 
him willingly into the deadly strife. He was struck down 
while leading them in a charge ; and still he sleeps in his 
unknown grave upon the battle-field of Gettysburg. 

There fell also the senior captain of the regiment, Capt. 
James E. Moore of Danbury. He w\as almost idolized by his 
compan}', and was a man of exemplary character and ster- 
lintr worth. He was a color-bearer in the ^var with Mexico, 
and led a company gallantly in the three-months' service. 
His remains were taken home, and buried with all honors ; 
the vast concourse at the funeral attesting the high regard 



392 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION, 

and admiration felt by his fellow-citizens of Danbuiy. ^ The 
regimental address said truly of both these officers, '^ Long- 
tried, and bravely serving on many battle-fields, ever ready 
at the call of their country, flinching from no danger where 
duty led, Fairfield County may proudly point to them as 
model soldiers." 

Orderly Sergeant Edwin D. Pickett of the same regiment, 
killed here, was a favorite with the men, and much esteemed 
in Ridgefield, where he lived. On the Sundaj^ of his funeral, 
the churches suspended other services, and united in the trib- 
ute to his high personal character and his manly virtues. 
To his children he left the legacy of an unspotted name and 
a record of noble deeds. '• There also fell the young men 
of patriotic fire, ever foremost in encouraging their com- 
rades by appeals to duty, — Stephen C. Crofut, William 0. 
Dauchy, Bethel S. Barnum, Augustus E. Bronson, Westlake, 
Taylor, Rufas Warner, Henry Burns the color-bearer, and 
many others who fought bravely and died nobly." 

Among the wounded of the Seventeenth were Major 
A. G. Brady, Capt. Henry Allen, Capt. Wilson French, and 
Lieut. Henr}^ Quien ; and among the prisoners were Capt. 
William L. Hubbell and Lieut. David S. Bartram. 

The Twentieth Regiment had lost, during the battle. Cor- 
porals J. C. Dickerman and Thomas Simons and six others 
killed, and twenty wounded. 

The Twenty-seventh, going into the action with only sev- 
enty-four men, had lost eleven killed, twenty-four wounded, 
and four captured ; total, thirty-nine. Lieut.-Col. Henry C. 
Merwin fell in resisting the assault of July 2. A native of 
Brookfield, he spent the greater part of his life in New 
Haven, and, when the war broke out, went as sergeant, with 
the New-Haven Grays,'' into the Second Regiment. After the 
muster-out, young Merwin waj restrained by peculiar home- 
duties till it became obvious that the nation must put forth 

5 Mr. and Mrs. AVilliara R. White of Danbury gave several hundred dollars to release 
from debt the property left by Capt. Moore to his family. 

^ The New-Haven Grays" had an honorable record during the war. They volunteered 
a full company on April 15, 1861 ; and during the war it furnished sixty-one officers, 
of whom three were generals, and eleven field-officers. In the roll of the dead, stand the 
names of Col. Merwin, iNIajor E. W. Osborn, Capt. E. S. Hitchcock, Capt. Charles 
Smith, Capt. Edward Lines, Lieut. C. M. Cornwall, Lieut. J. Chapman, Lieut. David C. 
Hunt, and Lieut. Albert F. Sharp. 



LIEUT. -COL. MEEWIX AND CAPT. CHAPMAX. 393 

all its strength. His popularity soon gathered around him. 
a full company of men for the Twenty-seventh ; and, at the 
organization of the regiment, he was elected lieutenant- 
colonel. Thenceforward his life was identical with that of 
the regiment. He fought with them gallantly at Chancel- 
lorsville, went with them to Richmond, and returned in time 
to lead the brave remnant in the next battle. " Alono; the 
weary march to Gettysburg he inspired the men with his 
own indomitable spirit ; and on that fated wheatfield, where 
the missiles of the enemy mowed down the waving grain, he 
fell mortally wounded, breathing the words of noble self-for- 
getfulness, ' My poor reghnent is suffering fearfully.' With- 
out disparagement to any, it may truly be said that no 
officer in the regiment attracted to himself such unvarying 
respect, confidence, and affection among the men of his com- 
mand. Nor w^as this strange, in view of the remarkable and 
harmonious combination of noble qualities in his character. 
No pride of position ever marred the beautiful consistency 
of his life. . . . Duty was evidently the supreme motive 
of his life. He was quick of discernment and rapid in exe- 
cution ; but no harshness ever dimmed the transparent kind- 
ness of his demeanor. . . . All these more amiable qual- 
ities were supplemented by a manly independence and 
decision which made him always jealous for the rights of 
his men. In his death, the Twenty-seventh laid its costliest 
sacrifice upon the altar of our country." '' 

At this battle, Capt. Jedediah Chapman of New Haven 
was killed. He also was a member of the Grays, and ac- 
companied them through the three-months' service. When 
the Twenty-seventh was recruited, he went out as first lieu- 
tenant of Company H, and was constantly at his post. ,Too 
ill to be present at Chancellorsville, he was appointed to 
commalnd a company made up of the squads saved from that 
wholesale capture, and fell at its head. He possessed a quick 
conscience, a clear mind, a ready hand, aiid was held in uni- 
versal esteem. Among other brave men of the regiment 
killed here were Corporals Cornwall of Milford, Wilson of 
New Haven, and Bodwell of Norwalk. 

■^ Sheldon's History of the Twenty-seventh. 
60 



394 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

During the night of July 3, 1863, the Union army, worn 
out with the stress of the terrible combat of Gettysburg, 
bivouacked in its position ; the men dropping in their places, 
and sleeping. Before the sun rose on the 4th, Lee had de- 
camped with his whole army towards the Potomac. 

Details of Union soldiers were at once made to bury the 
dead. Along our lines, and down the slope in front, especially 
in front of the center and left, where the Fourteenth, Seven- 
teenth, and Twenty-seventh Connecticut had been stationed, 
the ground was strewn with corpses, many of them already 
blackened and swollen, some still in striking attitudes. 
Here a soldier had evidently been engaged trying to save 
the life of a wounded comrade by binding a handkerchief 
about the shattered limb, but was shot, and, falling on his 
wounded companion, both had died together. 

One could see at a glance the truthfulness of the picture 
drawn by an officer in a letter : " I could imagine nothing 
more terrible than the silent indications of ngony that 
marked the features of the pale corpses which lay at every 
step. Though dead and rigid in every muscle, they still 
.writhed, and seemed to turn to catch the j)n.ssing breeze for 
a cooling breath. Staring eyes, gaping mouths, clinched 
hands, and strangely-contracted limbs, seemingly drawn into 
the smallest compass as if by a mighty effort to rend asunder 
some irresistible bond which held them down to the torture 
of which they died. One sat against a tree, and, with mouth 
and eyes wide open, looked up into the sky, as if to catch 
a glimpse of its fleeting spirit. Another clutched the branch 
of an overhanging tree, and hung half suspended, as if in 
death he had raised himself partly from the ground. An- 
other had grasped his faithful musket ; and the compression 
of his mouth told of a determination which would have 
been fatal to a foe had life ebbed a minute later. Another 
clunu: with both hands to a bavonet which was buried in 
the ground. Great numbers lay in heaps, just as the fire of 
the artillery mowed them down, mangling their forms into 
an almost indistinguishable mass." 

Col. William H. Noble of the Seventeenth, who, took a 
brief furlough after his severe wound at Chancellors ville, had 



EETEEAT AND PUESUIT OF THE ENEMY. 395 

obtained another horse, and returned to his regiment five 
days before his furlough expired, to participate in the battle 
of Gettysburg. In this he was disappointed ; but, after 
being thirty-six hours in the saddle, he arrived at the gate of 
the cemetery in the afternoon of the third day's fight, and re- 
sumed command of the reo'iment. Ool. Dwii»:ht Morris of 
the Fourteenth was unable to get nearer than Westmin- 
ster, Md. 

Independence Day was strangely kept, — in Connecticut 
with the traditional bell-ringing and cannon-firing, by can- 
non that spoke a new language, ancl bells that shook out 
more jubilant anthems than ever before ; on the green slope 
of Gettysburg by weary ambulances and active surgeons, 
an anxious counting of thinned ranks, and a tender laying 
of martyred comrades in hallowed ground. 

As five Connecticut regiments had borne a creditable 
part in the defeat of Lee's over-confident army, so now they 
were ready to join with alacrity in the pursuit. But Meade 
did not seem to comprehend his great advantage. On the 
second day after the battle, he carefully pushed the 6tli 
Corps towards the enemy ; taking his other corps by different 
roads, and advancing as rapidly as Lee moved on and got 
out of the way. The general course was towards Frederick, 
reached on the second day out. The Seventeenth pressed 
forward with the 11th Corps to Hagerstown, which it occu- 
pied on July 12, capturing one hundred and twenty-five 
prisoners. The Fifth and Twentieth overtook the enemy 
intrenched at Fair Play on the 12th, and were ordered to 
.take position and throw up earthworks. Next night, the 
main rebel army escaped across the Potomac. The retreat 
and pursuit were continued, without much experience of 
interest, until Lee's army occupied the south side of the 
Rapidan, near Orange Court House. 

The 12th Corps went into camp near Raccoon Ford. Col. 
Ross, severely wounded at Chancellorsville, had now rejoined 
the Twentieth, and had temporarily command of the brigade. 
On Sept. 24, the 12th Corps was relieved, and marched back 
to Brandy Station ; and all property was turned over to the 
post quartermaster. The march was resumed to Bealton 



396 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Station, where, to the surprise of all, the corps (with the 
Fifth and Twentieth Regiments) was embarked on board 
the cars to re-inforce the Army of the Cumberland in Ten- 
nessee. 

After Gettysburg, the Fourteenth Regiment performed a 
number of marches and countermarches in Maryland, 
crossed the Potomac in the tardy pursuit, and, July 26, en- 
camped near Warrenton. Col. Dwight Morris, Lieut.-Col. 
S. H. Perkins, and Major C. C. Clark had resigned ; and 
Adjutant Theodore G. Ellis, in April, September, and October, 
was promoted to be s'uccessively major, lieutenant-colonel, 
and colonel, — an unusual recognition, which he had earned 
by faithful and gallant service. 

On Sept. 1, the regiment went on a reconnoissance to 
Hartwood Church ; and on Oct. 12 crossed the Rappahan- 
nock with the 2d Corps, and marched southward on Culpep- 
er. Again the Rapidan became the picket-line between 
the two armies. 




CHAPTER XXV. 

Biographical Sketch of Admiral Foote. — His Adventures, Battles, and Death. — Banks's 
Expedition. — Feint towards Port Hudson. — March Southward. — Battle of Irish 
Bend. — The Cotton Raid up the Atchafalaya. — Investment of Port Hudson. — The 
Fight of May 27. — The Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Twenty- 
sixth, and Twenty-eighth Connecticut. — The Charge of June 14. — Failure and 
Heavy Losses. — The Twenty-fourth in the Cotton-Fort. — The Forlorn Hope. — Our 
Roll of Honor. — Surrender of Port Hudson. 

ONNECTICUT lost an illustrious son during^ the 
summer of 1863 in Rear Admiral Foote. the 
hero of Island Number Ten and of Forts 
Henry and Donelson. 

Andrew Hull Foote was born Sept. 12, 1806, 
in what is now called " the Buddins-ton House," corner of 
Union and Cherry Streets, New Haven. His paternal grand- 
father. Rev. John Foote, was pastor of the Congregational 
church of Cheshire for forty-six years. His maternal grand- 
father, Gen. Andrew Hull of Cheshire, was for many years 
a prosperous West-India merchant in New Haven. His 
father, Samuel A. Foote, was a graduate of Yale of the 
class of 1797, and studied law at the famous school in Litch- 
field. He frequently represented Cheshire in the General 
Assembly, and was speaker of the House. He afterwards 
represented the State in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Con- 
gresses, and in the United-States Senate for six years. 

From his seventh year, the beautiful village of Cheshire 
was the home of young Andrew ; and to his seventeenth 
year he was trained by his excellent mother Eudocia in 
right principles and moral habits, yet accustomed to the 
out-door activities of rural life, under the inspiring and 
restraining influences of an old-fashioned Puritan household. 

397 



398 CONJSKCTICUT nUKlNt; THE EEliKLLION. 

lie grow up a bright, strong-willed, amiable boy, with a full 
sh;ye of that ail venturous spirit whieh sends so many boys 
to sea at sixteen years of age. 

Ilis lather permitted liiin to ehoose his voeation; and he 
entered the navy as a nndshipnian in 182*J. His lirst voy- 
age was uuiUm- the eomniand of a lieutenant who had gained 
experienee and hont)rable distinetion in the War o( 1812, 
and who. having had the priviK\u-e oi' training him lor tlie 
serviee oi' his eoinitry. ami having shared with him the 
perils of sea and oi' battle, survived in a vigorous old age to 
share in a nation's grief at the death oi' his illustrious pupil. 
The intimate anil atVeetionate friendship of forty-one years, 
between Admiral (nvgory and Admiral Foote. was honor- 
able to both. 

iMidshipinan l'\H)te's tirst voyage was in the expeihtion 
against the }>irates oi' the West Indies. In the eourse of it, 
he distin«2;iiislied himself bv eom"a<re and enterprise as well 
as by diligenee in the duties oi' his position. Ilis seeond 
eruise was under ronnnodore Hull in the Paeilic. 

After this he made sueeessive voyages in all parts of the 
world, followed by slow and well-earned promotion. Ilis 
eomniission as lieutenant was dated eight years after he 
entered the serviee; and in the mean time he had been 
almost eontinually at sea. Twenty-live years more oi' 
arduous serviee made him a eonnnaniler : when he was as- 
signed to duty at the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia. Even 
here, among pensioners, he found a good work to do. 

Devoting himself with eharaeteristie zeal and kindness to 
the welfare oi' the pensioners under his eommand, he sue- 
eeeded in winning their allectionate ecmlidenoe : he obtained 
a high and benelieial moral inlluenee over them : he beeame 
a moral and religious teaeher among them without impair- 
ing the dignity oi' his position as an ollieer. and persuaded 
many oi' them to give uyi their spirit ration, and pledge 
themselves to total abstinem^^ from intoxieating drinks. 

On his next eruise. he further ailvaneed this prineijde. As 
first lieutenant and exeeutive ollieer oi' the Cumberland, in 
the Mediterranean, he persuaded the entire erew to forego 
their innnemorial " ixroii." At the same time he beeame a 



ACHIEVEJMENTS OF ADMIRAL FOOTE. 399 

volunteer chaplain to them, giving a lecture every Sunday 
on the berth-deck to as many as chose to attend, and havhig 
a congregation of nearly two hundred willing hearers; 
the lecture being followed by a meeting for prayer in a 
more retired part of the ship. The Cumberland became as 
worthy of honorable memory from her association with that 
experiment of free . moral and religious influence among 
the seamen of our navy as she afterwards became, when 
with her flag still Hying, an4 her sighted guns exploding at 
the water's edge, she went down heroically in that conflict 
which changed in an hour the entire system of maritime 
warfare till wars shall be no more. 

After this he w^as for some years on duty at the Charles- 
town Navy Yard, afliicted with a disease of the eyes. Recov- 
ering, he was attached to the African squadron, in command 
of the Perry ; and that service was i-endered doubh^ valuable 
by his strenuous activity against the piratical slave-traders. 
He did much to break up a shameful traffic which had found 
safety under our flag, and upon which many of our politi- 
cians still looked with favor. Among the honors of that 
cruise, also, was the fact, thai through many months of ex- 
posure along the unwholesome coast, so often fatal to life, 
the liquor-ration was voluntarily banished from the Perrj^ ; 
and among her officers and crew there was not a death, nor 
a man disabled. 

Soon after, he published a book entitled, Africa and the 
American Flas:, — a volume full of condensed information, 
and valuable for its practical suggestions. 

In 1856, he sailed for China in the sloop -of- war Ports- 
mouth, and returned two years thereafter ; having in the 
mean time distinguished himself by bombarding and storm- 
ino; the barrier forts in the Canton River. 

When the Great RebeUion broke out, he was in charge of 
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, from which duty he was soon 
summoned to the more arduous service of creating and 
connnanding an inland navy on the waters of the Missis- 
sippi. What he did in achieving the capture of Forts Henry 
and Donelson is well known; but quite as laborious was 
the exhausting work of brain and hand by which, under all 



400 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

sorts of embarrassments and discouragements, those victories 
were prepared in the creation of the resistless flotilla at St. 
Louis. 

After the fall of these strongholds, he swooped down upon 
Island Number Ten. The island shores were lined with 
heavy forts, and the banks adjacent were fortified in all 
directions, and held by a strong force ; while lying in the 
river was a floating battery carrying twelve 32-pounders. 
In this situation, it was proposed to cut a canal twelve miles 
around, through swamp and forest. In nineteen days the 
herculean work was completed. The channel was fifty feet 
wide, and passed for two miles through thick timber ; the 
trees being sawed off four feet below the water.-^ While the 
rebels were proclaiming their position impregnable, the gun- 
boats appeared simultaneously below the island and above 
it, and advanced to take the batteries ; when the island sur- 
rendered to Flag-oflicer Foote, with two thousand prisoners, 
a hundred heavy guns, and a large quantity of ammunition. 
"No single battlefield had yet afforded to the North such 
visible fruits of victory as were gathered at Island Number 
Ten." 2 

Foote was now promoted .to be admiral, and recalled to 
the East, where he again mingled with his friends, and 
again showed his zeal in every good work ; now presiding at 
a war-meeting at New Haven ; now assisting some great 
reform in aid of seamen ; now accepting the presidency of 
the Connecticut Soldiers'-Aid Society at Washington. He 
had received a painful wound, and he was pale and feeble ; 
but his indomitable spirit would not succumb to the depress- 
ing influence of bodily weakness or disease. His medical 
advisers commanded him to rest ; but he went to Washing- 
ton, and his great abilities were employed in organizing a 
new bureau in the Navy Department. 

He soon asked for more arduous service, and was assigned 
to the South-Atlantic squadron, to relieve Dupont. He ac- 
cepted the assignment, and in that command he expected 

1 Tliis great labor was performed by " the Engineer Regiment of the West," com- 
manded by Col. J. W. Bissell of this State, a brother of Col. G. P. Bissell of the 
Twenty-fifth Connecticut. 

■■^ Pollard's Southern History. 



GEN. BANKS PKEPAKING TO MOVE. 401 

to die. It was in vain that friends and physicians entreated 
him to spare himself, and to ask from the government the 
relief which would have been granted to the slightest ex- 
pression of his wishes. He was determined to do his utmost 
for the nation, at whatever sacrifice. His life, he said, was 
not his own, and should be freely surrendered at his coun- 
try's call. 

His preparations for going were nearly completed, and he 
had parted with his flimily in -^ew Haven, when the disease 
which his vigorous constitution had so long resisted overcame 
him ; and, after great suffering, he died at the Astor House, 
New York, June 26, 1^^63• 

He had expected to die in the malaria of the Carolina 
Islands, tended by the rough but loving hands of fellow-war- 
riors on the sea ; or in the roar and fiery storm of battle. 
Where he should die, or how, was to him a question of little 
moment. Yet, when he found his time had come, he could 
not but be thankful for the opportunity of dying surrounded 
by his family and friends ; by his wife and children and 
brothers ; by old comrades, — the heroes of many a conflict, 
whose voices had rung out, and were soon to ring again, loud 
and clear in the tempest of battle ; now confessing by silent 
tears how much they loved him. Assured that death was 
near, he waited calndy for the end ; and his last intelligible 
words were, " I thank God for his loving-kindness to me. 
Praise the Lord, my soul ! and forget not all his benefits." 



During the month of February, 1863, Gen. Banks arrived, 
and took command of the troops at Baton Rouge, which was 
made the rendezvous of the column for the projected assault 
on Port Hudson, a rebel stronghold in Louisiana, twenty-five 
miles up the river. 

The army gathered ; Farragut's fleet of mortar-schooners 
and gunboats was assembled ; and during the first week in 
March the regiments were under marching orders. At this 
juncture, a meeting of Connecticut regiments was held to 
consider the approaching State election ; and Col. Bissell of 
the Twenty-fifth and Capt. Sprague of the Thirteenth were 



61 



402 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

appointed to draft an appeal to the people of Connecticut to 
re-elect Gov. Buckingham. This was prepared and numer- 
ously signed, and had considerable influence on the result. 

On March 9, Col. G. P. Bissell of the Twenty-fifth was 
ordered to report in person to Gen. Banks, and was put in 
command of the advance guard (a regiment of infantr}^, a 
company of cavalry, and a section of battery), with directions 
to repair the roads and bruV^es towards Port Hudson. Col. 
Bissell seized the Bayou Sara, and built a substantial bridge, 
over which the whole army aftenvards passed with its heavy 
guns. The construction was supeilntended by Private Wil- 
ham Webster of Unionville, who was au fait at bridge-build- 
ing. This preparatory work was accomplished to the great 
satisfaction of Gen. Banks ; when Col. Bissoll, taken severely 
ill, turned over the regiment to Major Thomas McManus, 
Lieut.-Col. Weld being still absent in hospital. 

On March 13, the Connecticut regiments fell into the 
strong column moving apparently to invest Port Hudson. 
The real object was a diversion in the rear to assist Farra- 
gut to run the batteries in front ; and it also answered the 
purpose of a reconnoissance in force. It was a severe test 
of the powers of endurance of the men. The first night 
they rested in a plowed field ; the second night the Twenty- 
fourth was posted in a cornfield. 

The army had nov*^ arrived at the east of Port Hudson, 
and stood upon the verge of battle ; but no battle was 
fou2;ht. '• The roar of the o-uns of the ascendino- fleet on 

o o o 

the river was distinctly heard, but its meaning was unknown • 
the light of the burning Mississippi, casting a lurid radiance 
over half the visible heavens, was gazed at with inquisitive 
wonder, but brought no intelligence of coming events ; the 
terrible explosion, which out-sounded thunder and extin- 
guished the gloomy radiance, awakened only fearful appre- 
hensions in those who were watching by night the progress of 
events. Sunda}"" afternoon a retrograde movement towards 
Baton Rouge began. The march, though rapid, was orderly. 
The men were very heavily laden. The day was hot ; but to- 
wards night a terrible thunder-storm set in. The road became 
ankle-deep with mud where it was not entirely overflowed : 



ADVANCE TOWAEDS SOUTHEEN LOUISIAl^A. 403 

night came on like the falling of a curtain ; onward pressed 
the eao-er column. A marsh strewn with brambles and 
rotting logs, where upturned stumps overlooked the puddles, 
welcomed the men and officers to moist beds. The glare of 
a wilderness of camp-fires, which served to make darkness 
visible, disclosed groups of uncomfortable men in all atti- 
tudes, — standing, leaning, sitting, reclining, smoking, swear- 
ing, drinking, sleeping, and trying to sleep. It was a night 
to be remembered a lifetime."^ 

The Thirteenth and Twenty-fifth fared no better; for 
Col. Sprague says, "An hour after nightfall we were 
marched by the flank out of the roacl, and into a pond of 
water, and told to pass the night there." They obeyed ; 
and the place is remembered as " Camp Misery." 

The wretchedness of the Twenty-fifth was greatly relieved 
by the exertions of Quartermaster John S. Ives, who rode 
fourteen miles in the terrific storm and mud, returning at 
midnio;ht with bag's of cofiee and sui»:ar across his horse. It 
was a work of military supererogation, but it brought upon 
the faithful quartermaster the cheers and blessings of the 
miserable host. Next day they returned to Baton Rouge. 

The men were greatly disgusted with what seemed to 
them a foolish and objectless expedition, feeling little com- 
pensation for the incomprehensible retreat in the fifteen 
hundred bales of cotton brought back. 

For a few days the new Sibley tents were spread at Baton 
Rouge ; but on the night of March 28, in the midst of a 
thunder-storm, Grover's division, including the three Connecti- 
cut regiments, embarked, and sailed down the river to Donald- 
sonville, the advance of Banks's famous expedition. Here 
tents were pitched again ; but on the 31st they started down 
the road which leads along the bayou towards Southern 
Louisiana, through a delightful region, and past fruitful 
fields. Stringent orders against straggling and pillaging were 
issued. 

On April 2, they marched through Thibodeau to Terre 
Bonne, and took the cars westward ; the Twelfth Connecti- 
cut now joining the column with Weitzel's division. 

3 Letter of ]Major Patrick ^lalier of tlie Twenty-fourth to Thomas R. Trowbridge, a 
generous friend and patron of the Twenty-fourth Regiment. 



404 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

Banks restricted officers' baggage to a carpet-bag and a 
small roll of blankets; and the officers of all Connecticut 
regiments present stored their trunks, clothing, papers, and 
personal property, in a sugar-mill, where they were burned 
the following June on the approach of the enemy. 

On reaching the Atchafalaya River, fifty miles west of 
New Orleans, Weitzel moved towards Franklin to attack the 
enemy strongly fortified and in force just beyond; while 
Grover's division embarked, and steamed up Lake Chesti- 
mache to cat off the rebel retreat. 

On Sunday, April 12, the assault was made with great 
fury with artillery and infantry. All day the contest 
raged. The Twelfth supported a battery on the left, but at 
night withdrew out of range, and got some sleep. Monday 
they advanced to the extreme front through a canefield, hear- 
ing the bullets' " zip " through the cane on all sides. The regi- 
ment again supported a battery here, — not more than four 
hundred yards from the enemy's guns. The boys lay concealed 
in a plantation-ditch ; and the grape, canister, and shells 
swept over their heads. At dark they were again with- 
drawn, having two killed and thirteen wounded. Capts. 
Samuel H. Granniss, John Brennan, Lester E. Braley, and 
Stephen D. Byxbee, and their companies, received honorable 
mention; also Major Lewis and Dr. Cummings acting sur- 
geon. Chaplain James H. Bradford was also awarded 
" great praise for the fearless activity with which he minis- 
tered to the suffering during the battle and the night fol- 
lowing." 

Durin<j" the nig:ht, the rebels retreated towards Grover's 
division, that had already landed near a place called Irish 
Bend. In the night they slipped past ; but on the morning 
of the 14th turned again, and accepted battle. The Tw^enty- 
fifth Connecticut, deployed to skirmish in advance of the 
division, pressed rapidly up to the woods. Suddenly a brisk 
musketry-fire opened upon them, which they warmly re- 
turned ; being meantime the mark of a battery to the left, 
and the guns of the rebel gunboat Diana. Birge's whole 
brigade came promptly to the support. It was the first 
time the Twenty-fifth had been under fire ; but the men 



THE THIRTEENTH CAPTURES A FLAG. 405 

stood up to their work nobly, incited by the example of 
their gallant colonel, Bissell, who, regardless of his own 
safety, passed from end to end of the line, encouraging 
them to deeds of bravery. 

The regimental report of Adjutant Henry C. Ward of the 
Twenty-fifth says, " Shortly afterwards, the enemy opened 
with his artillery from the right of his line ; firing shell, grape, 
and canister with great rapidity. After some delay, two 
pieces of our own artillery were brought up, and returned 
the fire; and, finally, the remaining three companies of our 
right wing were called up to rejoin the regiment, which was 
thus all brought into action as skirmishers, engaging the 
entire front of the wood, which was a line of fire. While 
thus in action, we were suddenly opened upon by two regi- 
ments (the 18th Louisiana ■•■ I a Texas regiment) which had 
crept through the cane, a., i appeared on our right flank." 
The cross-fire was terrible, and the regiment for some time 
suffered severely. ^ 

While this was going on upon the right, the Thirteenth 
had moved by the f3ftnk to the left, and advanced against 
the rebel right. The regiment moved forward in firm line, 
greeted with a heavy fire from the gunboat, a New-Orleans 
regiment, and a battery. The Union regiments on the right 
had fallen back, when Col. Warner gave the order, " Com- 
mence firing ! " and five hundred muzzles poured forth a 
steady stream of lead, while the men were rapidly advan- 
cing. They fired fast and continuously ; and, as they showed 
no intention of coming to a halt, the rebel battery was 
whirled away, and the rebel regiment fled to the left and 
rear. 

The Thirteenth captured the flag of the St. Mary's Can- 
noneers, and was just giving itself up to rejoicing over a vic- 
tory won, when Lieut. Perry Averill of Company D discovered 
a regiment of graybacks advancing straight upon the right. 
The Thirteenth was hastily withdrawn under a sharp fire. 
The enemy now rallied all along the line ; but another Union 
brigade came up, and the charge of the united division swept 
every thing before it. The rebels turned and ran in great 
disorder ; and, Weitzel's brigade arriving at this moment in 



406 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION, 

the rear, the gunboat Diana was fired and blown up by the 
rebels. The victory of our forces was complete. 

The Thirteenth captured two caissons, one limber, four 
artillery horses, sixty prisoners, many small arms, and the 
banner, which is now preserved in the archives of the State 
of Connecticut. Especial praise was awarded to Chaplain 
Upson, Surgeon Clary, and Hospital-steward William Bishop 
for fearlessly exposing themselves to minister to the wound- 
ed. The regiment lost seven killed and forty-six wounded. 
Of the former were Sergeants Frank E. Stanley and Frank 
W. Stanley of New Britain. 

Sergeant Frank W. Stanley was but a lad, bright, active, of 
superior talent, and noble character. He was one of the 
first to enlist at the outbreak of war; but quietly yielded to 
the judgment of his father, and remained at school until 
the second call for troops. His patriotic parent kept liim 
back no longer, though an only son. He entered the ser- 
vice with pride and zest, and, yet a boy, displayed the quali- 
ties and character of a hero. He was neat, erect, strong, 
and grew swiftly to manly beauty. ^He was ardent and 
ambitious, admired by all, and on the sure road to deserved 
promotion. 

Sergeant Frank E. Stanley was a cousin and playmate of 
Frank W., — less lively and impressible, not so forward, but 
gifted with the elements of sturdy and faithful manhood. 
He seemed to have waited for the war to develop him. As 
a soldier, none could be more ready or trusty : in battle, his 
conduct was magnificent. 

The loss of these two was deeply felt in the army and 
also at home, where they had occupied high social positions. 
Here, also, fell Corporals Edwin L. Nickerson of Cornwall 
and Leonard G. Roath of New London, who had been pro- 
moted for their merits. 

The Twenty-fifth, after opening the battle, had been under 
fire eleven hours, and had suffered fearfully. Out of the 
three hundred and fifty who went into action, ninety-six 
were killed, wounded, or missing ; the latter counting but 
ten. Nine were killed outright, and five died of their 
wounds. 



LOSSES IN THE TWENTY-FIFTH. 407 

Capt. Samuel S. Ilayden of Windsor Locks was killed in 
stantly hy a fragment of shell. The excellent chaplain of 
the regiment, Rev. George B. Oviatt, said of him, " He was a 
Christian patriot. I think I knew him well ; and the more 
thoroughly I knew him, the more I admired and loved him. 
He was one of the most frank and outspoken men I ever 
saw, — a noble specimen of a Puritan of the olden time. He 
was a remarkably conscientious man ; and all his opinions he 
held with firmness, whether they were popular or unpopu- 
lar, — whether, in holding them, he stood alone or among the 
many." He was a brave, tender-hearted, generous man, and 
o;ifted with strono' common sense. 

The Twenty-Bfth also lost here one of its best men in 
Lieut. Daniel P. Dewey of Hartford. He was cut down in 
the front of battle, at the point nearest the enemy. When 
he enlisted, he was a sophomore in Trinity College, one of 
the first in his class, sa3-s Professor Brockelsby. He possessed 
a clear and vigorous mind, and was always buoyant in his 
disposition. Adjutant Henry C. Y/'ard wrote to the parents 
of young Dewe}' , '^ I saw your son then ; and the sight I shall 
never forget. Waving his sword above his head ; calling to 
his men, ' Remember you are Company A ; ' his whole bear- 
ing so brave and heroic that it seemed almost impossible for 
any enemy to avoid marking him ; standing unmoved in a 
rain of bullets, he had a word of encouragement for every 
man near him, kindly greeting for a friend, and even a 
merrj^ quotation from a favorite song to fling after a shell 
that went shrieking by. So I last saw him ; so I shall 
always remember him." A memorial volume before us, con- 
taining the letters of Lieut. Dewey, tells that he was a reli- 
gious soldier, and, as Col. Bissell v/rote of him, " brave, dis- 
creet, reliable, just, — a cheerful, fearless man." 

Lieut. William A. Oliver of Hartford, j ust promoted from 
sergeant, was a brave and impetuous soldier ; and, when 
wounded, a handkerchief was bound about his head by 
private T. H. Robbins ; and he was one of the last to leave 
the field. He died ten days later of his wound. 

Sergeants Charles D. Grover of Ellington and Jonas G. 
Holden of Hartford were also among those who here cheer- 
fully gave their young lives. 



408 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The Twenty-fourth Regiment arrived towards the close of 
the fighting, but was not under fire. 

The enemy now scattered to the woods ; and next morn- 
ino- the column pursued its march northward. From this 
time, April 14, to May 20, the force of twenty thousand 
men known as the 19th Corps moved towards the Red River, 
in a line generally parallel with the Atchafalaya. The men 
blistered their feet, and suffered varied hardships. Vast 
quantities of cotton and sugar were taken out of the coun- 
try and confiscated, ostensibly for the benefit of the govern- 
ment. Sprague's History of the Thirteenth has the follow- 
ino; incident of this time : — 

" What's the real object of this expedition ? " asked Mrs. 
Semmes, at whose house some of the officers halted. " The 
real object of the expedition," replied the chaplain, " is to 
protract the expedition until the quartermasters and con- 
tractors all get rich. I verily believe, if they had their way, 
they'd keep us in these swamps as long as the children of 
Israel were kept in the wilderness." — " Chaplain Upson," re- 
sponded Bromley, '• I can tell you why the children of Israel 
were detained so Ions; in the wilderness. It w\as because 
they had too many chaplains and too few quartermasters." 

The men s.till vividly remember a long, tedious, useless 
tramp through a country full of rank tropical growths, and 
abounding in fruit and fowl which they were forbidden to 
touch ; " special agents " floating off" the cotton, with enor- 
mous snakes, athletic spiders, and slimy alligators in the 
foreojround. 

The advance reached the mouth of Red River on May 18 ; 
and the whole corps sailed down the Mississippi to Bayou 
Sara, twenty miles above Port Hudson. Next morning, they 
marched towards that stronghold ; the rebel vedettes fidling 
back before our advance-guard, a detachment of the Thir- 
teenth. On Sunday, May 24, the converging columns drew 
nearer, and the investment was complete. Sharp skirmish- 
ing ensued. The Thirteenth and Twenty-fifth advanced 
in Dirge's brigade; and the Twenty-fourth farther on the 
right, and the Twenty-sixth away on the left, chasing the 
enemy through the woods, and taking possession of the re- 



FIRST ASSAULT ON PORT HUDSON. 400 

doubts and earthworks outside the main rebel defenses. 
The regiments were under fire, and a few were wounded. 
In the afternoon, half the Thirteenth went forward to skir- 
mish ; and there was a sharp contest. Here, bravely fight- 
ing, far to the front, fell Sergeant James Torrence, ^ gallant 
young Scotchman of Norwich. 

On the 25th the Twelfth came up, and advanced to the 
front. The Thirteenth pressed the enemy's sharpshooters 
to the rifle-pits ; and at midnight Privates Charles Sidders 
(of East Hampton) and Walter McGrath and Ellis B. Robin- 
son (of East Hartford) were selected by Col. Birge, and 
sent at midnight, with instructions to crawl up to the rebel 
parapet, and rej)ort upon the practicability of scaling the 
works. They went through the enemy's picket-line, and 
examined the ground ; all returning unhurt, though the 
pickets of the Twenty-fifth fired on them by mistake. 

On May 27, Weitzel led his brigade in the general line 
that advanced to storm the works. The Twelfth was ready 
for the business. As straight as the nature of the ground 
would allow, the line advanced through the woods, reaching 
the clearinui; in front at sunrise. •' We were received as we 
emerged with volleys from artillery and infantry. I re- 
ceived orders to advance to the front and left, and silence 
the artiller}', now firing grape and canister into our lines. 
We moved by the flank under a heavy fire, past four pieces, 
and took up a suitable position. Three companies were sent 
forward as skirmishers, and soon came upon the skirmishers 
of the enemy, whom they drove. A detachment was sent 
from inside the works, which attempted to turn our flank. 
Our left being entirely unsupported, I sent one company, 
which succeeded, by sharp fighting, in repelling the attack. 
The entire regiment was finally engaged, and by noon had 
succeeded in driving the enemy inside the parapet ; and in 
a short time afterward had silenced four pieces of artillery, 
two of which, being field-pieces, were withdrawn ; the other 
two (mounted en harheUe) the two wings of the regiment 
relieved each other in guarding till late in the day. Our 
line did not halt until it reached the parapet ; and at one 
time the extreme right had succeeded in scaling the work, 

52 



410 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

but, for want of harmonious support of other corps, were 
compelled to rest satisfied with holding the position." * At 
nio-ht, the regiment was withdrawn. While in this advanced 
position. Private Andrew B. Bartram of Berlin crept cau- 
tiously up to a rebel embrasure, and reconnoitered the works. 
When he was discovered, the rebels seized their guns ; but 
Bartram slipped away and into cover before they could fire 
upon him. He was loudly cheered by our men. Gen. 
Stone sent for him, and pointed a Dahlgren gun where Bar- 
tram saw the sharpshooters, which tore a large hole in the 
works. 

Birge's Brigade, in which was the Twenty-fifth, was 
ordered to the right to support Weitzel, and directed to 
carry a redoubt on the north-east angle of the enemy's 
works. Advancino; under a severe cross-fire throuo-h a 
ravine, waist-deep in water, forcing its way over a most diffi- 
cult abatis, the column halted at the foot of the slope lead- 
ing up to the redoubt. This it carried, capturing the out- 
posts and rifle-pits, together with their occupants. But 
beyond, and between the column and the redoubt, lay an 
impenetrable ravine, forming a natural ditch. After twice 
vainly essaying to cross in the face of a tremendous fire, 
the attempt was abandoned ; and the two regiments lay on 
the position they had carried till ten, p.m., when they were 
withdrawn under cover of darkness. At the time when 
both regiments were driven back under the fire that swept 
the ravine, the standard-bearer of the 159th New-York was 
killed, and the colors left upon the field. 'Sergeant Robert 
Buckley of the Twenty-fifth hearing of it, without a word, 
sprang forward again into the deadly storm of missiles, and, 
picking up the flag, brought it safely in; but, turning to 
take up his gun which he had laid down, received the fatal 
ball in his breast : with but a groan his spirit passed away. 

The Twenty-sixth ° took an honorable part in the ill- 
starred assault of this day. On arriving from Baton Rouge, 
the regiment was assigned to Gen. Neal Dow's brigade, on 
the extreme left, near the river. In the afternoon, the left 

* Col. Feck's OflBcial Report. 

^ Major Henry Stoll, absent on leave, rejoined the regiment during the siege of Port 
Hudson. 



THE TWELFTH AS SKIEMISHEES. 411 

wing advanced, and was received with a concentrated fire. 
Col. Kingsley of the Twenty-sixth was among the wounded. 
Lieut.-Col. Joseph Selden, afterwards commanding the regi- 
ment, reports, — 

" The brigade was ordered forward on the double-quick. Four fences 
intervened between us and the intrenchments, which greatly impeded our 
advance. In passing these fences, the different regiments were thrown 
into confusion, and became somewhat mixed up. On entering the field, a 
perfect shower of grape-shot and canister met us, severely wounding 
Gens. Sherman and Dow, and cutting down officers and men by scores. 
Still we advanced, and for more than two hours held the ground ; and, 
when obliged to fall back, it was not in disorder. I rallied our men, and 
formed the regiment near the entrance of the field; and we held the ground 
occupied by our brigade during the day. This being the first time the 
regiment had been under fire, I must be permitted to say that they con- 
ducted themselves with great gallantry and bravery." 

Out of a total of less than four hundred, one hundred and 
six were killed or wounded. Nine-months' regiments were 
thereafter held at par. Gen. Clark, commanding the brigade, 
said in his report, " The nine -months' men have demon- 
strated by their gallant conduct that they can be relied on 
in any emergency." 

During the succeeding two weeks, all the regiments were 
engaged constructing covered ways, making counter breast- 
works, digging rifle-pits and zigzags, removing obstructions, 
and mounting artillery. " On the night of June 10, four 
companies of the Twelfth were ordered to be thrown for- 
ward as skirmishers to form part of a continuous line around 
the works, with the design of compelling the enemy to dis- 
close the position of his artillery. Orders were also given 
by the brigade commanders to scale and occupy the works 
if possible. Companies A, B, F, and K, were sent out, and 
advanced, at the signal arranged, through a deep interven- 
ing ravine obstructed by fallen trees and underbrush. They 
received a volley from the enemy as they came up, but 
pressed on to the base of the parapet." ^ The orders were 
not carried out by the other regiments, and these four com- 
panies drew the enemy's concentrated fire ; and seventeen 
out of thirty-four of Company B were killed and wounded. 
Twenty others were wounded, including Capts. Granniss, 

6 Col. Peck's Official Keport. 



412 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Clarke, and Roach. The attempt was a signal failure on 
every side. 

The whole field was now swept with almost constant fire. 
Crash went the shell from multitudes of death-dealing can- 
non ; and the "zip, zip," of Minie-balls, sang just over the 
heads of the men. Food was prepared in the rear, and 
brought to the front at night by the cooks. So difficult was 
the way, that one of the cooks of the Twenty-fifth actually 
carried hot coffee across the neutral ground ; but he offered 
none of the beverage to the self-denying rebel sentinel who 
challenged him. 

The terrible 14th of June will be Ions; remembered. About 
twelve o'clock, midnight, the Twelfth left their position. It 
was intensely dark. The guides who were sent to direct 
them lost their way ; the regiment got separated by flanks, 
but, after considerable wandering, came together, and en- 
tered the ditch leading up to the parapet, where the assault 
was to be made before daylight. The Thirteenth and Twen- 
ty-fourth were already at the ditch ; the duty assigned the 
latter beinor to swing- their muskets on their backs, with an 
additional load of two 30-pound gunny-bags of cotton to 
each man with which to bridge the moats, and to advance 
with the charge. The Twenty-fifth was held for the present 
in reserve, now mustering only ninety-five for duty. The 
Twenty-sixth was in line of battle, ready to charge the rebel 
works again across the broken field. From the Twenty- 
eighth a hundred men were detailed, under Capts. Browm 
and Iloag, to form a part of the hand-gren'ade constituent, 
consistino; of three hundred men in all. Ravines of the most 
precipitous and difficult character covered the front of the 
enemy's works, and were both naturally and artificially ob- 
structed by trees and brushwood ; in many instances, also, 
being under the fire of rifle-pits, or the guns of flanking 
anu;les of the works. 

Across this ground dashed the first line of battle, in which 
was a brigade led by Col. Ricliard E. Holcomb of the 1st 
Louisiana. The rebels madly plied the advancing regiments 
with shot and shell ; with all missiles known to war, and 
unknown, — " explosive bullets, case-knives, flat-irons, spikes, 



CHAEGE OF THE FOURTEENTH OF JUNE. 413 

hatchets, ramrods, pig-iron, and wooden plugs wound with 
cotton." '' 

As the battle was raging in front, and dead and wounded 
were brought to the rear, the Connecticut regiments ad- 
vanced through the covered way, and issued into the open 
ground near the works of the enemy. The first attacking 
party had recoiled ; and, as the Thirteenth leaped from the 
end of the dry ditch, they caught a glimpse of Col. Holcomb, 
their old major, and gave him three hearty cheers. He was 
haranguing his brigade, and trying to rally them ; but they 
responded doubtfully ; and he turned to the Thirteenth, 
commanded by a captain, and offered to lead it. Another 
rousing cheer accepted the offer ; and they leaped to the 
front simultaneously with other regiments from this and 
other States. The Twelfth was deployed as skirmishers to 
the left. The men of the Twenty-fourth were running for- 
ward with their cotton-bags; and the hand-grenade party 
was also pushing for the rebel works. 

This broken plain was now mown by shot and shell in an 
increasing tempest. The companies that advanced over its 
most exposed parts were shot down almost bodily. The . 
brave Holcomb was slain with a musket-ball in his head at 
the first onset ; Lieut. Strickland and twenty others fell close 
by him. Cautiously now the line pressed forward, the men 
availing themselves of the irregularities of the ground for 
cover, until the center rested upon the line of a ridge not 
more than fifty yards from the "Priest's Cap," a rebel redoubt 
projected beyond the parapet. The men fell on all sides ; 
and the battle rao;ed with creat fury and clamor. 
y In a moment, portions of the Twelfth and Thirteenth 
' reached a concealed ravine, almost under the breastwork, 
and nearly parallel. The inner side was precipitous, barring 
further progress ; and into it officers and men poured head- 
long, finding cover from the instant death that hurtled across 
the field. To this ravine, within thirty yards of the enemy's 
works, many ran the gantlet of fire, until five hundred to a 
thousand were there massed. Gen. Banks sent repeated 
peremptory orders for the senior officer to take the works at 

' Sprague's History of the Thirteenth, p. 142. 



414 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

all hazards. The officers present regarded it as a wicked 
slaughter of men ; and every one refused to lead. Banks 
then directed the formation of a storming-column of two 
hundred ; and several officers and men of the Twelfth 
and Thirteenth immediately volunteered, with many others. 
The order was soon countermanded, on account of two heavy 
lines of rebel infantry having been discovered just inside. 
The men were without food or drink, and suffered fearfully, 
the day being very hot. At night this advanced force was 
withdrawn from its perilous position. 

In the mean time, the Twenty-fourth still maintained an 
exposed position at the right. In the murderous fire, which 
killed and wounded a thousand men, they had thrust their 
cotton-bags before them, and rushed on to the crest of a little 
hill, within fifty yards of the rebel works, where they con- 
structed a temporary breastwork and held it. 

The hundred men of the Twenty-eighth, with the hand- 
grenades, had met with a bloody repulse, and had Mien back 
to the intrenchments with the main line. 

The Twenty-sixth, under Lieut.-Col. Selden, in Col. Clark's 
.brigade, had steadily advanced upon the extreme left in col- 
umn by divisions, to within about three hundred yards of 
the rebel works, imder a raking fire. Here their advance 
was checked by the deep ravine, rendered almost impassable 
by felled trees and a dense growth of chaparral. The enemy 
had also planted a battery, which kept up a destructive fire. 
The regiment had already lost heavily. The first rebel 
shell killed and wounded sixteen ; another took six from the 
color-company ; but the men advanced steadily to the ravine, 
where they were showered with grape and shrapnel. In this 
ditch the Twenty-sixth was held all day, under a broiling 
sun, firing at the rebel gunners, and unable to retire until 
darkness covered the field. 

Of all the regiments that advanced across the plateau in 
the morning, the Twentj'-fourth Connecticut was the only 
one so located as to be able to maintain its hold. Now re- 
duced to less than two hundred and fifty fighting men, it 
defended the narrow arc of cotton-bags resolutely. When 
darkness fell, the cotton was strengthened by being covered 



THE TWENTY -FOURTH BUILD AN OUTPOST. 415 

with sand ; so that the morning's sun rose on an ambitious 
little earthwork, which its galhint garrison christened Fort 
Mansfield, after their accomplished colonel. So quietly was 
it done, that Gen. Grover thought the rebels had erected a 
new redoubt during the night, and ordered a battery to shell 
it out ; but, fortunate!}', the blue-jackets were recognized. 

Fort Mansfield was so near, that Capt. Mabbett of Ham- 
den threw a bullet into the enemy's works. The riien talked 
with the rebels over the hostile parapet. " Shoot lower if 
you expect to hit anybody," exclaims one. " Come over 
here, and we will give you some ammunition," is the invita- 
tion of another to a rebel rifleman whose cap does not ignite 
the powder. 

The position was subjected to a severe cross-fire ; but the 
handful of men poured in a shower of lead whenever a rebel 
head was visible. On the third day they felt sufficiently 
secure to unfurl the flag of Connecticut from their cotton- 
bales ; greeting it with three hearty cheers and a shotted 
salute of a hundred guns at the rebels, who returned it with 
a yell of rage and a shower of leaden hail at the defiant 
banner. Chaplain J. C. Wightman of the regiment wrote, 
under date of June IT, as follows : — 

" This morning, from the outskirts of the green woods 
which encircle Port Hudson, within whose dense foliage the 
army of Gen. Banks is completely embowered, the flag of 
the Twenty-fourth might be seen, far out in the field, waving 
triumphantly in the very jaws of this rebel stronghold. The 
flash of musketry blazed along the rebel parapet, and 
sent a shower of bullets upon this emblem of our national 
Union and keepsake of the ladies of Middletown. The 
smoke that rose from time to time beneath it showed that 
those who carried it thither had not abandoned it, but were 
jeoparding their lives for its defense. At first the area 
which intervenes between this pioneer band and the army 
might be mistaken for a traversable plain ; but minute ob- 
servation will reveal most hideous features. Stumps, fallen 
trees lying one upon another, brambles, roots, and gorges 
which lie concealed like a stealthy foe till you reach their 
brink, make this outer point which is held by a single small 



416 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

regiment almost inaccessible to their friends, and seem to 
place it entirely within the power of their enemies, whose 
frowning breastworks rise within the distance of a stone's- 
throw, and overlook the little dwarf of a fort that dared 
to be born so near." 

June 15, Gen. Banks promulgated his famous call for a 
storming column of a thousand volunteers. In this apj^eal 
he said, — 

" We are at all points upon the threshold of the enemy's fortifications : 
one more advance, and they are ours ! For the last duty that victory im- 
poses, the commanding general summons the bold men of the corps to the 
organization of a storming column of a thousand men, to vindicate the 
flag of the Union and the memory of its defenders who have fallen. 

" Officers who lead the column of victory in this last assault may be 
assured of the just recognition of their services by promotion ; and every 
officer and soldier who shares its perils 'and its glory shall receive a medal 
fit to commemorate the first grand success of the campaign of 1863 for 
the freedom of the Mississippi. His name will be placed in general orders 
upon the roll of honor." 

In this forlorn hope, Connecticut took the lead of all the 
States. Col. Birge, at his special request, was assigned to 
lead the column ; and his old regiment, the Thirteenth, fur- 
nished for the perilous service one -quarter of the whole 
number. Two colored regiments also furnished two hun- 
dred. The following is our roll of honor ; the Connecti- 
cut regiments not represented being on duty at other 
points : — 

STAFF OF COMMANDING OFFICER OF COLUMN. 

Col. Henry W. Birge (Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteers) commanding 
3d Brigade, Grover's division. 

Capt. Edward C. Weeks (Acting Master United-States Navy), A. A. 
D. C, Birge's staff. 

Capt. Charles L. Norton (Twenty-fifth Connecticut Volunteers), A. D. C, 
Birge's staff. 

Assistant Surgeon George Clary (Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteers), 
Birge's staff. 

FIELD AND STAFF, FIRST BATTALION. 

George A. Harmount (Adjutant Twelfth Connecticut Volunteers), Ad- 
jutant. 

Hospital Steward William Bishop (Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteers). 

Thirteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. 

Gomi)any A. — First Lieut. Charles E. Tibbetts. Second Lieut. John 
C. Kinney. Corporals Francis J. Wolff, Christopher C. Fagau, Andrew 



KOLL OF HONOR. 417 

Black. Privates Michael Cunningham, "Walter Egan, John Fagan, Fran- 
cis Gaffney, James Gilbert, Edward Lautz, Joseph S. Mack, John Mar- 
tin, John Maguire, Henry Morton, John O'Keefe, Loren D. Penfield, 
John Quigley, Thomas Reilly, Charles R. Rowell, John Smith, Edward 
Stone. 

Company B. — Capt. ApoUos Comstock. Second Lieut. Louis Beck- 
with. Sergeants George E. Faucher, Alouzo Wheeler, George H. Pratt. 
Corporals Roswell Taylor, Francis E. Weed, Isaac W. Bishop. Privates 
George M. Balling, John J. Brown, William E. Casey, Balthazar Emme- 
rick, Peter Gentien, Dennis Heggany, William W. Jones, John Klein, 
Benjamin L. Mead, James Mohren, Charles Nichols, Victor Pinsard, 
George Prindle, Morant J. Robertson, Sidney B. Ruggles, Felix Scheryer, 
Louis Schmidt, Frederick L. Sturgis. 

Company C. — Capt. Charles D. Blinn. Second Lieut. Newton W. 
Perkins. Sergeants Everett S. Dunbar, Charles H. Gaylord, John N. 
Lyman, John Maddox. Corporals Lewis Hart, Homer M. Welch, 
Everett E. Dunbar. Privates Willis Barnes, Seymour Buckley, Chauncey 
Griffin, Charles Hotchkiss, Charles Mitchell, John Odell, Frederick W. Pin- 
dar, Joseph H. Pratt, George Roraback, Mortimer H. Scott, Joseph Tay- 
lor, Daniel Thompson. 

Company D. — Capt. Charles J. Fuller. First Lieut. Perry Averill. 
Sergeants John J. Squier, Ezra M. Hull. Corporals William Finimore, 
Andrew Holford, Edwai-d Altano. Privates Thomas B. Andrus, Antonio 
Astenhoffcr, Henry F. Bishop, Charles Bertz, John Cravey, John Dillon, 
John Fee, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Gotlieb Folkliug, Henry F. Fox, Joseph 

A. Gardner, Newton Gaylor, Casper Heidrick, Louis Hettinger, Julius 
Camp, Jacob Kuhlman, Henry Long, George Lesser, Luke McCabe, 
Frederick Poush, Henry E. Pulling, Horace B. Stoddard, William H. 
Tucker, Martin W. Tyler, Louis Walters, Edward J. Welden. 

Company E. — Second Lieut. Charles PI. Beaton. Sergeants Nicho- 
las Schue, Richard Croley. Corporals Robert C. Barry, Leonard E. 
Dugal. Pi'ivates Jacob Brown, Adam Geize, Frederick Harris, George 
W. Howland, Michael Murphy, Charles F. Odekoven, Fritz Odekoven, 
F. F. PfeifFer, Andy Regan, Frederick Schuh, Joseph Vogel, August 
Wilson. 

Company F. — Sergeants Eugene S. Nash, John T. Reynolds. Cor- 
poral James Case. Privates James Barry, George F. Bogue, David H. 
Brown, Henry Clousent, James Cosgrove, Byron Crocker, Henry Finney, 
David D. Jacques, Abel Johnson, Patrick Leach, Patrick Martin, Thomas 
R. McCormick, James O'Neil, Thomas Powers, Orrin M. Price, Theodore 
Secelle. 

Company G. — Capt. Deuison H. Finley. Sergeants Samuel L. 
Cook, Charles B. Hutcliins, John W. Bradley, Francis Huxford. Corpo- 
rals Timothy Allen, Louis Foetish, Moses Gay, Edward Bogue. Privates 
Frank Austin, George J. Austin, John Brand, John Ceeressole, William 

B. Crawtbrd, Charles Culver, James Gay, Albert Hopkins, John Hunt, 
Henry A. Hurlburt, Asahel Ingraham, Jeremi S. Jordan, Michael Kear- 
ney, Joseph Kemble, Albert Lehleitner, William M. Mayuard, Walter 
McGrath, John McKevan, Daniel Moore, Moses Newhouse, Timothy 
O'Connell, William H. Reynolds, Ellis B. Robinson, Henry Robinson, 
John Ryan, Antoine Schlosser, Martin J. Sharden, Martin Shuri'er, Charles 
Sidders, Edward Skinner, John Suarman, Anson F. Super, S. W. Tinker. 

Company H. — Capt. Homer B. Sprague. Sergeant William H. Hunt- 
ley. Corporals George H. Twitchell, Thomas Harrison. Privates Philo 
53 



418 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Andrews, Heman W. Bailey, MiramBlackman, John Blake, Dennis Doyle, 
Francis Patter.son, William H. Smith. 

Compantj I. — First Lieut. Frank Wells. Second Lieut. Louis Mies- 
ner. Ser"-eants Abuer N. Steuy, Samuel Taylor, Santer Engelbert, John 
Duress. Corporals Francis W. Preston, Joseph Franz, Garrett Herbert. 
Privates AVilliam Albretch, Fritz Bowman, Ulrich Burghardt, Michael 
Burke, James Dillon, Patrick Iliues, Thomas McGee, Cliiford C. New- 
bury, Henry Keltrath, Edward Smith, Edward O. Thomas, Henry AYhite- 
man. 

Company K. — First Lieut. William F. Norman. Second Lieut. 
Charles Daniels. Sergeants Miles J. Beecher, George A. Winslow, 
Charles E. Humphrey. Corporals Herman Sanders, Herbert C. Baldwin, 
Robert HoUiuger, John Nugent. Privates John Bennett, Benjamin E. 
Benson, Frank C. Bristol, George Clancey, William J. Cojer, Thomas 
DutFy, Samuel Eaves, Edward Ellison, John Gall, Thomas Griffin, Wil- 
liam Krieg, Patrick Mahoney, Thomas Morris, Richard O'Donnell, 
George C. Russell, Bernard Stanford, John Storer, Bartley Tiernan. 

First Regiment Louisiana. (White). 

Second Lieut. James T. Smith, formerly of the Thirteenth Connecticut 
Volunteers. 

Twelfth Connecticut Volunteers. 

Company A. — Private Charles J. Constantine. 

Company B. — Sergeant John Mullen. Private Charles Duboise. 

Company C. — Corporal John Moore. Privates George T. Dixon, Wil- 
loughby Hull, William Putnam, Christopher Spies, John P. Woodward. 

Company D. — Sergeant Alexander Cohn. Corporals George Shaw, 
James Robinson. Privates Lawrence P. Ferrell, George Kohler, Reuben 
Miles, Frederick C. Payne. 

Company E. — Private Edward Millerick. 

Company F. — Private James H. Scranton. 

Company G. — Capt. Lester E. Braley. First Lieut. A. Dwight 
McCall. Sergeant C. E. McGlafflin. Corporal John T. Gordon. Pri- 
vates Oliver C. Andrews, James E. Chase, James Dunn, Patrick Fitzpat- 
rick, Patrick Franney, William Jobin, Joseph W. Weeks. 

Company H. — Sergeants John W. Phelps, Solomon E. Whiting, Jo- 
seph AV. Carter. Privates Edwin Converse, Hugh Donnelly, Warren 
Gammons, Miles P. Higley, William Lenning, Thomas McCue, Melvin 
S. Nichols. 

Company K. — Second Lieut. Stanton Allyn. Privates Frank Beau- 
mont, Daniel B. Loomis, Albert M. Perkins. 

Twenty-Fifth Connecticut Volunteers. 

Adjutant Henry C. Ward. 

Sergeant Major Charles F. Ulrich. 

Company B. — Private Eli Hull. 

Company F. — First Lieut. Henry H. Goodell. 

Company H. — Privates Samuel Slesinger, John Williams. 

These were the men, who, knowing the desperate situa- 
tion, deUberately resolved to sacrifice their lives for their 



SUEEENDER OF POET HUDSON. 419 

country. Day after day the storming column was ordered 
under arms, to be ready for an instant assault. 

The Twenty-fourth clung to its redoubt of cotton and 
sand. They were kept constantly on the qui vive, and the 
regiment was divided into three reliefs for vigilant watch. 
They bore this severe service like brave men. Here they 
remained for twenty-five days; and fired, on an average, not 
less than four thousand rounds of cartridges per day. Many 
of them were killed and wounded ; but desertion of the post 
was not thought of " From this little earthwork," says 
Major Maher in a letter, " the covered approaches to the 
works were dug, and the parallels were made ; also the zig- 
zag approach right into the enemy's ditch. Besides these, 
we had, on the morning of July 8, a mine forty-two feet long 
under the enemy's works, capable of containing four hun- 
dred pounds of powder ; and we were ready to blow up the 
fort if it had not surrendered." The surrender of Port 
Hudson, on July 8, relieved the regiment from its perilous 
position. 

Indeed, the whole investing force felt relieved of a terrible 
burden of labor and endurance. All the Connecticut regi- 
ments mentioned had been almost incessantly engaged in 
the rifle-pits, digging, fighting, waiting, suffering untold 
exposure and privation. 

But none experienced a greater sense of relief than "the 
forlorn hope," most of whom had prepared for death, and sol- 
emnly directed the final disposal of their effects. These 
men, from among the bravest, were given the post of honor ; 
and " the storming column " was the first to enter the captured 
stronghold, led by Col. Birge to the music of a Connecticut 
band, and under the folds of a tattered Connecticut flag. 




CHAPTER XXVI. 

After the Capture of Port Hudson. — The Twelfth, Thirteenth, Twenty-fourth, Twenty- 
fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-eighth Connecticut Regiments. — Casualties. — Inci- 
dents of the Battle. — The Twenty-third in Southern Louisiana. — Guarding the Rail- 
road. — At Brashear City. — Battle and Capture. — Casualties. — Imprisonment in 
Texas. — Return Home of the Nine-months' Regiments. 

ICKSBURGi and Port Hudson had fallen; and 
once more " the Father of Waters flowed un- 
vexed to the sea." The reduction of Port 
Hudson involved a Union loss of five thousand 
killed and wounded, among whom were many 
from Connecticut. The Twelfth had twenty-three killed 
or died of wounds, and eighty-four wounded. Col. Frank 
H. Peck had been severely wounded twice, and Major 
George N. Lewis was shot through the body. Capts. Sam- 
uel H. Granniss, S. E. Clark, John Brennan, and James D. 
Roche, and Lieuts. H. J. Fletcher and G. W. Stedman, had 
been wounded. Of the Thirteenth, four were killed and 
eighteen wounded. Among the former was Lieut. Joseph 
Strickland of New London. He had assisted greatly in re- 
cruiting Company I, of which he became first lieutenant. 
Col. Sprague says of the Port-Hudson charge, " Of the many 
gallant officers that then fell, there was none more fearless 
or more deeply mourned." 

Bravely leading the same charge, and within a few paces 
of young Strickland, fell Col. Richard E. Holcomb of the 1st 
Louisiana (white). At the beginning of the war, Mr. Hol- 

1 Major Frederick Hoadly, who was killed while fighting on the Confederate side at the 
siege of Vicksburg, was a young man belonging to an old and respectable Hartford family. 
His grandfather for many years held the position of high sheriff of Hartford County, and 
one of his brothers has been for a long time the State Librarian of Connecticut. Major 
Hoadly went to Little Rock, Ark., ten or twelve years since, and was there admitted to 
practice at the bar in that State. 
420 



CASUALTIES IN THE TWENTY -FOURTH. 421 

comb, a farmer of forty years of age, enlisted from his quiet 
home in Granby in the Third regiment, three-months' troops. 
After serving faithfully as quartermaster, he returned to 
Granby, but could not be detained there while the nation 
was in peril ; and he raised a company, and was commissioned 
to be major of the Thirteenth. In Louisiana, he was pro- 
moted to the colonelcy of the 1st. Louisiana, and became its 
life and soul. His splendid courage, manly bearing, experi- 
ence in dealing with men, superior qualities as an organizer 
and a disciplinarian, and his zeal in the work, gave him a 
high position in the department. His official successor, 
Lieut.-Col. William 0. Fiske, issued an order after his death, 
expressing the sorrow of the command at the loss of the 
true friend, the gallant gentleman, the brave soldier, the 
accomplished officer, the pure patriot, and peerless leader. 

The colors of the T\ven[\ -fourth were borne throug;hout 
the terrible siege by Color-Sergeant John Bohan ; and thirty- 
seven bullet-holes attest the fierceness of the storm to which 
the little band was exposed. An instance of courage and 
humanity is mentioned in the case of Corporal William 
Clark of Middletown, who, at night and alone, went up to the 
enemy's works, carrying water to a wounded soldier who 
had lain there forty-eight hours ; and then came back, got 
assistance, and carried him off the field. After the surrender, 
" the Twenty -fourth was complimented by the 1st Mississippi 
for its coolness and perseverance." Nearly fifty of the 
Twenty-fourth had died of disease in hospital, among them 
Lieuts. Bela C. Post of Essex and Luzerne G. Goodyear of 
Hamden. The reo-iment had lost durino- the sieo:e sixteen 
killed and fifty wounded. Among the former were H. A. 
Braiuard of Haddam, Corporals Lellick Scott and Charles 
Rigbey of Middletown, and Edgar D. Ives of Hamden. 
Among the latter were Lieut.-Col. John D. Allison, Adjutant 
Clark Strong, Capt. Isaac C. Gleason, Capt. Alonzo L. Mab- 
bett, Lieut. Jesse B. Gilbert, and Lieut. F. E. Camp. On 
July 11, the regiment embarked for the Plaquemine dis- 
trict ; the rebels having again overrun the whole of Louis- 
iana west of the river, capturing Banks's artillery and stores, 
and a large amount of miscellaneous property. The regi- 



422 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

merit found no enemy, and enjoyed two weeks' rest; the 
officers sleeping under a roof for the first time in eight 
months. 

The Twenty-fourth left Middletown Nov. 18, 1862, with 
six hundred and ninety-eight officers and men. The regi- 
ment served in the Gulf Department nearly ten and a half 
months, and was mustered out Sept. 30, 1863, numbering 
about four hundred and sixty. 

The Twenty-fifth, which had lost a hundred at Irish Bend, 
and which, on going into battle at Port Hudson, numbered 
little more than two hundred men, had lost of these seven 
killed and forty wounded. On July 4, there were seven 
officers and one hundred and eighty-eight men on duty. 

Among the killed were Corporals Ira B. Addis of Hartford 
and Erskine Wallace of Ellington ; among the wounded were 
Lieut. Alfred W. Converse, Lieut. D. M. Ensworth, Lieut. 
George Brennan, and Lieut. W. E. Simonds. 

On July 11, the Twenty-fifth left its camp outside Port 
Hudson, and, marching through the works, embarked on the 
Laurel Hill for Donaldsonville. So reduced had the army 
become, that this steamboat of moderate capacity carried 
five regiments, among which were the Thirteenth, Twenty- 
fourth, and Twenty-fifth Connecticut. 

"The Twenty-fifth was ordered to proceed to a point 
about half a mile beyond and below the town, and, throwing 
out proper pickets, &c., to hold the position. We remained 
here, with our left on the Mississippi, and our right on the 
woods, until the following afternoon. During that time, and 
about two, P.M., on the 12th instant, the enemy endeavored, 
with some considerable force of cavalry, to cut off our 
extreme post on the right, which was established in an 
abandoned sugar-mill, and under command of Lieut. I. W. 
Beach (of Bristol). It became necessary to abandon the 
mill for a short time. It was retaken by Lieut. Beach, how- 
ever, after a little skirmishing, and without loss on our part, 
and our line maintained." ^ 

The regiment was shortly after ordered to the Bayou La 
Fourche, beyond the town, where Lieut.-Col. Mason C. Weld, 

2 Report of Adjutant H. C. Ward. 



LOSSES IN THE TWENTY-FIFTH AND TWENTY-SIXTH. 423 

Avho had commanded the Twenty-fifth during the entire 
siege of Port Hudson, assumed command of the brigade as 
senior officer. Col. Biroe commanded the division. On the 
loth, the rebels made a dash on our lines on both sides of 
the bayou ; and Lieut.-Col. Weld led the skirmishers from 
the Twenty-fifth to the front : but the enemy retired without 
further engagement. On the IGth, Col. Bissell, having re- 
covered from his long and tedious illness, rejoined his regi- 
ment, and took command of the brisxade. 

Among those who died of disease in the regiment was 
Surgeon Alden B. Skinner of Vernon. He was a faithful 
and skillfid officer, and fell a victim of typhoid fever. Capt. 
Newton P. Johnson of East Granby also died during the 
process of acclimation. After the fall of Port Hudson, the 
excitement which had repelled disease being taken away, 
many in every regiment were prostrated with diarrhoea and 
climatic fevers. Private William W. House of Hartford 
died in hospital just after the capture. He was a brave and 
excellent 3'oung man, a graduate of Yale in the class of '63. 

When Paymaster Northrop was in New Orleans, he asked 
Col. Bissell whether there was any swearing in his regiuient; 
" You may go through the regiment," answered Col. Bissell, 
" and ril give you five dollars for every oath you hear from 
it." It is said the paymaster hunted diligently after his 
reward with good hope, but searched in vain. 

None of the nine-months' regiments won a better reputa- 
tion for pluck and endurance than the Twenty-fifth Connec- 
ticut ; and the reports of Adjutant H. C. Ward to the 
adjutant-general's office were very complete. 

The Twenty-sixth had suffered more than any other of 
our regiments at Port Hudson ; having lost during the 
siege twenty-six killed and one hundred and fifty-one 
wounded, — leaving after the last action, as reported by 
Lieut.-Col. Seidell, about one hundred and eighty officers 
and men fit for duty. Most of the losses of the regiment 
were incurred on the ill-starred Ma}^ 27, in its charge with 
Dow's brigade through a storm of grape and canister from 
the rebel batteries. It was here that Capt. John L. Stanton 
of Norwich lost his life. He was a gallant and earnest 



424 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

soldier, and was in advance of his men, swinging his sword, 
and calHng on them to follow, when he was pierced with a 
bullet, and died instantly. Orderly Sergeant Albert Smith 
of Salem was lingering behind in the retreat ; and, as he 
turned to fire, he received a mortal wound. On being 
carried to the rear, he shook hands with Capt. Gallup, and 
said, " Good-by ! Tell my friends I hope to meet them in 
heaven." Capt. Jedediah Randall of Groton fell mortally 
wounded, and lay where the deadly missiles flew thick. 
Lieut.-Col. Selden tried to help him ; but he said, " Never 
mind me, colonel ; I'm all right : go and take care of the 
boys." Capt. Jesse C. Maynard of Salem was wounded by a 
ball which passed through his breast, maiming him for life. 
Capt. Lorenzo A. Galkip of Norwich was indebted for de- 
fense to a rifle directly in front of him. A bullet struck it 
with such force as to pierce the band. Eleazer Jewett of 
Norwicli was saved by bis belt-clasp, the ball spending its 
force after passing entirely through it. Benjamin C. Doug- 
lass of Voluntown got a blow in the groin, that he supposed 
was caused by a piece of shell, but on examination found a 
bullet safely lodged in his tobacco-box. Almost every regi- 
ment chronicled similar narrow escapes many times during 
the war. Private Babcock of Stonington was shot through 
the body, and the surgeons asserted positively that he must 
die. The prospect was doubtless rendered less bitter to him 
by the reflection that he had used the large bounty he had 
received to pay ofl" the remainder of the debt upon his 
mother's house. He recovered and returned home. Here 
(lied Cyrus M. Geer of Lyme, Thaddeus M. Weemes of 
Stonington, and other heroic spirits. 

In the second assault, fell Lieut. Hervey F. Jacobs of Nor- 
wich, a native of Thompson. He had taken a part of a 
course at Brown University when he enlisted. Capt. Lorenzo 
A. Gallup wrote to the sister of his dead comrade after tlie 
battle, — 

"Your brother has fallen with a reputation that any soldier might 
envy. All who saw him on that fatal day testify to his coolness and 
bravery. 1 can speak from personal observation. When that dreadful 
shell came which killed and disabled tweotymen, including himself, he was 
cheering and encouraging his men, and pressing forward with the assur- 



THE DEAD OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH. 425 

ance of success. He was on my right, as he had been detailed to com- 
mand Company A. After he was wounded, the noble spirit that animated 
liim was manifested by his refusing to be taken to the rear imtil all the 
wounded about him had been removed." 

The knightly spirit of Sir Philip Sidney found its parallel 
a thousand times upon the battle-fields of the Rebellion. 
Young Jacobs ^ died at the Baton-Rouge hospital on July 5. 
His last message to his friends was that of a true soldier : 
"I die at the post of duty." In the same hospital, next day, 
died his brother Joseph of the 50th Massachusetts. 

Lieut. Jacobs was succeeded by Lieut. Edward P. Man- 
ning, promoted from the ranks. The latter died at home, of 
disease, three days after receiving his commission, and on the 
day the regiment was mustered out of service. He had 
been constantly on duty, serving at different times as 
quartermaster, commissary, adjutant, and chaplain of the 
regiment, and commander of a company. He had won the 
love of all, and exerted a most flivorable influence upon 
the men of his company. On the field, as at home, he was 
a zealous Christian, and was widely mourned. 

Lieut. Martin R. Kenyon was sent home to Preston, where 
he died, Aug. 5, of wounds received at Port Hudson. His 
brother Masons — 

Resolved, That we cherish the memory of our deceased brother as that 
of one whose zeal for the institution of Masonry, whose wisdom in its 
mysteries, and whose bright example in all the virtues that adorn the 
Mason and the citizen, have been profitable to our fraternity, and a per- 
petual pleasure to us as individuals. 

Another of the dead of the Twenty-sixth who was widely 
known and deeply mourned was Sergeant Edwin R. Keyes 
of Pomfret, a native of Ashford. He was a promising 
graduate of the State Normal School, and an eminently suc- 
cessful teacher. He was a faithful, earnest, patriotic man. 
Rev. Walter S. Alexander, in a sermon, said of him, " The 
sacrifice he welcomed, in leaving a family to which he was 
devotedly attached to engage in our common defense, wins 

2 Rev. Samuel Graves of Norwich, who was the pastor of young Jacobs, in a memorial 
discourse preaclied Nov. 1, 1S63, says, "Lieut. Jacobs was born Aug. 3, 1838, and was 
a young man of great promise ; fnuilc, courteous, and high-minded in his bearing ; endowed 
with the happy gift of winning friends wherever he went, and of attaching them ardently 
to himself." 

64 



426 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

our admiration. The Christian character he maintained till 
the last, against the pressure of iniquity, secures our grate- 
ful love. The death-scene so far away, unhallowed by the 
presence of wife and babes, calls not in vain for our warmest 
sympathy for the bereaved." 

Dr. Aslibel Woodward of Franklin was surgeon of the 
Twenty-sixth; and in this capacity, and as a member of 
the examining board, he was in service during almost the 
entire period of the war. 

Col. Kingsley, who, since being wounded in the fight of 
May 27, had been in hospital at Baton Rouge, leaving Lieut.- 
Col. Selden to lead the regiment, now returned, and was 
placed in command of a brigade. 

The Twenty-eighth had suffered severely in the assault of 
June 14, in which a hundred men, detailed as grenadiers, 
were led by two captains and four lieutenants. Chaplain R. 
Wheatley says of the casualties, — 

"Lieut. Charles Durand of Stamford was shot soon after 
the order to charge was given. Capt. David D. Hoag of 
New Milford yielded up his godly and gallant spirit in the 
ditch, under the enemy's breastworks. Lieut. William 
Mitchell of Norwalk was wounded in four places; and Lieut. 
Jonathan C. Taylor of Westport, with his hand badly shattered, 
and back torn by a large missile, was taken prisoner. Capt. 
Charles H. Brown and Lieut. Henry Ayres escaped without 
a wound ; Corporal James Vail and Jason Wardell of h'tam- 
ford, two deservedly esteemed members of Company A, were 
also shot dead ; and Sergeant George A. Waterbury of Com- 
pany B taken prisoner, with several men of other companies : 
nor were these alone sacrificed. A son of Lieut. Riley and 
an old companion of Fremont in his Rocky-Mountain explo- 
rations was amonn; the victims." 

Surgeon Ransom P. Lyon of Bethel, who was always at 
his post, died of disease resulting from exposure and over- 
work, and was buried at Port Hudson, Aug. 6. 

In the charge of the grenadiers, fell Private Mark H. 
Wheeler, a noble soldier from Winsted. He enlisted from 
high motives of principle, and shrank from no dangers. On 
the day before the bloody assault, he wrote to his wife, " We 



THE TWENTY-THIED LEAVE CAMP PAEAPET. 427 

must have this place at any cost ; and, if I fall in this aflfair, 
my last thoughts shall be -of you ; and, if possible, I will re- 
quest some friend to forward you this letter with my diary : 
but I hope to add more cheering intelligence. God shield 
me, and help me to do my duty!" He did his duty, and, in 
the fury of the onset, passed from the sight of his comrades. 
The third day afterwards, a rebel officer came across the 
lines, under flag of truce, and brought the letter. It was in 
his diary, and a bullet passed through both to his heart. The 
officer said that Wheeler crossed the ditch, and scaled their 
breastworks, and " was shot on the top of the parapet." 

The nine-months' men had discharged their duty nobly. 
Gen.. Neal Dow of Maine wrote to Col. Kingsley of the 
Twenty-sixth, a few months after this experience, — 

" I have reason to remember your regiment well ; for none better was 
ever under my command, either at Port Hudson or elsewhere, and none 
behaved better on that terrible day (May 27). I wondered to see the men 
so steady and firm, their first time under fire. The regular officers often 
sneered at the nine-months' men, and said they would run away at the first 
shot. But never were braver men, though the situation was the most try- 
ing that even veterans can be exposed to, — compelled to stand a destructive 
fire without the power to return it with any effect. They were exposed on 
a wide, open plain, to a storm of grape, canister, and rifle-balls, from an 
eneniy securely sheltered behind formidable field-works. All our brave 
men could do was to die ; and that they submitted to most heroically. 
There was not for a moment any panic or hesitation. Green troops will 
often manifest the steadiness of veterans in battle where they have a chance 
to ' give as good as they get ; ' but at Port Hudson they had no such 
support, and yet were as steady as old campaigners. Among them all was 
no regiment better or more reliable than the Twenty-sixth Connecticut." 

To return to the Twenty-third : it had an unfortunate 
experience from the day of its organization. In the voyage 
to New Orleans, the regiment was divided on two or three 
transports ; and the last detachment, under Major D. H. Mil- 
ler, did not arrive until the middle of January, after being 
stranded on the Bahama Islands. The companies were never 
together long enough at a time to acquire ^i\y proper pride 
of oro;anization. 

On Jan. 11, 1863, all the regiment that was present left 
Camp Parapet under command of Col. Charles E. L. Holmes, 
by boat for Algiers, opposite New Orleans. Here they took 
the cars of the Opelousas Railroad to Berwick Bay. They 



428 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

■were expected to join Weitzel in the attack upon the rebel 
gunboat Cotton ; but, in consequence of not having been 
together since leaving Camp Buckingham, the regiment was 
ordered to remain and do guard-duty at Brashear. 

On Feb. 9, they were ordered to strike tents, and march to 
the railroad. They were now thoroughly distributed as a 
guard the whole length of the Opelousas Railroad, from Ber- 
wick Bay to Jefferson (nearly opposite New Orleans). Head- 
quarters were established at La Fourche, about midway. 
Company D (Huntington and Trumbull), under Lieut. Ste- 
phen M. Nichol?, was stationed at Jefferson ; Company G 
(Bethel and Danbury), Capt. George S. Crofut, at St. Charles ; 
Company F (of Derby), Capt. David T. Johnson, at Boutte 
Station; Company C (Newtown and Sharon), Capt. Julius 
Sanford, at Bayou des Allemands ; Company H (Naugatuck 
and Waterbury), Capt. A. D. Hopkins, at Raceland ; Company 
B (Danbury), Capt. James H. Jenkins, at La Fourche ; Com- 
pany I (Fairfield and Bridgeport), Capt. William H. May, at 
Terrebonne; Company K (Danbury and New Fairfield), 
Capt. S. G. Bailey, at Tigerville ; Company A (Waterbury 
and W«.tertown), Capt. Alfred Wills, at Bayou Boeuf ; Com- 
pany E (Wilton, Weston, and Redding), Capt. Lewis Nor- 
throp, at Bayou Romans. About March 1, Companies E and 
I were ordered to headquarters, and Company A to re-inforcc 
Capt. Sanford at Bayou des Allemands. By the first of April, 
Company B was also transferred to Napoleonville, south of 
Donaldsonville ; and Company A to Labadieville, still farther 
south. Thus the resj^iment remained for two months, con- 
stantly occupied with guard and picket duty, with little time 
for drill or discipUne. 

Now the main body of Banks's army was investing Port 
Hudson ; and Dick Taylor resolved to sweep Western Loui- 
siana during their absence. The small Union force was con- 
centrated to meet him. Col. Holmes was placed in com- 
mand of the post at Brashear City ; and Capt. Sanford wa? 
ordered to take command at Bayou Boeuf, where Company. 
A immediately reported. Companies B and E were sent 
to La Fourche ; and the other companies were recalled to 
Brashear City, where the principal resistance was to be made. 



THE ENEMY ATTACK LA FOUEGHE. 429 

Col. Holmes was soon prostrated with sickness, and was not 
again able to command the regiment. 

Brashear City is situated on an island formed by Lake 
Chestimache, Bayou Boeuf, and the Atchafalaya, and was 
the key to Western Louisiana. It had been Banks's base of 
suiDplies, and valuable stores still remained there. 

On June 1, the rebels attacked the hospital on the Ber- 
wick side with a small force. Company K, under Lieut. Ed- 
ward Nearing, instantly embarked on the steamer, followed 
by Companies G (Capt. Crofut), I (Capt. May), and C (Capt. 
Jenkins). Capt. Crofut was placed in command. The de- 
tachment advanced rapidly, and drove off the rebels on the 
double-quick ; afterwards covering the working parties in 
removing the sick and the public property. A Col. Stickney 
now assumed command of the post, on account of the con- 
tinned illness of Lieut.-Col.Worden. Under the severe dis- 
cipline of Col. Stickne}^, the regiment knew no rest. They 
were kept moving every day, and lay upon their arms 
almost every night ; and the result was, that, in ten days, half 
the whole number were on the sick-list. 

About the middle of June, Col. Stickney, being informed 
that the rebels were coming down the Bayou La Fourche 
from the Plaquemine district, took all the men that could be 
spared from Brashear City, and moved to La-Fourche Cross- 
ing, where Capt. James H. Jenkins was in command. Another 
detachment started on the 19th; but, after proceeding as far 
as Tigerville, the train was forced to return to Bayou Boeuf 

The rebels attacked La Fourche on June 21, and were 
repulsed three times ; the last time retiring, and leaving our 
troops in possession. Three companies of the Twenty-third 
were in the first line of battle, and showed commendable 
courage. 

Capt. James H. Jenkins wrote from La Fourche. " About 
five, P.M., on the 21st, our pickets began firing. The enemy 
advanced, and soon attacked us with artillery and infantry. 
The day being damp, the smoke lay near the ground, ob- 
structing the view ; so we reserved our fire. In a few min- 
utes, the rebels charged on us with a hideous yell. We 
waited until they came within a few rods, when our first 



430 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

volley told with ruinous effect. A sharp conflict ensued. 
The grcay backs actually seized our guns, but were driven off 
at the point of the bayonet. In twenty minutes, they were 
repulsed at all points, and fled, leaving the bodies of their 
dead comrades lying in winrows, marking where their line 
had been. Our numerical weakness prevented a pursuit, 
so we lay on our arms till morning. The rebels sent in a 
flao- of truce, and we delivered to them one hundred and 
eight dead bodies. We had captured forty prisoners. Our 
own loss was eight killed and sixteen wounded. The dis- 
parity, doubtless, resulted from our fighting behind breast- 
works." The next day Col. Stickney fell back on New Or- 
leans, uncovering Brashear and Bayou Boeuf 

The rebels, coming up in strong column, now turned down 
the railroad on Brashear. This was held by a small force, 
under Major R. C. Anthony of Rhode Island. Major Anthony 
immediately disposed his forces for defense. Companies A, C, 
and H, of the Twenty-third, were posted on the Brashear side 
of Bayou Boeuf Lieut. Oscar H. Hibbard of Bethel, acting 
post adjutant, made a careful list of men, who, in case of at- 
tack, would be able to stand up, and load and fire a rifle; and 
reported one hundred and fifty. The situation was gloomy. 
The rebels were approaching, both in front and rear. 

At five o'clock on the 22d, the enemy commenced shelling 
from the Berwick side of the bay. Capt. Noblett responded 
from his battery in front of the town. Capt. Crofut, now in 
command of the detachment of the Twenty-third, was or- 
dered to take all the men he could get, and post them along 
the edge of the water, under cover, and open fire across the 
narrow bay. While carrying out this plan of operations, 
about eight o'clock on the morning of the 23d, they were 
startled by unearthly yells in the rear. It soon appeared 
that a battalion of Texans had crossed to the Brashear side 
during the night, landing in a dense swamp ; and had cau- 
tiously worked their way through our lines, and were almost 
in our camp before being discovered. The surprise was com- 
plete. They rushed upon our line, and captured men before 
they had time to fire a gun. Capt. James R. Jenkins and 
Capt. Crofut rallied a crowd of forty, and opened fire upon 



A PORTION OF THE TWENTY-THIRD CAPTURED. 431 

the advancing foe ; but they were immediately surrounded, 
and compelled to surrender after a feeble resistance. 

In half an hour, Brashear was swarming with rebels, who 
had captured the immense amount of United-States stores 
there gathered. Among those burned, to keep them out of 
the hands of the enemy, were the valuable baggage and pri- 
vate property of the Connecticut regiments before Port Hud- 
son. The officers of the Twenty-third captured here were 
Capts. Julius Sanford, Samuel G. Bailey, Alfred Wells, Wil- 
liam H. May, James R. Jenkins, and A. D, Hopkins ; Lieuts. 
John A. Woodward, John F. Peck, 0." H. Hibbard, John G. 
Stevens, Charles Bailey, John W. Buckingham, and Charles 
D. Hurlburt. 

The prisoners were marched to the fort at Brashear City ; 
and during the two or three days following the enlisted 
men were parolled, and returned to New Orleans. The 
ofl&cers were moved across the river, and in two days more 
started on their tedious march, two hundred miles across the 
State, to Alexandria, on the Red River. Here they took a 
boat, and steamed up the river three hundred miles to 
Shreveport ; and thence another trying march, one hundred 
and twenty-five miles west, to Tyler, Tex. Here a stock- 
ade fifteen feet high was buill about the prisoners; and 
through the hot summer months they waited the tardy ex- 
change. The location was healthful, and sulphur-water was 
given them to drink. As in every prison where Union offi- 
cers were confined, there were many diversions to while away 
the tedious hours, — debates, music, chess, cards, and, lastly, 
a newspaper. This last, the Old Flag, was a remarka- 
ble production ; and some officers from all the regiments rep- 
resented were its contributors. Its editors were Col. A, J. 
H. Duganne of New York, and Capt. William H. May of 
Bridgeport of the Twenty-third ; the latter being also pub- 
lisher and printer. There was one copy of each number, 
and this was circulated throughout the prison. Four num- 
bers were issued, in folio form, beautifully and uniquely 
printed with a pen by Capt. May. It was scarcely larger 
than a sheet of ordinary letter-paper, and the writing was not 
larger than newspaper-print. Capt. May succeeded in bring- 



432 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ing the Old Flag safely off; and it has since been multi- 
plied in lithograph, — one of the most interesting relics of 
the war. 

During this eventful period, the Twenty-third had lost its 
faithful chaplain. Rev. James Averill. Mr. Averill was a 
native of Guilford, and was educated at Amherst, after- 
wards preparing for the ministry at the Yale Theological 
School. He was pastor of the church at Shrewsbury, Mass., 
for eight years, and of the church at Plymouth Hollow, 
Conn., for ten years, ending with 1862. The voyage to 
Louisiana was very trying to his health and strength ; and 
the malarious climate to which he was exposed aggravated 
his tendencies to disease. He refused to leave his post ; and 
on the 28th of May he was suddenly attacked with fainting, 
followed by fever. The end rapidly drew on. The disease 
soon accomplished its appointed work ; and he sank quietly 
to rest, at four o'clock, p.m., June 11, 1863. 

Among the dc?A of the Twenty-third was Lieut. Frederick 
Starr of Danbury. He was wounded in the battle at La- 
Fourche Crossing ; a ball shattering his thigh near the hip. 
The leg was amputated ; but he died two days afterwards, 
and was buried in rear of the hospital. Surgeon W. H. 
Trowbridge, always faithful ^nd prompt in the discharge of 
his duty, wrote, " The record of the death of this truly ex- 
cellent man is one of the most painful duties of my service 
here. Beloved by us all, brave, and devoted to the cause of 
his country, he fell in the discharge of his extreuie duty ; 
died like a Christian soldier ; and our saddest recollections 
are blended with this comfort, — living or dying, he was the 
Lord's." Lieut. Starr was profoundly mourned by his fellow- 
citizens of Danbury. Private Abel M. Wheeler of Danbury 
was mortally wounded in the same battle, and died on the 
same day. He went to the war solely under the impulse of 
duty, and gave his life to his country without repining. He 
will long be remembered for his patriotism and fervent piety. 
0. E. Trowbridge and Charles Hart also fell at the same time. 

Capt. George M. Godfrey of Wilton died April 23. Ser- 
geant F, L. Curtis of Bridgeport was wounded at Brashear, 
and died on July 7. He was a talented and educated young 



THE TWENTY-SECOND LEAVES FOR HOME. 433 

man, with a lofty sense of honor and a resoliUe purpose. He 
won the high regard of his superior ofl&cers, and was always 
a favorite with his comrades. 

Lieut. William H. Bradley contracted the typhoid fever 
in the exposure and excitement of the service, and came 
home to his fither's house in Derby to die. He was a true 
soldier, and was promoted from the ranks for merit. 

Nelson J. Peck of the Twenty-third was drowned at Bayou 
Boeuf, July 5. He was a son of Jabez B. Peck of Newtown, 
and left a fine social and mercantile position to enlist. . In a 
letter home, he said, " Let them come on. I came here to 
fight, and if need be to die, to wrest from traitors' hands the 
dear old flag. When I forget my country, may God forget 
mel" His eldest brother was Lieut. A. W. Peck of the 
Seventeenth. 

One of the most faithful soldiers of the Twenty-third was 
Dr. Joseph Willimann of Danbury. He was educated as a 
physician in the best schools of Germany, and officiated as a 
surgeon during the greater part of his term of service ; re- 
ceiving therefor only the pay of an enlisted man. He was 
constantly promised the rank of an assistant surgeon ; but 
there was no opening for his promotion. His valuable kit 
of surgeon's implements fell into the hands of the rebels at 
Brashear City ; and the poor man died a few weeks after- 
wards, broken down in the service of his adopted country, 
and leaving his family only the scanty pension of a jDrivate 
soldier. 

The fraction of the regiment not captured retired towards 
New Orleans, and continued through the summer doing 
guard-duty in the " Lowlands of Louisiana." 



On June 26, its time having expired, the Twenty-second 
left Yorktown, Va., for home. At Philadelphia it met with a 
very refreshing entertainment, and at Jersey City it was 
properly fed and cared for by Col. Almy. Arriving at Hart- 
ford,'* the men were boisterously welcomed and greeted by 

* When they arrived home, tlie soldiers of the Twenty-second found they had an un- 
expended regimental lund amounting to four hundred and thirty-six dollars ; and instead 
of dividing it, or expending it for a dinner, they voted it to the Hartford Soldiers'-Aid 
Society. 

65 



434 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

friends and kindred, as they were escorted through the 
streets. On State Street, the soldiers partook of refresh- 
ments provided by Marshall P. Jewell & Son, before finally 
breaking ranks for their homes. 

The Twenty-second was among the fortunate regiments 
of the war. It had no regimental list of casualties, because 
it was never in an engagement. It was composed of patriotic 
and sturdy men, and its officers were as gallant soldiers as 
ever wore a sword. 

Early in August, 1863, our nine-months' regiments in 
Louisiana were ordered home. The Twenty-sixth and 
Twenty-eighth came by boat up the Mississippi, and by 
rail across the Central States : the others returned as they 
went, — by way of the gulf and ocean. All the regiments 
suffered severely with the physical prostr;ition produced by 
a Southern summer; and those that came overland left 
patients in hospitals at Memphis, and in Illinois and Ohio. 
In every State through which they passed, they received 
grateful recognition of their uniform and their services. 
Gov. Buckingham promptly dispatched Copt. Lorenzo A. Gal- 
lup of the Twenty-sixth, with directions to proceed overland 
to New Orleans, and, wherever Connecticut sick or wounded 
were found, to make arrangements for their comfort and 
their speedy return home. " He was very successful in his 
mission ; and through this instrumentality a number of our 
brave volunteers who most needed home, care, and comfort, 
were returned to their families and friends much sooner than 
would have been possible in the ordinary routine of the mili- 
tary service."^ Of the entire number left, thirty-one died.*' 

^ Adjutant-General's Report. 

6 Private Henry B. Hilliard of the Twenty-seventh, from New Haven, died in hos- 
pital, after a life of devotion to the welfare of others. This eharacteristic was quite 
as often found in the enlisted men as in the officers. He went to the war deliberately, and 
as a matter of duty; and durinji: his brief service he was marked for his kindness to 
those about him. He often carried the musket and knapsack of a weak comrade on the 
march to Falmouth, and oave much of his rations to the sick; contributini; his last 
dollar for their comfort. He himself became feeble and depressed ; but his ambition kept 
him generally on loot, and with the retiiment. When urged to go to the ho-spital, he 
carried Frank Johnson, a sick friend, half a mile, to a place of shelter. In delirium, just 
before his death, he left his bed and lay on the floor, remarking that his wife had come, 
and was tired. Thus ended a life of heroic self-sacrifice. 

We wait no tidings now 

Of camp or field, or how 
Along the front went on the battle's fray ; 

For, be it lost or won. 

His part was nobly done : 
We crown him victor in our hearts to-day. 



RETURN OF THE NIXE MONTHS' REGIMENTS. 435 

Miles Bromley of Jewett City died on the steamboat be- 
tween New York and Norwich, almost within sight of home 
and friends. 

The regiments were received at home by the same enthu- 
siastic demonstrations of admiration and love that had greeted 
their departure ; and there were everywhere waving flags, 
thronging multitudes, and cheers of welcome. The Twenty- 
third was formally received in New Haven, by Mayor Tyler ; 
the Tw^enty-fourth in Middletown, by Hon. Benjamin Doug- 
lass ; the Twenty-fifth in Hartford, by George Gilman ; the 
Twenty-sixth in Norwich, by Mayor Greene ; the Twenty- 
seventh in New Haven, by Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, and the 
Twenty-eighth, by Alderman Edwin Marble. These ceremo- 
nies were repeated in all sections of the State as regiments 
and companies returned to the immediate localities that sent 
them forth, — greetings succeeded by the more sacred and 
cherished welcome in the moistened eyes and loving hearts 
of home. 

All these nine-months' res^iments carried home with them 
evidences of exposure and of service ; and the men of the 
Twenty-seventh had this piece of testimony from Col. 
(afterwards Gen.) Brooke, commanding the brigade : — 

Headquarters 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 2d Corps, 
Camp in Pleasant Valley, Md., July 17, 1863. 

General Orders, Xo. 9. — The colouel commanding the brigade de- 
sires, in parting with the officers and men of the Twenty-seventh Connecti- 
cut, to convey to them his sincere feelings of regret at losing their services ; 
Avhile he at the same time thanks them for the obedience and faithfulness 
which has been a marked feature of the regiment. 

Knowing it intimately for so many months of active and arduous ser- 
vice ; having been an eye-witness of its many deeds of gallantry, and of 
the noble devotion displayed by it on mauy a memorable day during the 
time in which he has had the honor to command its services, — he feels it 
a duty he owes, not only to the living heroes, but to the memory of 
those who have fallen in the field in battling in our righteous cause, to 
bear testimony to the valor and gallantry it has always displayed. 

Side by side with the veterans of the Army of the Potomac it has 
fought, and, by the gallantry of its conduct, won for itself an enviable 
name and reputation, which ma}' well, in after-years, cause all who belong 
to it to feel a pardonable pride in having it to say that they served with 
the Twenty-seventh Connecticut. 

By order Col. Brooke, 

Charles P. Hatch, Lieutenant A. A. A. G 




CHAPTER XXVII. 

Sixth and Seventh in Florida. — The Advance on Charleston. — The Situation at Folly 
and Morris Islands. — Gen. Terry and the Tenth on James Island. — A Detachment 
of the Seventh the first to land on Morris Island. — Capture of the Batteries. — The 
Battalion of the Seventh in the First Charge on Wagner. — Fight on James Island. 
— The First Connecticut Battery. — Daring Charge of the Sixth on Wagner. — 
Three Hours in the Fort. — Heavy Casualties. — Important Service of the Seventeenth 
Connecticut Volunteers. — Approaches to the Fort. — The Seventh in Charge of 
Heavy Batteries. — Bombardment of Sumter. — Capture of Wagner and Gregg. — The 
Koll of Honor. — The Sixth at Hilton Head. — The Seventh at St. Helena Island.— 
The Seventeenth on Folly Island. — The Tenth in Florida. — Death of Col. Chatfield. 

OR several weeks of the winter, the Sixth and 
Seventh, with the First Connecticut Battery, re- 
mained in comfortable camp at Beaufort and 
Hilton Head ; but in January, 1863, the Seventh 
left for Florida. The regiment landed at Fer- 
nandina on the 15th, relieving the 9th Maine; and Col. 
Hawley took command of the post. Here for three months 
they remained on guard, pleasantly located, with plenty of 
food and fruit, surrounded by the luxuriant vegetation of 
that flowery land, and bathing in the fountains of perpetual 
3'outh which Ponce de Leon invented. In April, Col. Haw- 
ley went with five companies to South Carolina to partici- 
pate in another advance on Charleston ; but the expedition 
miscarried, and he returned. 

In a few days more, the two flank companies, under Capts. 
V. B. Chamberlain and Theodore Burdick, under Major 
Daniel C. Rodman, wont to Hilton Head to join the force 
aiiain musterinu; to move against Charleston. The Sixth, 
which had arrived at Jacksonville in March, also evacuated 
the city with other regiments in possession, covering the 
rear in the retreat, and returned to Hilton Head. Soon 
they were joined by two more companies of the Seventlh 

436 



THE SIXTH AJSTD SEVENTH ON FOLLY ISLAND. 437 

under Capts. Sylvester H. Gray and Jerome Tourtelotte, 
The battalion that remained in Florida was not idle. Two 
companies, under Capts. Benjamin F. Skinner and John B. 
Dennis, made a raid into the enemy's country, cajDturing 
about three hundred head of b 3ef-cattle, which were penned 
up by the rebel beef-contractors for the rebel army, and 
drove them into town in company with about forty horses. 

An ill-timed attack on Charleston failing, Gen. Hunter 
was relieved from the command of the department and suc- 
ceeded by Gen. Gilmore, who immediately renewed prepara- 
tions to make an assault from -the south. His first objective 
point seemed to be Fort Wagner, situated on the north-east- 
ern shore of Morris Island. 

This island is a ridge of sand formed by successive accu- 
mulations from the tides, and runnino; alons; the southern side 
of the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The ridge slopes 
from the shore inward, terminating in a series of salt 
marshes indented by narrow inlets. The width of the 
high land varies from twenty-five to two hundred and fifty 
yards. The island bears the same relation to Fort Sum- 
ter that Tybee bears to Pulaski. 

Folly Island is a long strip of land immediately south 
of Morris Island, from which its northern point is separated 
only by a narrow stream called LightJiouse Inlet. The 
lower two-thirds of the island is covered with a thick growth 
of pine and palmetto trees ; and the upper third is a low, 
marshy swamp. 

Gilmore immediately took possession of this island ; and 
early in June it was occupied by the Sixth and the little 
battalion of the Seventh, with one or two other regiments. 
The rebels suspected no serious aggression, and felt out 
from time to time, meeting with slight resistance. But the 
business of the siege was at once begun ; and the engineers 
and working parties threw up breastworks of sand, and com- 
menced batteries, on the upper end of the island, close under 
the rebel guns intrenched across the inlet. 

With the greatest secrecy the work was pushed forward. 
The enemy sa\y no men nearer than the distant woods, and 
heard no sound. But, if our forces were idle and listless by 



438 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

day, they worked at night with superhuman energy. Hun- 
dreds of spades flashed in the moonHght. Transports arrived 
with more troops. Battery after battery rose in the white 
sand ; but nothing was visible to the rebels. Huge mortars, 
Parrott-guns, and Columbiads came from Hilton Head, landed 
at Stono Inlet, and, under the darkness, were dragged slowly 
and tediously into place behind their mask of sand. Ammu- 
nition was also taken forward and concealed. To make the 
foundation for the batteries and the corduroy roads, trees 
had to be cut upon the island ; and, lest the rebels should 
hear the crash of their fall, the largest ones were sawed off, 
and then eased carefully to the ground with cables from 
neighboring trees. So the work went forward as noiselessly 
as the ice-palace of Queen Catherine. 

The pickets were on good terms ; they told one another 
the news, joked and chatted together, and- sauntered with- 
out fear as near as the dividing creek would let them. A 
member of the Sixth wrote to the Waterbury American, 
"Our boys make miniature ships,*and freight them with salt 
and coffee, and send them over to the rebs ; and in return 
they send us tobacco." Gilmore even diminished the num- 
ber of his picket, so as to re-assure the enemy. 

In all this work, the Sixth and the battalion of the Seventh 
found severe toil. . For three weeks, every night, by moon- 
light or in the midst of frightful thunder-storms, the work 
went on ; details from both regiments being constantly en- 
£!:aG;ed : and at the end of that time there had been erected 
ten batteries, mounting forty-eight guns of the heaviest 
caliber, within four hundred yards of the enemy's works. 
" And yet," says a narrative of the time, " the rebels had no 
suspicion that there was any thing more than light field- 
pieces within seven miles." This is not so certain, however, 
for they had begun very actively to strengthen their batter- 
ies on the opposite bank. 

On the morning of July 10, some troops under Brig.-Gen. 
Terry, promoted after Pulaski, landed at the lower end of 
James Island, as a feint to draw off the rebels from the main 
attack. In this force was the Tenth Connecticut, just arrived 
from St. Helena Island, and the First Connecticut Battery ; 



ATTACK ON MOEEIS ISLAND. 439 

and, on their advancing towards Secessionville, many of the 
rebels hurried over from Morris Island to repel them. Terry 
kept his regiments well in hand : he avoided a general en- 
gagement, but showed a bold front, and skillfully held the 
enemy's attention during the day and succeeding night. 
The Tenth picketed in front, and was kept vigilant by the 
inquisitive rebels that crowded down the island. • 

At midnight of the 9th, large detachments from all the 
regiments on Folly Island stepped quietly into boats, and 
rowed silently up Folly Creek, near the shore of Morris 
Island ; where the flotilla of eighty boats waited for the 
dawn. At five o'clock, Gilmore unmasked his batteries, and 
opened simultaneously from fifty guns. The astonished rebels 
soon replied, showering the boats with shot and shell. A 
boat of the Sixth was struck, and one man killed and several 
wounded. The battalion of the Seventh was selected to 
lead the column. After the artillery duel had continued for 
about two hours, Lieut.-Col. Rodman of the Seventh was sent 
ashore with a part of Company A, to reconnoiter. He soon 
returned, and " said to the general, ' Let me land ray com- 
mand, and take that battery.' The general hesitated at first, 
and then said, ' Go.' Col. Rodman stood up in the stern of 
his boat, and in a loud voice gave the command, as the boats 
w^ere all in line and good order, ' Seventh Connecticut, 
man your oars and follow me ! ' At the order, we all headed 
for the shore ; and, as the boats struck, every man sprang as 
if by instinct ; and in an instant they were in line. Capt. 
Chamberlain sent forward skirmishers under Lieut. Van Keu- 
ren, and we advanced rapidly to the first line of rifle-works. 
Our skirmishers cleared it with a bound, and advanced to the 
second line. Our main forces moved to the first line : 
the foe retired, firing. Lieut.-Col. Rodman now sent word 
back for the general to land his whole force, as we could 
hold the line we occupied." ^ 

A part of the force had already landed. The men of the 
Sixth Connecticut had sprung ashore towards the flank, and 
advanced with a rush and a wild cheer towards the batteries. 
The whole force joined in the onset; and in ten minutes the 

1 Capt. S. H. Gray's report. 



440 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

rebels at the sand-hill batteries turned and fled. The fire 
from Wagner and Sumter was incessant. 

Capt. S. H. Gray's rejDort from the Seventh, says, — 

" Lieut. -Col. Rodman sent Company B (Capt. Burdick) to the left, and 
Company I (Capt. Gray) to the right, to engage the enemy at short range, 
and drive them out, if possible ; while Companies A and K (Chamberlain 
and Tourtelotte) held our first position. After exchanging a few shots, 
the brigade being now landed and ready to advance, the enemy began 
to "ive way ; and Capt. Burdick followed them close on the left, and cap- 
tured a number of prisoners and one or two camps. Lieut. Jordan, with 
a detachment of Company I, pushed right up into their batteries on our 
I'ight ; and not finding the first gun in a working condition (it having been 
disabled by a shot), he pushed forward to what is now called Battery Rod- 
man, in which there was an eight-inch seacoast howitzer, and turned it on 
the retreating foe ; bursting several shells over their heads before they 
reached Fort Wagner." 

The pursuit was eager. Two hundred prisoners were 
taken. Private Roper Hounslow of the Sixth (from Stam- 
ford) shot a rebel color-bearer, and captured a battle-flag in- 
scribed " Pocotalico, Oct. 22,1862." Col. Chatfield led his 
men on the last series of rifle-pits, waving this banner aloft. 
The regimental flag of the Sixth was soon floating from the 
peak of the only house on the island. Two-thirds of the 
island was captured, with ten columbiads, two mortars, and 
a Whitworth gun ; and the force threw up breastworks almost 
within rifle-shot of Wagner, and rested. 

Before leaving Folly island, each had tied a strip of white 
cloth about his right arm, that they might know one another 
in a night assault ; and they were slightly confused on find- 
ing in the morning that the prisoners caught had, anticipat- 
ing an assault from a feeble force, adopted the same badge. 

It was determined to take Fort Wagner by assault next 
morning ; all the regiments to be within supporting distance. 
Capt. Gray of the Seventh, in the official report, says, " We 
were to take the lead, and be supported by the 76th Penn- 
sylvania and the 9th Maine. Silently we moved up to the 
advance line of our pickets ; our guns loaded and primed, 
and bayonets fixed. We there deployed into line of battle, 
one hundred and" ninety-one men and officers all told. It 
was said there were but three guns pointing this way. 

" Gen. Strong gave the order, ' Aim low, and put your 
trust in God : forward, the Seventh ! ' and forward we went, 



HEAVY LOSS OF THE SEVENTH, 441 

being not more than five hundred yards from the fort. We 
had not gone far before the pickets fired ; and then we took 
the double-quick, and, with a cheer, rushed for the works. 
Before we reached the outer works, we got a murderous fire 
from the riflemen. A few fell ; a check in the line ; an en- 
couraging word from the officers (they- were all there, — 
eleven in all, — no sick ones) ; and right gallantly we 
reached the outer works. Over them with a will we went ; 
down the opposite side, and across the moat (there being 
about one foot of water in it) right up to the crest of the 
parapet. And there we lay, anxiously waiting for our sup- 
port to come up so far as to make it a sure thing for us to 
rise up and go over with a bound ; our men, in the mean 
time, busying themselves picking ofi* sharpshooters and gun- 
ners. We lay so near the top, that one had but to put his 
head up and gun across the top of the parapet to kill his 
man." 

Here was fighting at close quarters ; and Corporal Giles 
James of Colchester, Arthur E. Lyon of Eastford, and William 
DeWitt of Windsor Locks, are mentioned for gallantry. We 
quote again from the report : " For a time, we had it all our 
own way ; but it was of short duration. As soon as the regi- 
ments in front broke and ran, the rebels paid particular 
attention to our case. They threw hand-grenades over the 
parapet, and soon sent men into the flank of a bastion, which 
commanded the front upon which we lay. They had us 
then at great disadvantage. The question was, whether we 
should surrender as prisoners, attempt to carry the works 
and be entirely annihilated (as they greatly outnumbered 
us), or take the back track, and run the gantlet for our 
lives. Upon consulting Lieut.-Col. Rodman, he reluctantly 
gave the order to retreat ; and down we went, across the 
moat and over the work. They had a perfect enfilading fire 
of small-arms for a thousand yards, besides three pieces 
giving us grape and canister. They fell on all sides of me, 
and I alone of the four captains was spared ; and out of the 
hundred and ninety-one officers and men that marched out 
to attack the foe but eighty-eight returned safe to camp. 
And ever let it be said, to the credit of the Seventh Con- 

56 



442 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

necticut Volunteers, that not one straggler could be discov- 
ered. Fifteen minutes after arrival in camp, roll was called ; 
and but one man came in afterwards, and he was delayed by 
assisting a wounded comrade. I met Gen. Strong with tears 
in his eyes ; and he said we had done our whole duty, and 
covered ourselves with glory ; and that, if the support had 
come in time, we should have taken the works. And with- 
out a doubt we should have done so." ^ 

Another bloody failure for want of co-operation ! Again, 
for a week, the whole force was engaged in intrenching, and 
wheeling great guns into position. Fort Sumter kept up an 
annoying fire into Gilmore's trenches ; and the front of the 
fort, where the island narrowed to twenty-five yards in width, 
was also swept by the batteries on James Island, besides its 
own armament. To take such a fort required all the skill 
and all the valor of veteran warriors. 

During the morning of the 16th, the enemy attacked the 
force on James Island. The Tenth held the extreme left of 
the line, and behind was a swamp, that could not be trav- 
ersed. The regiments on the right were frilling back rapidly ; 
and the Tenth probably escaped wholesale capture by pass- 
ing at double-quick towards the landing. The enemy's ad- 
vance was retarded by the guns of the Pawnee and the field- 
pieces of the First Connecticut Battery. "These," wrote 
Lieut. Camp of the Tenth, " were served with a rapidity and 
accuracy that spoke well for our friend Capt. Rockwell, and 
compared favorably with the rebel fire." That night, James 
Island was evacuated ; and the Tenth, resting briefly on the 
way, went to Morris Island. 

All niiirht Ions:, in a drenching; rain, had the Sixth been in 
the rifle-pits before Wagner ; coming into camp late on the 
morning of the 18th, weary and wet, and covered with sand. 
Scarcely had they washed themselves, and cleaned their 
guns, and eaten their dinner, before the order was given to 
" fall ill," to join in the assault on Wagner at dark. Never 

2 The correspondent of the New -York Herald wrote, "The Connecticut regiment 
succeeded in getting inside, and spiked six guns ; just then the Pennsylvania regiment fell 
back, and left this heroic Connecticut regiment to fight it out alone." The Savannah 
Republican (Confederate) said, " Willing to do justice to a brave foe, it may be added that 
a more daring and gallant assault has not been made on either side since the commence- 
uient of the war." 



ATTACK ON FOKT WAGNER. 443 

was an order more cheerfully obeyed, especially as the 
word passed around, that Col. Chatfield had determined to 
lead his own regiment into action ; refusing the command 
of the brigade, which belonged to him as tlje ranking officer, 
and declaring his preference " to stand or fall with the men 
of the Sixth." 

The Tenth also sprang to arms, and moved with Stephen- 
son's brigade up the ridge. Weary with days of toil and 
nights of sleeplessness, it was now to join in storming the 
fort. 

The column was quietly formed upon the beach, under 
cover of the high bank, and there remained till night. The 
men were impatient to move, as the scene around became 
exciting. The New Ironsides had left her moorings, and 
steamed within easy range of the fort, followed by five mon- 
itors in line, and five gunboats ; and from them all, and from 
the forty batteries erected along the island, a direct and in- 
cessant fire was now concentrated on the fort. 

" The scene became one of absolute magnificence. The 
firing of the fleet kept up an uninterrupted peal of thunder. 
Nothing in the way of j^J'ro technics could equal in effect a 
broadside from the Ironsides ; its swift tongues of flame 
piercing deep into the darkness, and bringing into momen- 
tary distinctness the immense hull from whence they sprang ; 
and the heavy boom of the discharges coming over the water 
after long apparent delay ; while the fancy followed into the 
dark fort the fourteen hundred pounds of solid iron, and 
wondered if they did their work."'^ Shot and shells crashed 
fearfully above and within it ; so that, when night came 
down, Wagner was silent, save an occasional gun, and seemed 
a ruined heap and an easy prize. 

Slowly and softly, as twiHght deepened, had the troops 
advanced, till now but a short and level space lay between 
them and the stronghold. At the earnest request of the 
gallant Col. Shaw, Col. Chatfield had allowed the 54th Massa- 
chusetts (colored) to occupy the extreme right, — the post 
of honor. The Sixth came next; and seven other regi- 
ments extended to the left. The remnant of the Seventh 

8 Lieut. Camp of the Tenth, — The Knightly Soldier. 



444 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

Connecticut Volunteers was manning a battery of three 
30-pound rifled Parrotts under command of Capt. Gray. 
Stephenson's brigade was now detached from the cohimn, 
and sent into the trenches as a reserve, until re-inforcements 
should be needed. The officers and men of the Tenth were 
chao'rined to find themselves mere spectators. 

Faster and fiercer came shot and shell from batteries on 
shore and gunboats in the bay, till a signal-flag rose to 
" cease firing ; " and then the sharp, quick order ran along 
the line, " Forward ! Double-quick ! " Out and on rushed 
the charging column from its concealment; and at the same 
moment, as if by a magician's touch, behind the parapet 
sprang up, in double line, the ready thousand of the rebel 
host. 

Forward rushed the 54th Massachusetts in " line of battle," 
followed by the Sixth Connecticut " in column by compa- 
nies," with Col. Chatfield on the right, and Adjutant Fitch 
on the left, of the front, — forward, till within point-blank 
range ; and then from Wagner and Sumter and the James- 
Island batteries, from casemate, parapet, and angle, burst 
forth a concentrated fire, the unintermittent flashings of 
which were like the vivid lightnings of a hot summer's 
eve, — a fire as terrific and murderous as the annals of war- 
fare have ever known. 

The 5 -1th Massachusetts, which had but once before been 
under fire, pressed bravely forward : but some companies 
wavered ; and, pushing for the south-western angle, the line 
moved " by the left oblique " so far that it completely un- 
covered the front of the Sixth, and left an unobstructed 
pathway to the fort. 

On moved the Sixth, — steadily, quickly on, — on through 
the outer work and moat, up the glacis, across the broad 
parapet, unchecked by the awful tempest of shot and shell, 
of shrapnel, canister, and grape, of bullets and hand- 
grenades, entering the fort at its south-eastern angle, and 
leaping down to the casemates and bomb-proofs, driving all 
before them in dismay. The fire in the fort paused at this 
audacious invasion, — paused so long, that spectators upon 
the sand-hills said, " The work is over : the fort has surren- 
dered." 



THE FLAG OF THE SIXTH AT FORT WAGNER. 445 

And now the little band looked for succor ; but it did not 
come. Two or three of the advanced reij-iments, includincr 
the negroes, were still clinging desperately to the parapet 
outside ; a few, white and black, had even gained the inte- 
rior ; but the main supporting column, Jackson's brigade, 
terrified by the deadly cannonade, instead of following 
closely, relying on the bayonet to do the work, stopped for 
a moment to return fire, and ao-ain lost the fort. The rebels 
saw the mistake, and rallied ; now charging upon the Sixth, 
standing almost alone in their midst, under the flag of Con- 
necticut. 

The charge was repulsed, and every effort to expel them 
failed. Three separate times, according to the Charleston 
papers of the 19th, did they charge most furiously ; and 
after great loss desisted. For more than three hours, the 
Sixth maintained its position in the fort, and waited for sup- 
port, — in vain ! and at last, with its leader and many offi- 
cers struck down, the remnant one by one escaped ; but 
they brought off their colors with them. 

These were borne away triumphantly, — torn into shreds, 
indeed, but hallowed relics of the fight. Eight brave men 
had snatched these colors from a dying comrade's grasp, 
and fallen dead or wounded upon them. Lieut.-Col. Red- 
field Duryee, in transmitting the State flag to Gov. Bucking- 
ham, said, — 

" The German color-bearer, Sergeant Gustave De Bouge (of Water- 
bury) Avas shot through the forehead while carrying the colors at the 
assault, and fell dead upon them, staining them with his blood ; and, 
before they could be picked up, several other men fell upon them dead or 
wounded. They were, however, finally seized by Capt. F. B. Osborn, 
who attempted to pull them from under the bodies ; but, in so doing, the 
flag, which had become very much shattered by shots, was torn through 
the center, and the part attached to the staff only was saved. The 
United-States colors were so much torn during the assault, that they can 
not be unfurled." 

These colors, which now hang in their place among the 
treasured honors of the State, tell, better than words can tell, 
of the unparalleled fierceness of the struggle of that night. 

Among those who bore the tattered flag during the fight 
was the fearless Col. Chatfield, who was dangerously wound- 
ed ; being struck both in the leg and hand. He was carried 



446 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE KEBELLION. 

off the field by Private Andrew Grogan of Bridgeport, 
afterwards lieutenant. 

Six regiments advanced near the fort, and the general 
commanding and five colonels had fallen : a major was the 
hio^hest ofiicer remaininsjj in command of the force. 

The Sixth had lost on the island twelve killer], ninety- 
two wounded (several of whom afterwards died of wounds), 
and forty-eight prisoners. Among the killed were Lieut. 
Stephen S. Stevens of Bridgeport, Sergeant De Bouge, and 
the brave Corporal Glissman bearing the flag. Edmund 
Rodgers of Burlington, William A. Morehouse of Stamford, 
and six German citizens, were also among the slain. 

Lieut. Stevens was A. A. Adjutant-General on Gen. Sey- 
mour's staff, — a post which he filled with marked ability. 
He was a young man highly esteemed by all who knew 
him. Having made military matters a study for many 
years, his services to the government were very valuable. 

Of the hundred and ninety-one officers and men of the 
Seventh, only eighty-seven returned from the charge of 
July 10. Nineteen were killed, or died of wounds, thirty- 
five others were wounded, and fifty more were prisoners. 
Among the killed in the charge were Capt. Theodore Bur- 
dick of Norwich and Lieut John H. Wilson of Hartford. 
When last seen, they were fighting on the edge of the para- 
pet with gallant comrades. Here, also, fell brave young 
Edward C. Blakeslee of Plymouth, a brother of Col. Erastus 
Blakeslee of the First Cavalry. Another brother was killed 
just after, at Frankfort, Ky. 

Among; the killed was William M. Reeves of Suffield. He 
was an excellent soldier, and of military stock. His great 
grandfather served in the Revolution, and his grandfiither in 
the War of 1812. 

The Seventeenth Connecticut had left Virginia the first 
week in August, and proceeded, via Alexandria and Newport 
News, to Folly Island, arriving on the steamer Spaulding 
about the 12th of the month. Without any time to rest. 
Col. Noble, now in command of a brigade, was ordered to go 
with a thousand men to the trenches in front of Fort Wag:- 
ner on Morris Island. Night after night they spent in this 



OFFICEES IN COMMAND OF BATTERIES. 447 

service, as the zig-zags and approaches were cut nearer and 
nearer the doomed fortress. Much of the time they were 
under fire, — a cannonade from all the forts, and the hum 
of Minie- balls from Wagner, returning fire whenever a 
head appeared above the rampart. "We were distributed," 
the colonel wrote, "in what are called splinter-proofs and 
covered ways, alongside a monster magazine. The soldiers 
lie as closely as possible, ready to stand to arms at a mo- 
ment's warning. At three o'clock in the morning, every 
man in the works is roused, and is on the alert till day- 
light." 

The six companies of the Seventh, at St. Augustine, were 
permitted to join the battalion on Morris Island while the 
siege was progressing. Major Sanford was immediately de- 
tached from the regiment, and all the outpost duty was given 
to his charge, including the support of the huge marsh bat- 
tery known as the " Swamp Angel." He captured Gen. Kip- 
ley's private barge, with a rebel major and surgeon and 
eleven men ; and two nights afterwards captured a surgeon, 
a naval lieutenant, and sixty-one men. The rest of the 
regiment, as soon as they arrived upon the island, commenced 
their regular duties with other regiments, — grand guard, 
fatigue in the trenches, mounting guns in the batteries, &c., 
— until the regiment was nearly all detached upon the bat- 
teries. 

Capt. Skinner and Lieuts. Perry and Coe commanded a 
battery in the fifth parallel, of five 8-incli siege-mortars. 
Capt. Dennis, with Lieuts. Townsend and Wildmau, com- 
manded a battery of five 10-inch siege-mortars. Capt. Gray, 
with Lieuts. Barker and Young, commanded the famous 300- 
pounder rifled Parrott. Capt. At well and Lieuts. Greene 
and Hutchinson commanded a battery of three 30-pounder 
Parrotts and three Coehorn mortars. Capt. Gray ex,ploded 
his immense gun. He told the general that he " thought he 
could fix it," and was immediately directed to do so ; and 
while in action, and under a tremendous fire from the enemy, 
he repaired his gun ; and in eighteen hours had it in working 
order, and fired it during the bombardment. 

Gilmore opened his fourth parallel towards Wagner, within 



448 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE' REBELLION. 

three hundred yards, on Aug. 23 ; his fifth parallel within 
two hundred yards, on the 25th ; after this, zig-zags were 
opened with very acute angles. From the morning of Sept. 
5, the garrison of fifteen hundred men were immured in their 
bomb-proof, not daring to expose a head to the terrible fire 
that rained upon the fort. The counterscarp of the opposing 
work was crowned on the night of Sept. 6 ; when the rebels 
quietly evacuated the fort, and escaped. Sumter had already 
been fiercelj^ bombarded by the " Swamp Angel " and less 
ponderous batteries, and was now a shapeless mass of ruins ; 
Morris Island was captured ; and little further actual pro- 
gress was made during the year. 

Gen. Gilmore issued a general order, requesting regimental 
and battery commanders to designate enlisted men worthy 
to receive medals of honor for gallant and meritorious con- 
duct during the siege. The following is the list for Connecti- 
cut regiments : — 

First Connecticut Light Battery. 

First Sergeant S. C. Dickinson. Corporal John F. Bliss. Private R. 
Blodgett. 

Sixth Connecticut. 

Company A. — Sergeant H. L. Grant. Private Wolcott Wetherell. 

Company B, — Private James McBrien. 

Company C. — First Sergeant Joseph Miller. Sergeant Frederick 
Striby, jr. 

Company D. — Sergeants Norman Provost, Horace Hobbie. 

Company E. — Sergeants W. Berkely, Luzern Baldwin. 

Company F. — Corporal J. C. Osborne. Privates Edwin F. Pierpont, 
A. C. Hard. 

Company G. — Privates Bernard HafFy, Martin B. Eddy. 

Company H. — Privates William Rebstock, Francis Bantly. 

Company I. — Corporal William H. Rossman. Private Isaac S. Taylor. 

Company K. — Sergeant Julius A. Bristol. Corporal Ambrose Cock- 
croft. 

Seventh Connecticut. 

Sergeant-Major Raphael Gilbert. 

Company A. — Privates Levi Andrews,William Bond. 
Company B. — Corporal Chauncey A. Bacon. Private Edgar H. Par- 
sous. 

Company C. — Corporal Dennis O'Brien. 
■ Coynpany D. — Corporal Frederick A. Felch. 
Company E. — Private John Biderman. 
Company F. — Corp6ral Henry A. Allen. 
Company G. — Leander Parmelee. 



THE SEVENTH AT ST. HELENA. 449 

Company H. — Private John M. Millikeu. 

Company I. — Corporal John J. Cochrane. Private R. Aggett. 

Company K. — Privates James A. Howard, Elisha F. Soule. 

Seventeenth Connecticut. 

Company E. — Corporal R. Tibbe. 
Company F. — Private Walter M. Jarmon. 
Compjany G. — First Sergeant Charles Smith, jr. 
Company K. — Private R. McGee. 

The Sixth, shattered in the daring charge of July 18, was 
soon after sent to Hilton Head to recruit, and care for its 
scores of wounded. To the genial and indefatigable chap- 
lain, the Tribune's correspondent thus refers : '• We had 
scarcely reached the deck of the transport Cosmopolitan, 
when we discovered a chaplain going from one patient to 
another, administering a word of consolation to the first, 
giving a cup of water to a second, smoothing out the blank- 
ets of a third. Now he halted to wash and dress a wound ; 
anon he hastened to procure a cordial for some one faint 
from loss of blood. He was constantly at work, and every- 
where welcome. I ascertained that this humane and patri- 
otic man was Rev. Mr. Woodruff, Chaplain of the Sixth Con- 
necticut." At Hilton Head, a comfortable hospital was found, 
in the rear of which the regiment made an encampment, 
where it soutj^ht to recover its wasted strenGfth. 

After three months of terrible toil and exposure, the 
Seventh was sent to St. Helena Island, where the Tenth had 
been located ; and camped on a pleasant spot near the river, 
on Oct. 15. Next day a large number of small flat-boats 
were landed, capable of holding about eighteen or twenty 
persons each ; and the regiment was instructed in a boat- 
drill. One of them writes at this time, " We intend to do 
the best we can, whether we are to be infantry or artillery, 
or even if they make marines of us." Here they remained 
for some time in comparative quiet, only broken by a tem- 
porary recall to Folly Island. In the mean time. Col. Haw- 
ley obtained new arms, — the breech-loading Spencer rifle, — 
to the merits of which the War Department was blind until 
near the close of the struggle. Here many of the two hun- 
dred sick crept slowly towards health, jxnd the regiment 
became itself once more. 

67 



450 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

The Seventeenth had two weeks of constant and severe 
service in the exposed trenches under Wagner ; when the regi- 
ment returned to Folly Island, and made a pleasant camp 
near that of the First Connecticut Battery, which had been 
there since the "affair of James Island. Clothing was now 
drawn ; tents were procured, and set along the sand-bank that 
centuries had rolled up above the reach, of the tides. The 
men, dirt-begrimed and exhausted, luxuriated in the splendid 
surf-bathing directly in front of the tents. Lieut.-Col. Albert 
H. Wilcoxson was in command of the regiment, Col. Noble 
still having charge of a brigade. Both were popular, feeling 
constant solicitude for the comfort of the men. About this 
time, Major Brady was transferred to the Invalid Corps. 

Col. Noble issued an order directinsf an observance of 
Christmas in his brigade, and recommending an appropriate 
adornment of the camp. The suggestion was complied with 
most spiritedly. The companies hedged their streets with 
yoLuig spruces and pines, interspersed with holly-leaves, 
abounding there. The entrances to some of the streets were 
overhung with beautiful arches of evergreens enclosing 
wreaths and festoons. Companies C and K, occupying the 
central street, reared in the middle of it a lofty double arch 
with the word " Constitution " prettily wrought upon it. 
Some of the devices of the camp were quite unique, and, 
taken together, formed an imposing decoration. Company 
F (Norvvalk) constructed a palmetto dining-room, which was 
quite convenient for the festivities of the season. Flags were 
festooned upon its front, and it was flanked with handsome 
arches of cedar, containing stars of holly. Even the drum- 
corps had four tents on a slight eminence, topped with cedar- 
boughs, and surrounded with young pines connected with an 
evergreen cable, and a pretty arched stairway leading up to 
the entrance.'^ 

The Tenth Regiment had three full months of siege-work 
on Morris Island. After the evacuation of Wagner and 
Gregg, the labor was by no means diminished, nor the perils 
lessened. The forts had to be reconstructed, and others 
built, in which the toil and exposure were as great as at 

* Vide Letter of Private J. M. Bailey in Danbury Times. 



CHAPLAIN TEUMBULL AND ADJUTANT CAMP. 451 

any previous time. During the truce that prevailed after 
the unsuccessful assault of July 18, Chaplain H. Clay Trum- 
bull and Adjutant Henry W. Camp advanced upon the neu- 
tral ground to help the wounded, and were seized by the 
perfidious rebels, and held as prisoners. Their protests were 
unavailing ; and rebel prison-life was in store for them. 

Trumbull and Camp were alike in many respects, — alike 
in their bravery and devotedness to the cause, alike in their 
tastes, alike in their beliefs, both men of high literary cul- 
ture, each the heau ideal of the Christian soldier; and, 
while they were together at Columbia, imprisonment was 
not very irksome, except as it kept them from the field. 
They cherished a touching affection for each other, which 
made all burdens lighter. 

" Outside, the two had been called ' the twins : ' in confine- 
ment, the old negro woman who daily brought in rations 
spoke of them uniformly as ' de mates ; ' and they were thus 
designated by their companions. The guards spoke to 
others by name, but to these as ' you two ; ' always allowing 
them liberty together, as if they had but one existence. 
The chaplain was permitted on the Sabbath to go out into" 
the yard, or up stairs, to preach to the Union privates. The 
officers, except Adjutant Camp, were not at first allowed to 
attend these services. ' You two can go, nobody else,' was 
the usual announcement. The friends were rarely an arm's- 
length from each other in all their months of confinement 
toii-ether."^ 

Special efforts were made for the release of both, so treach- 
erously captured while under a flag of truce. The chaplain, 
moreover, was not, under the cartel, subject to detention as 
a prisoner of war. On these grounds. Gen. Meredith, our 
exchange-commissioner, at last made a formal demand on 
Judge Ould for the immediate release of Chaplain Trumbull. 
After considerable delay, the claim was granted. After the 
war was over, this claim was found in Richmond, favorably 
indorsed by Ould to ■ Gen. Beauregard, and re-indorsed as 
follows by Gen. Jordan, chief-of-staff to Beauregard : — 

" Chaplain H. Clay Trumbull has been directed to be sent to Richmond 
at once. He is a tricky fellow, and has little the air of a chaplain. The 

6 The Knightly Soldier, p. 166. 



452 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

great desire manifested to get him back, coupled with the circumstances 
of his capture, make it doubtful whether he is really a chaplain or a spy." 

The chaplain has a quick, military mind ; and he would 
doubtless have made his mark as an officer. Twice during 
the war was he offered the commission of colonel : he 
declined it, preferring the office he had chosen ; but he was 
always at the front. 

John L. Otis of Manchester, who left the State as second lieu- 
tenant of Company B, had now become the colonel. Dur- 
ing the last of October, the regiment left for St. Augustine, 
Fla. Here a pleasant camp was set outside the city gates, 
just beyond the old Spanish fort. New A tents were issued, 
and pitched on liandsome streets. Good bunks were built 
for all, and floors; and, in many cases, chimneys of the pecu- 
liar cochina, or shell-marl, of the vicinity. Good water was 
plenty. Much ingenuity was shown in some of the cook- 
rooms and kitchens, constructed of turf, or cochina ; while 
exquisite taste and refinement were often displayed in the 
adornment of the interior of the tents. While the regiment 
was passing the winter here, Chaplain Trumbull, beloved by 
the whole command, came back from prison, and the brave 
Lieut.-Col. Robert Leggett, who had lost a leg at Wagner, 
returned from his furlough. They were warmly welcomed. 

Again, as ever, Trumbull devoted himself to the moral 
and physical improvement of his parish militant, and shortly 
after wrote as follows, in opposition to the current ideas of 
life in the army : — 

" Permit me to repeat deliberately, that after all my experiences iu New- 
EngUind life, iu city and country, before the war, and here in the army, 
under varied circumstunces, for more than two years, I am well convinced 
that the moral standard is higher in the army than out of it; that there is 
less of drunkenness, less of licentiousness, less of lying, less of stealing, 
among soldiers in camp and field, than with the corresponding class of 
men outside ; while the highest types of Christian manhood in all our land 
are to be found among those in active service. I also believe that army- 
life tends directly and uniformly to elevate the moral standard, and to 
purify the mind and manners of those who are under its influence." 

During: the weeks succeed in o- the terrible charge on Fort 
Wau-ner, the State was called to mourn the sudden death of 
Col. Chatfield of the Sixth, in consequence of the wounds 
there received. 



COLONEL JOHN L. CHATFIELD. 453 

John L. Chatfield was born in Oxford, 1826, the eldest 
son of Pulaski and Amanda Chatfield. Pie was apprenticed 
with Hotchkiss & Co., builders at Derby, and remained four 
years, greatly esteemed by all. He worked for a while as a 
journeyman, developing unusual mechanical skill. In 1855, 
having removed to Waterbury, he became associated with 
his brother in business as builder, and the firm was widely 
and favorably known. As a business-man, he was prompt 
and honorable, of sterling integrity, possessing the confi- 
dence and hearty esteem of the entire public. 

It is gratifying to honor him as an upright business-man ; 
but he had other qualities yet to be developed. Col. Chat- 
field was born for a soldier. He was a private in the Derby 
Blues by the side of Charles L. Russell, afterwards the 
gallant colonel of the Tenth, and, like him, was early elected 
an officer. He was active in raising the Waterbury City 
Guard, and was its captain ; raising the company to the first 
rank, and giving it an enviable reputation for precision of 
movement. He caught the true military spirit, and infused 
it into those about him. 

He studied diligently, and sought by every means in his 
power to perfect his knowledge of military affairs. To him 
all this training was a reality, even in time of peace. 
When the alarm sounded in 1861, he Avas one of the very 
first to get his com.pany to New Haven. He was promoted 
to be colonel of the Third ; and, even at that early day, his 
battalion-drills were applauded as worthy any officer of the 
regular army. 

Subsequently becoming colonel of the Sixth, he brought 
it to a state of discipline second to no regiment in service 
from the State. The labors of the first months were too 
much for him; and he remained an invalid at Annapolis, 
while his regiment went to Hilton Head, rejoining it in 
January, 1862. At the battle of Pocotalico, while in ad- 
vance on horseback, he received a canister-shot in his right 
thigh, and crawled to the rear alone. 

He recovered from the wound sufficiently to rejoin his 
regiment in April following, when, for a time, he was placed 
by Gen. Hunter in command of the post at Hilton Head ; 



454 COISTNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

being relieved at his own request, and permitted to join in 
the operations before Charleston. 

In the first landing on Morris Island, his soldierly bearing 
and tact were much admired. According to his usual cus- 
tom when charging batteries, he led the men forward till 
the moment of the discharge of the enemy's guns; then 
ordered them to lie down, up again and advance, and down 
again, till near as he wished them. So rapid was their 
double-quick, they were into the batteries and through them 
before the enemy could fire the already loaded pieces. The 
achievements of that morning placed both the colonel and 
his command in the first place among fighting men and 
regiments. 

When the Sixth charged down into the fort on July 18, 
the colonel had his leg shattered below the knee ; but he 
could not bear the thought of being taken prisoner, and 
attempted to drag himself out of the fort. He had par- 
tially succeeded, when a shot struck his right hand, and 
knocked his sword from his grasp. Wounded though he 
was, he tried to regain it, and only relinquished his efforts 
on account of excessive weakness. The only things he 
saved were his scabbard and body-belt ; and these are in the 
possession of his family. 

He was carried to the rear, and Chaplain Woodruff" soon 
procured transportation home for him. While on the way 
to Beaufort, he asked after the colors of the regiment. He 
was told that they were all safe, at least what was left of 
them. " Thank God for that ! " said he, his eye brighten- 
ing, — "thank God for that! I am so glad they are safe! 
Keep them, keep them, as long as there is a thread left." 

He was exhausted by his journey, yet rejoiced to be at 
home. The fears that were entertained at first became a 
reality; and on Sunday evening, Aug. 10, surrounded 
by his family and a few friends, this hero of many battles 
breathed his last. For several days, he had been partially 
delirious ; but during^ the forenoon a s;leam of consciousness 
was visible : he recognized his weeping family, expressed 
his entire willingness and readiness to die, bade each good 
by cheerfully, and died without a struggle. 



COLONEL JOHN L. CHATFIELD. 455 

Connecticut sent forth no more accomplished or gallant 
soldier than he : had he lived, he must have won high dis- 
tinction. A modest, fearless, pure-hearted, devoted man, 
— his record is that a knight might envy. His deeds and 
noble sacrifice will live on sunlit pages and in warm hearts, 
when new generations shall read the imperishable record of 
the Rebellion, and bless those whose heroism saved the nation 
and freedom fr6m destruction. 

" Pride of his country's banded chivalry, 

His fanae their hope, his name their battle-cry, 
He lived as mothers wish their sons to live. 
He died as fathers wish their sons to die." 




CHAPTER XXVIIL 

More Troops wanted. — A Draft. — The Result. — Call for Seven Hundred Thousand 
Men. — Seven Hundred Dollars' Bounty. — Work of Recruiting. — The Twenty-ninth 
Regiment. — Enlistment and Departure. — Re-enlistment of Veterans. — Recruiting 
Rapid. — The Quota of the State fall, with a Surplus. — Soldiers'-Aid Societies. — 
Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwich, Danbury, Derby. — The Work at Home 
and in the Field. — A Thanksgiving Dinner. 

N June 22, 1863, Gen. Joseph D. Williams re- 
signed, and was succeeded by Horace J. Morse 
as Adiutant-General of Connecticut. The three 
hundred thousand nine-months' troops recruited 
in the fall of 1862 were now about to be mus- 
tered out of the service ; and arrangements were made to 
re-enlist them as veterans. The War Department called on 
Connecticut for two reoriments of veteran volunteer infan- 
try. The United States offered to each man a bounty of 
four hundred and two dollars, to be paid in installments 
durino- service, or at muster-out if sooner discharared. 
The kState offered a bounty of a hundred dollars. Service- 
chevrons were authorized to be worn as a badi!;e of distinc- 
tion. Col. George H. Burnham of the Twenty-second, and 
Col. S. P. Ferris of the Twenty-eighth, were granted authority 
to raise these regiments. This plnn was soon changed, and 
the projected new organizations abandoned. 

On July 1, it was ordered by the War Department that 
a draft should be made from the enrolled militia, and that 
fifty per centum should be added to cover exemption.s. 
The quota of this State was 7,692; the number to be drafted, 
11,539. 

A provost-marshal general was appointed at Washington, 
and an assistant, Major D. D. Perkins, for Connecticut, to 



456 



MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR. 457 

have all charge of recruiting and a draft. A provost-mar- 
shal was also appointed in each congressional district as 
follows : — 

1st District, Capt. Lucius S. Goodrich of Simsbury. 

2d District, Capt. Benjamin S. Pardee of New Haven. 
• 3d District, Capt. Leverett Wessells of Litchfield. 

4th District, Capt. Isaac H. Bromley of Norwich. 

There was great opposition to a draft on the part of 
many ; and the hostility culminated in terrible mobs in New 
York, Boston, and some other cities. Similar violence was 
threatened in Connecticut; and secret meetings of the "peace- 
men " were said to be held for the purpose of organizing 
resistance to what they called '• conscription." It was widely 
declared to be their purpose to rush into the provost-mar- 
shals' offices, and destroy the boxes while the draft was pro- 
ceeding. On the other hand, Union Lea^-ues were well ors^a- 
nized, strong and resolute; and these were in some cases 
armed to meet the impending danger. 

Gov. Buckingham also called for two battalions of volun- 
teer infantry, under Major George D. Chapman and Major 
John C. HoUister. The companies immediately reported ; 
but the stern purpose overawed the malcontents, and the 
draft proceeded peacefully, the services of the battalions not 
being required. 

During the extra (fall) session of 18G3, a resolution was 
passed, setting forth a belief that rifles, muskets, and pistols 
had been taken illegally " from their proper places of de- 
posit, and delivered to indiv^iduals, or organized bodies of 
men not recognized by the military law of this State;" and 
callins: on the Governor for information. 

His Excellency replied in a message, of which the follow- 
ing is an extract : — 

" In July last, a large number of men in the city of New York, under the 
influence of leaders hostile to the National Union and in sympathy with 
Rebellion, banded together to resist the draft ordered by the President of the 
United States under congressional authority. 

*•' They at once became an infuriated mob ; they compelled men to leave 
iheir labors, and close their places of business ; tliey went from house to 
house, and from street to street, overpowering whatever obstacles impeded 
their progress. Arson, pillage, and robbery were unrestrained. Innocent 
citizens were beaten, shot, and hung. The rioters became a power so formi- 
58 



458 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

•lable, that tlicy coukl not, even by the most solemn pledges that their alleged 
grievances should be redressed, be persuaded to resist from their hellish 
work. They held tlie city, with its untold wealth and millions of people, 
for days in the terrors of anarchy. 

" At the same time, riotous demonstrations were made in different parts 
of the country ; and, without concert of action, gentlemen residing in vari- 
ous sections of this State, whose opinions and judgment are entitled to high 
consideration, represented the danger in their respective localities in the 
following language : — 

"• ' Those who oppose the draft are making every effort to unite themselves 
together for resistance.' 'There is no doubt of an organization here to re- 
sist the draft.' ' Threats of resistance are loud and frequent in our midst.' 
' Notices have been posted, threatening those Avho aid the draft.' ' Men 
have pledged themselves to break the boxes which contain the names of 
men enrolled for the draft.' ' Secret meetings have been held, at which it 
had been determined to commence open resistance on the night of a given 
day ; but for some reason it was postponed.' ' I want a sufficient number 
of men to guard my property from the mob which is likely to arise to pil- 
lage and burn.' ' I do not take counsel of my fears when I assure you 
that I anticipate an outbreak in this place.' ' These disturbances through- 
out the country arc the result of a combination of traitors both North and 
South.' 

" In this critical and alarming condition of public affairs, men of true and 
Avell-known patriotism, belonging to both the Republican and Democratic 
parties, offered their services to preserve public order, and made requisition 
upon the Executive for arms. In examining the statutes, I found authority 
to furnish the active militia, and the enrolled militia when ordered into 
active service, with arms ; and nothing to prohibit the use of them by others 
whenever public necessity requires. Also, that no place is designated for 
the deposit of arms purchased by the State, and not in the hands of the 
militia ; and that the commander-in-chief ' may issue such orders as he shall 
judge expedient to carry into execution the intents of " An Act relating 
to the Militia," which act is especially intended to give him full power 
and authority to use both the active and inactive militia to prevent rebel- 
lion and insurrection.' 

" Considering our perilous condition, and the fact that the active militia 
of the State, including the Governor's Guards, was composed of less than 
one thousand men, orders were issued from this Department for the trans- 
mission of arms to the following persons, residing in the towns herein 
named, upon the execution of proper bonds for their safe-keeping and 
return : — 

1863. 
July 14, William T. Miner, 
" 15, Dexter R. Wright, 
" 18, Joshua Kendall, 
" 18, D. W. Plumb, 
" 20, Elisha Carpenter, 
" 20, Thomas Guycr, 
" 21, Major F. W. Russell 
" 21, Gilbert W. Phillips, 
"21, Capt. A. Seeley, 
" 24, Rufus Smith, 

715 
"Prior to the assembling of your honorable body, four hundred of the 
above-described muskets, and as many sets of accouterraents, were returned 



Stamford, 


65 Muskets and Sets of Accouterments. 


Meriden, 


200 








Derby, 


60 








Derby, 


40 








Daniel sonville. 


80 








Norwalk, 


60 








Portland, 


40 








Putnam, 


80 








Stamford, 


50 








Litchfield, 


40 









ADDITIONAL CALLS FOE TROOPS, 459 

to the State Arsenal, or transferred to military companies newly organized 
in the towns where the arms were sent. 

" Exceptions might be taken to the language of the resolution, which, 
assuming that the Executive has acted without legal authority, calls upon 
him for proof: but I prefer to have every public act of mine, together with 
all the circumstances connected with it, fully known ; and most cheerfully 
submit to your delibei'ate judgment, and to the impartial decision of your 
constituents, whether such Executive action has put in jeopardy the rights 
or the person of any law-abiding citizen, and whether the Executive would 
not, under the circumstances by which he was surrounded, have proved 
faithless to the high trusts committed to him by a conlidiug people, if he 
had not placed the arms of the State where they could have been used to 
maintain the supremacy of law, and preserve public tranquillity. 

" Wm. a. Buckingham." 

Of the whole number (11,539) drafted for m the State, 8,000 
were exem23ted on various pleas; and 248 principals and 
2,248 substitutes were mustered into the service. Of these, 
400 deserted ; and the following were assigned to different 
Connecticut organizations : First Connecticut Volunteer Ar- 
tillery, 54 ; First Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry, 4 ; Fifth 
Infantry, 424 ; Sixth Inflmtry, 228 ; Seventh Infantry, 142 ; 
Eighth Infantry, 171; Tenth Infantry, 4; Fourteenth Infant- 
ry, 834; Twentieth Infantry, 150; Twenty-first Inftxntry, 1; 
14th Rhode-Island Artillery (colored), 66. 

On Oct. 17, the president called for an additional force of 
three hundred thousand to strengthen the regiments in the 
held. Tlie same bounties were offered ; and a draft was pro- 
vided for in case the requisition should not be filled by Jan. 
5, 1864. The re-inforcements which the draft had failed to 
yield, now began to be furnished by voluntary enlistments. 

Many towns had already made extravagant appropriations 
for bounties ; which would involve them in lawsuits, and per- 
haps insolvency, if continued. Gov. Buckingham, accord- 
ingly, convened the General Assembly in special session, to 
meet on Nov. 3. 

By an act approved Nov. 13, a State bounty of three hun- 
dred dollars was ordered paid to each volunteer non-commis- 
sioned officer or private who should enlist, and be credited 
to this State, under the call of Oct. 17 ; and every town was 
prohibited from making any appropriation for volunteers. 

The quota of the State was 5,432. Tlie recruiting was 
placed entirely in the hands of United-States officers ; and 



460 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

recruiting-agents were appointed, who were to receive fifteen 
dollars from the United States, and ten dollars from the 
State, for each recruit. Each " veteran " entitled the officer 
to ten dollars additional. The bounty was now six hundred 
and two dollars for new levies, and a hundred dollars addi- 
tional for soldiers who had served at least nine months. 

The authorized agents immediately employed and put into 
the field a large number of recruiting-brokers, who labored 
night and day, receiving for each recruit a large commission 
from the premium due to their employers. For a time, this 
seemed to be the all-absorbing industry of the State. Every 
town at once began the work ; and an enthusiasm and zeal 
were manifest that gave promise of filling the quota. 

.Each town was made a sub-district ; and the former rivalry, 
to some extent, was renewed. The citizens of Canton offered 
the recruitino:-ao:ent a hundred dollars for each man credited 
to the town. Laborers received large wages ; and many en- 
listed at a real sacrifice, for which the large bounties did not 
compensate. In the midst of these pressing emergencies, 
many of the recruiting-brokers began a course of systematic 
swindling ; robbing the volunteers of a large portion of their 
bounty, and thriving upon the necessities of an imperiled 
nation. 

Colored regiments had already been accepted by the War 
Department from Massachusetts and Rhode Island ; and oth- 
ers had been organized in the South. By the efforts of Col. 
Dexter E. Wright, ably seconded by Col. B. S. Pardee of New 
Haven, a bill was passed in the General Assembly, authoriz- 
ing Gov. Buckingham to organize regiments of colored in- 
fantry in Connecticut. The Democrats denounced this bill 
in unmeasured terms, as a provision to let loose upon the 
helpless South " a horde of African barbarians," and predicted 
cowardice, disgrace, and ruin as the result of the experi- 
ment. 

On the 23d of November, the governor called for colored 
volunteers for the Twenty-ninth Regiment; and the call was 
at once enthusiastically responded to. The bounty offered 
was six hundred dollars ; the pay and uniforms being the same 
as for other soldiers. In a week, the nucleus of the regjiment 



COLOKED EEGIMENT FKOM CONNECTICUT. 461 

had been formed, and encamped near Fair Haven, in comfort- 
able barracks, at the draft rendezvous. 

By the 12th of January, the maxmium number had as- 
sembled ; but few officers were yet appointed. Candidates 
for commissions were required to pass a severe examination 
before a board appointed by the War Department. The 
process was slow, but beneficial. Before the end of January, 
many officers had reported, and daily drills and a system of 
rigid inspections were established. Thus the winter months 
passed ; and spring found a tolerably-disciplined regiment, 
under Capt. Charles L. Norton of Farmington, to whose effi^rts 
the organization was much indebted. This officer was soon 
promoted to be colonel of a regiment in the Department of 
the Gulf Lieut. Jabez A. Tracy, a faithful and energetic 
officer, died in February, and his loss was deeply felt 

On the Sth of March, the regiment was mustered into the 
service, and about the middle of the month was fortunate in 
receiving for its commander William B. Wooster of Derby, 
lieutenant-colonel of the Twentieth. Henry C. Ward of 
Hartford (late adjutant of the Twenty-fifth) was appointed 
lieutenant-colonel ; and David Torrance of Greenville became 
major. 

On March 19, after receiving a United-States flag from 
the colored ladies of New Haven, the regiment embarked on 
the transport Warrior for Annapolis. Here the organiza^ 
tion was comjDleted ; and, through the efforts of Col. Wooster, 
the regiment was armed with the latest pattern of Spring- 
field rifles. 

On Jan. 12, the Twenty-ninth being declared full, the gov- 
ernor issued a call for colored volunteers for the Thirtieth, 
subject to the same conditions. Enlistments continued vig- 
orously. 

In the mean time, the call for three hundred thousand 
was modified to a call ^ of five hundred thousand ; the quota 
of Connecticut being 9,053. The draft was postponed to 
March 10. 

Recruiting-officers were sent to the regiments in the field ; 
and the soldiers having less than one year to serve were 

iFeb. 1. 



462 



CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 



offered the veteran bounty of $702 to re-enlist, with a fur- 
lough of thirty days before the expiration of their original 
term of enlistment. The effort was attended with abundant 
success. 

The following table exhibits the number of veteran re- 
enlistments in each of the Connecticut organizations quali- 
fied by returns received up to April 1, 1864. 









No. Re-en- 


Eegiment. 


Commanding Officer. 


Location. 


listed. 


1st Artillery, . 


Col. Henry L. Abbot, 


Defenses of Washington, 


435 


1st Cavalry, 


" Wm. S. Fish, 


Baltimore, Md., 


92 


1st Squadron Cavalry, 




Army of the Potomac, 


43 


1st Battery, 


Capt. Alfred P. Eockwell, 


Department of the South, 


46 


5th lul'antry, . 


Col. Warren W. Packer, 


Army of the Cumberland, 


280 


6th " . . 


" Redfleld Diiryee, 


Department of the South, 


205 


7th " . . 


" Joseph R. Hawley, 


" " 


333 


8th " . . 


" John E. Ward, 


" of Virginia, 


310 


9th " . . 


" Thomas W. Cahill, 


of the Gulf, 


321 


10th " . . 


" John L. Otis, 


" of the South, 


280 


nth " . . 


" Griffin A.Stedman,Jr. 


" of Virginia, 


268 


12th " 


" Ledvard Colburn, 


of the Gulf, 


436 


13th ." . . 


" ChaVles D. Blinn, 




298 




3,347 



The men of the First Artillery, First Battery, and First 
Cavalry, received their furloughs, and came home individu- 
ally or in squads. The re-enlisted men in each of the other 
regiments, except the Ninth and Thirteenth, returned to 
the State as regimental organizations, accompanied by their 
officers ; the men who had not re-enlisted being generally 
transferred for the time to other regiments. 

Meanwhile the recruiting went on through January, Febru- 
ary, and March. Kent, Cornwall, Brooklyn, and many other 
towns, filled their quotas from their own native citizens. Re- 
course was also had to adopted citizens, and to recent arrivals 
from Europe. Very many of these made excellent soldiers. 
Surgeon Mayer wrote of these from Portsmouth, — 

" The conscripts themselves, or rather the substitutes, — for there is hard- 
ly a drafted man among them, — truly comprise ' all sorts and conditions of 
men.' We have Ellsworth's and Ilawkin.s's Zouaves, as well as Billy Wil- 
son's. Full half the consignment have served before in our own or in the 
European armies. We have quite a number of English, Irish, and German 
regulars, who came to this country for the purpose of enlisting. They have 
taken the substitute-money, and entered the army at better wages than they 
ever before received. Tliey esteem their bargain a good one, and intend 
to do good service. I have talked with many of this class, as well as my 



ADDKESS OF THE CITIZENS OF DERBY. 4G3 

limited knowledge of German would admit, and find them apparently relia- 
ble and honorable men. They express themselves much better pleased 
with our service than with tliat of the Europet\n armies. Many of them 
save their money ; and thousands of dollars have been sent to New York 
and elsewhere by them since their arrival." 

On March 14, the President called for two nundred thou- 
sand more, and the quota of Connecticut was again 5,260. 
The most strenuous efforts were put forth. Recruiting contin- 
ued without abatement ; individual and collective energy was 
put forth to fill the quota ; and in two weeks the quota was full, 
with a large surplus to be credited on any subsequent call. 

Adjutant-Gen. Morse, in closing his report for 1864, on 
April 1, 1865, ^ays, — 

" We have entered upon another year of the war ; and Connecticut main- 
tains her place among the foremost in loyalty and devotion to the Union, 
Every demand for men has been responded to with a spirit and zeal second 
to none ; and the State has now a surplus on all calls of thirty-one hundred 
and seventy-two, or more than the quota under the last call for two hundred 
thousand men. 

" In the glorious record of our State, especial honor should be given those 
brave and true men, who, after the dangers and toils of a soldier's life for 
so long a time, have again offered themselves to the service of the country." 



The Confederacy was now environed on all sides with a 
cordon of triumphant bayonets ; and it was generally felt 
that the Rebellion was staggering to its doom. Soldiers and 
citizens redoubled their energies to hasten the end. Soldiers'- 
aid societies, on the model of the Hartford Society, had 
been organized in every large town in the State. 

The citizens of Derby, who had already shown themselves 
among the first in patriotic work, as her soldiers were among 
the first upon the patriotic record, added to their donations 
an address of thanks to their " fellow-citizens in the armies 
of the Union." We quote briefly : — 

" It is a matter of congratulation to us, that you, though accustomed to 
the peaceful pursuits of civil life, have shown yourselves valiant in war, 
and tliat your patriotism has remained unshaken while sorely tried by the 
pi-ivatious of the camp and the stern ordeal of the battle-field. We learn 
with sorrow that some who went from our midst have fallen before the foe. 
But, while we mourn their loss, we hold sacred to memory their bright 
example ; and though they walk no more among us, the heroic and self- 
sacrificing spirit they have shown in being willing to dare aud to die for 
the sake of our beloved laud will never be forgotten. Aud now we would 



464 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

renew to you the assurance of our sympathy, aud pledge you again our 
cordial support. We woutd have you feel that the fire of patriotism still 
burns in our souls ; and that we are not only ready to lift up your hands and 
encourage your hearts, but, if need be, to come aud stand by your side, and 
with you carry on this great contest till the glorious Union of our fathers 
is restored, and traitors are no more." 

This wus signed by three hundred citizens, among whom 
were A. Beardsley, John I. Howe, D. W. Plumb, Egbert 
Bartlett, Thomas Wallace, jr., Gerald H. Corlies, Amos H. 
Ailing, William E. Downs, D. K. CrofFut, Robert Narramore, 
George Blakeman, and other well-known citizens. 

The ladies of Bridgeport met, the day after the President's 
first call for troops in the spring of 1861, to " see what they 
could do" for the volunteers; and commenced their labors 
that afternoon. This w^as the first ladies' association for this 
purpose in the country. The honorable priority is conceded 
by citizens of other States." A more complete organization 
was formed in August, denominated the Ladies' Soldiers'-Re- 
lief Society, whereof Mrs. Woolsey G. Sterling was the 
earliest president. Mrs. Daniel Thacher succeeded her. Miss 
Lydia R. Ward was its secretary from the beginning to the 
close of its labors. The immediate purpose of organization 
was to aid the Sixth Regiment; but, like other societies, 
they soon widened their sphere of action, and sent supplies 
to other Connecticut soldiers, to the Sanitary Commission, 
to regiments of other States, and to various hospitals. Dur- 
ing the first year of its existence, the cash receipts were 
$2,618.21; and the cash expenditures $1,464.57. To these 
accounts must be added the articles of clothing and bedding, 
and most of the delicacies, made and prepared by the ladies, 
and not comprised in the above items. More than a hun- 
dred and forty families of soldiers were assisted by the society 
during the first year, by gifts of eight hundred yards of 
cotton cloth, six hundred and seventy yards of calico, one 
hundred and fifty yards of delaine, a quantity of new flan- 
nel, one hundred and eighty-five finished garments, and 
seventy unmade garments ; besides fuel, provisions, and 
bedding. 

2 See the Tribute Book by Frank B. Goodrich, p. 70; and the History of the Sani- 
tary Commission by Charles G. Stille', p. 39. 



DONATIONS TO THE SOLDIERS. 465 

The whole amount contributed to hospitals during the 
year was as follows : — 

Articles of clothing and bedding, 5,928 ; slippers, 212 pairs ; dressing- 
gowns, 80 ; brandy and wines, 108 bottles ; tea, sugar, and crackers, 132 
pounds ; soap and candles, 69 pounds ; camphor, laudanum, &c., 56 bot- 
tles ; dried fruit, 225 pounds; jellies, 110 quarts; miscellaneous articles, 
2,086. 

The officers of this society for 1863 were, — president, 
Mrs. Daniel H. Sterling ; vice-president, Mrs. Monson Haw- 
ley; secretary, Mrs. L. H. Norton; treasurer, Mrs William 
E. Seeley. 

Early during the winter of 1863-64 the project was started 
by the managers of this society to freight a vessel with vege- 
tables and other provisions, and send a portion to every 
Connecticut regiment on the Atlantic coast that could be 
reached by any means of carriage. Although the time for 
making the collection was limited to ten days, yet the supply 
from donations made from all parts of the State was amply 
sufficient for the purpose. The different railroad-companies, 
the express-company, and the Secretary of the Navy, gave 
free transportation to the supplies. No less than fifteen 
hundred packages, comprising barrels, half-barrels, boxes, &c., 
made up this noble and generous contribution to the sol- 
diers. Portions were transmitted by special agents to the 
First Artillery, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, 
Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, 
and Twenty-first Connecticut Regiments, and to the 1st 
North-Carolina colored reci-iment. 

These supplies filled more than seven hundred barrels; 
and most of them reached their destination before the 1st 
of January. They were, of course, received with great de- 
light in all the winter camps. On New-Year's Day, the ves- 
sel reached Folly Island, and delivered the portion assigned 
to the Seventeenth. The New-Year's present was carted to 
the camp, making eighteen wagon-loads. Many soldiers 
from other States were heard to exclaim, as the good things 
came to our Connecticut boys, " I wish I had enlisted from 
Connecticut ! " This remembrance of the absent was shown 

59 



466 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

with a lavishness that had its parallel but few times during 
the war. 

The Soldiers'-Aid Society of Norwich was organized in 
September, 1861, under a call to furnish woolen stockings 
for the soldiers. 

Donations of yarn were received, and quickly, by willing 
finaers, transformed into warm socks. Considerable finished 
work was also contributed. 

At the suggestion of Gov. Buckingham, an arrangement 
was soon made for supplying regimental hospitals ; and the 
ladies of Norwich assumed the especial care of the Sixth, 
Eighth, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Regiments. They called 
upon the ladies of New-London and Windham Counties 
to co-operate, and were answered promptly and generously. 
In this manner, they labored during the winter. During 
the spring and summer, they were active and efficient in 
responding to all special calls for general hosjDital-supplies 
for all Connecticut soldiers, and indeed for any suffering 
men who wore the army blue. They sent a large number 
of boxes to the Women's Central Relief Association of New 
York, and (piickly gained an enviable name for the choice 
quality of their supplies. 

The three citizens who mainly managed and carried for- 
ward this association were Misses Elizabeth Green, Carrie 
L. Thomas, and Eliza P. Perkins ; and no young women any- 
where gave their time and efforts more devotedly to that 
service. From the time of the organization, October, 1861, to 
January, 1863, the society had received and disbursed, in cash, 
$3,825.46 ; most of it the result of church contributions. 
Besides this, it had received from the city, and from tributary 
societies in New-London and Windham Counties, 30,443 
different articles, and distributed them to various hospitals 
and to the Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-sixth Con- 
necticut Regiments. After 1863, the scope of the society 
was enlarged ; and an immense amount of supplies was sent 
to the front during 1864 and 1865: but no report has 
been received. Throughout the entire war, the patriotic 



SOLDIEES'-AID SOCIETIES. 467 

eastern counties were among the first in their generous 
remembrance of the soldiers in the field. 

In this connection may be mentioned Dr. Claudius B. 
Webster and wife of Norwich, who were active from the 
first in connection with the war. They were at first sani- 
tary agents at Washington ; then the doctor was for a long 
time in charge of the freedmen's camp and hospital there 
when it contained a thousand fugitives ; and was afterwards 
medical superintendent of hospital - trains between Nash- 
ville and Louisville, — always accompanied by his wife, and 
both of them always faithful to their work. 

Miss Elizabeth Green, and her sister Miss A. E. Green, 
employed substitutes, and kept them in the field during the 
entire war, — an example which was followed by many 
other women throughout the State. 

From first to last, Danbury was alert and vigorous in giv- 
ing substantial aid to the soldiers. The Aid Society was 
organized in November, 1861, at the house of Frederick S. 
Wildman. Mrs. Wildman was made president, with Mrs. 
Horace Marshall, vice-president, and Mrs. C. A. Bacon, secre- 
tar}'. Until the last gun was fired, this society held regular 
weekly meetings, and promptly sent its ofierings to the front ; 
the total amountino; to several thousand dollars. Two other 
soldiers'-relief Societies were formed towards the close of 
the war ; one under the auspices of young people, superin- 
tended by Misses Elizabeth and Mary Wildman. The 
aggregate of donations was very large ; and there was 
scarcely a town in the State that furnished more liberally, 
or wrought with greater constancy, than Danbury. 

The Hartford Soldiers'-Aid Association was organized im- 
mediately after the fall of Sumter, in the spring of 1861 ; 
and was one of the earliest in the State. Although in its 
first organization it was designed for the benefit of Con- 
necticut volunteers, it gave two-thirds of its supplies to the 
United-States Sanitary Commission, for all the soldiers of 
the Union. 

Large contributions from the citizens flowed in ; great in- 
terest was manifested in the work of procuring supplies ; 
men gave liberally; and women, with unflagging zeal, 



468 



CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 



prepared and sent. The following is a summary of con- 
tributions forwarded to the front during the first year : — 



Clothing, pieces .... 19,506 
Bedding " .... 6,064 
Handkerchiefs, towels, &c. 10,281 

Lint, boxes 63 

Bandages, barrels .... 41 
Old linen, packages .... 49 
Old cotton " 27 



Books, papers, &c 133 



Medicines, packages 
Dried fruit "... 

Groceries "... 

Jellies, &c., preserves, jars 
Wine, &c., bottles . 
Hospital furniture . 
Miscellaneous .... 



50 

44 
215 
250 
159 
149 
183 



Something was sent to the Fourth, Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, 
Twelfth, and Fourteenth Connecticut Regiments, and after- 
wards to almost all organizations from this State. Clothing 
and food, moreover, was sent to nine United-States hospitals. 

During the first two years' of the existence of this society, 
it disbursed, in cash, more than twenty thousand dollars ; 
and of general supplies, more than sixty thousand dollars' 
worth. A large portion of this was received from auxil- 
iary societies in other towns. Most of the towns and so- 
cieties of Hartford, Tolland, and Litchfield Counties, poured 
generous tributary streams into the parent society. The 
wealthy men of Hartford were active in furnishing a con- 
stant supply of means to carry forward the enterprise. 

The following are the total receipts and disbursements of 
the Hartford Society : — 



RECEIPTS. 

1862 $9,314.34 

1863 13,181.51 

1864 9,889.40 

1865 (to July) . . . 2,956.37 



5,341.62 



EXPENSES. 

1862 ....... $10,139.05 

1863 11,544.13 

1864 11,883.66 

1865 (to July) . . . 2,569.96 



$36,136.80 



The largest donors were Alfred Smith, $1,275.00 ; Colt's 
employes, $820; Calvin Day, $760; H. C. Beckwith, 
$750; Collins Brothers, $700; E. Flower, $600; Mrs. 
Warburton, $515; M. P. Jewell & Son, $500; L. C. Ives, 
475 ; surplus fund of Twenty-second Regiment, $463.64 ; N. 
Kingsbury & Co., $450 ; Thomas Smith, $450; E. N. Kellogg 
& Co., $425; Daniel Phillips, $420. The sum of $2,265.56 
was received from tableaux, and $1,324.25 from New Britain. 



WORK OF THE SOLDIEKS'-AID SOCIETIES. 409 

More than forty gave $200 each ; and all were at the same 
time giving liberally in other directions. 

Virgil Cornish of New Britain, a man admirably qualified 
for the work, contributed his services as special agent of the 
society, and went to the field with large supplies from time 
to time. Mr. E. M, Cushman also wrought faithfully and 
successfully in the same ofiice. In December, 1862, he took 
a hundred barrels, and distributed among our regiments at 
Falmouth. 

A large quantity of supplies was received in Washington, 
and distributed by Mrs. Senator Dixon, Mrs. Secretary 
Welles, and Mrs. Gen. Hawley ; the last of whom gave many 
months exclusively to hospital-work, permanently injuring 
her health. 

Surgeon Mayer of the Sixteenth wrote, on the receipt of 
supplies from Hartford, — 

" Allow me to say, that few other societies in the United 
States are conducted with that energy and success which 
characterize the work of your body ; and no regiments are 
provided for as you pi'ovide for the Connecticut regiments. 
God knows, our poor boys, exposed not only to the attacks 
of the enemy, but to the inroads of every disease, deserve 
richly the care of those for whom they sufier and fight. The 
moral influence of your labor for them is almost as great a 
comfort to them as the good things you send." 

From Jarvis Hospital, Baltimore, a lady who had distrib- 
uted supplies, wrote, — 

" I wish each donor could see the happy faces of the brave 
soldiers as the articles are given to them. I tell them that 
they come from Hartford, Conn. ; that the ladies love the 
cause they are fighting and suffering and dying for, and work 
with willing hands to prepare articles for their comfort. 
The young ladies who prepared those ring-pads and pil- 
lows will never know how much pain they saved the poor 
fellows who are obliged to keep their beds for months. 
Mrs. W. Thompson of East Windsor sent some small pillows. 
A poor fellow died here recently that had used one for a 
number of weeks. His broken-hearted father was with him for 
thirteen days before his death : just before he died, he said, 



470 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

' Father, I want you should carry this pillow to my mother : 
it has been such a comfort to me.' " 

The following was the Board of Managers of the Hartford 
Soldiers'-Aid Society : — 

First Directress, Mrs. Sidney J. Cowea ; Second Directress., Mrs. Ros- 
well Brown ; Third Directress, Miss Esther Pratt. 

Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, Mrs. S. J. Cowen. 

Treasurer, Mr. F. A. Brown. 

Consulting Committee, Mr. E. H. Owen, Mr. Alfred Smith, Mr. W. H. 
D. Calleader, Col. J. B. Bunce, Mr. Virgil Cornish. 

Managers, Mrs. J. H. Ashmead, Mrs. M. H. Buell, Mrs. A. W. But- 
ler, Mrs. G. S. Browne, Mrs. J. E. Coleman, Mrs. S. W. Cowles, Mrs. 
F. Charaberlin, Mrs. N. Colton, Mrs. II. Foster, Mrs. A. F. Hastings, 
Mrs A. G. Hammond, Miss Harrison, Mrs. Theron Ives, Mrs. J. F. Judd, 
Mrs. Pliny Jewell, Mrs. William T. Lee, Mrs. D. Phillips, Mrs. W. W. 
Roberts, Mrs. N. Starkweather, Mrs. AUyu S. Stillman, Mrs. W. T. Strick- 
land, Mrs. C. A. Taft, Miss Mary Talcott, Miss Jane Woodbridge, Mrs. 
Oswin Welles. Mrs. T. J. Work. 

Associate Managers for New Britain, Mrs. Erwin, Mrs. Churchill. 

Mrs. Cowen, sister of Gen. Robert 0. Tyler, impelled by 
the earnestness and energy which distinguish the family, 
was from the first the leading spirit in rendering the move- 
ment effective for good. She gave her entire time and care 
to the work. 

Relief was extended to many soldiers' families at home ; 
and the wives of soldiers were constantly employed in the 
manuflicture of garments. 

At this same time, Hartford was giving largely through 
the Sanitary Association, established under the immediate 
auspices of Mrs. J. Olmstead and Mrs. T. G. Talcott; and 
prosecuting kindred work with great success. 



In the autumn of 1862, the ladies of New Haven came 
spontaneously to the relief of Alfred Walker in the work 
which he had so nobly maintained. After the battle of 
Antietam, they organized the New -Haven Soldiers'-Aid 
Society, to act mainly in direct co-operation with the Sani- 
tary Commission. The corresponding secretary, Mrs. Gen. 
B. S. Roberts, whose enterprise contributed largely to the 
success of the society, entered into correspondence with 
persons in more than a hundred towns ; in most of which 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO SANITAEY COMMISSION. 47 1 

auxiliary societies were formed or renewed, swelling largely 
the list of consignments to Washington. The New-Ha- 
ven Society occupied the governor's and treasurer's rooms, 
except during the sessions of the legislature. Here the 
sanitary sisters wrought in patriotic unison for three years, 
sending on an immense store of clothing and food. Here 
cloth was bought, cut, and much of it delivered to coun- 
try towns to be made ; and, when returned, the garments 
were packed and dispatched to the waiting thousands in 
camp and hospital. 

The society was now authorized to act for the State in be- 
half of the United-States Sanitary Commission, and entered 
heartily upon the work. A hundred and twenty towns be- 
came tributary to this association, through their soldiers'- 
aid societies. Little was sent direct to Connecticut resri- 
ments : the supplies were mostly intrusted to the more 
general distribution of the national society. Of the money 
expended, $2,912.26 came from the " Bazaar," the great San- 
itary Fair held in the city. 

The following was the Board of Managers : — 

First Directress, Mrs. A. N. Skinner ; Second Directress, Miss M. P. 
Twining; Third Directress, Mrs. W. A. Norton. 

Ilanagers, Mrs. William Bacon, Mrs. E. Barrett, Mrs. Bassett, Miss E. 
Bradley, Miss C. L. Brown, Mrs. L. Candee, Mrs. C. Candee, Mrs. R. 
Chapman, Miss R. Chapman, Miss C. Collins, Miss Dickerman, Mrs. 
H. DuBois, Mrs. J. W. Fitch, Miss J. Gibbs, Mrs. J. Gooduough, Mrs. E. 
S. Greeley, Miss M. llillhouse. Miss I. llillhouse. Miss S. B. Harrison, 
Mrs. C. A. Ingersoll, Mrs. B. Jepson, Miss A. Larned, Mrs. H. Mans- 
field, Mrs. H. Plumb, Mrs. D. C. Pratt, Miss P. Peck, Mrs. W. II. Russell, 
Mrs. G. B. Rich, Mrs. J. A. Root, Miss E. Sherman, Mrs. J. Sheldon, 
Miss M. Storer, Miss A. Thacher, Mrs. A. Treat, Mrs. C. R. Waterhouse, 
Mrs. William Winchester, Miss D. Woolsey. * 

Corresponding Secretaries, Mrs. B. S. Roberts, Miss J. W. Skinner. 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. H. T. Blake. 

Treasurer, Mrs. Emily M. Fitch. 

Advisory Committee, Messrs. Alexander C. Twining, Charles Carlisle, 
Thomas R. Ti-owbridge, Alfred Walker, Stephen D. Pardee, and Dr. 
Moses C. White. 

Among the larger sources of supply in 1863, Mrs. Norton 
obtained $517, by tableaux ; Professor and Mrs. E. E. Salis- 
bury gave $278 ; H. Sanford and W. W. Boardman, $125 
each ; the town of Seymour gave $200 ; Woodbury $119 ; 
Stamford, $229. In 1864, Professor and Mrs. E. E. Salisbury 



472 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

gave $155; H. Sanford |150; town of Kidgefield, $470; 
town of Seymour, $463.70 ; Cheshire, $434,01 ; Watertowri, 
$209; Birmmgham, $200 ; Naugatuck, $172.78; Guilford, 
$167.25; Woodbridge, $149.68; Meriden, $867; New Mil- 
ford, $321.88; Litchfield, $176.12. In 1865, there was re- 
ceived from lecture and concert by J. Sheldon, Esq., $361.78 ; 
H. Sanford, $150 ; W. W. Boardman, $100 ; Professor and Mrs. 
Salisbury, $135 ; from Waterbury, $1,007.50; from Meriden, 
$1,224.50 ; from Clinton, $350 ; Stamford, $240 ; Woodbury, 
$147.20; New Milford, $206. Other towns and individuals 
gave a large aggregate in smaller sums. 

On Thanksgiving Day, 1864, with final victory close at 
hand, the United-States Sanitary Commission sent to the 
soldiers in the field a dinner, consisting, among other things, 
of six hundred tons of turkeys, in number about two hun- 
dred thousand. Connecticut furnished her full share of these. 
For one day at least, in camp and field and hospital, the 
quiet bird, which plain Ben Franklin wished to see inscribed 
upon an armorial field, stood forth supreme, and effectually 
superseded the proud " bird of freedom." 

The First Connecticut Cavalry, in West Virginia, was 
beyond reach of the timid fowl in November, but received a 
New-Year's dinner from the New-Haven Society. Chaplain 
Holmes acknowledged it as follows : — 

Camp of First Connecticut Cavalry, 

Neae Winchester, Va., Jan. 3, 1865. 

Mrs. B. S. Roberts, Soldiers'-Aid Society, New Haven. 

Madam, — You will be glad to know that the many good things con- 
tribute!^ by our friends in New Haven reached here safely, and were a very 
considerable contribution to the grand dinner which our regiment enjoyed 
yesterday afternoon. Evei;y thing came in good condition, — thanks to 
excellent cooking and excellent packing. Our tables, spread upon the snow, 
were covered with seventy-eight turkeys, one hundred and twenty-five chick- 
ens, and with any quantity of mince-pies, cakes, cheese, apples, pickles, pre- 
serves, &c., — an abundant supply not only for the immediate occasion, but 
for one or two meals to-day. If you could have heard the " Three cheers 
for the friends at home ! " and the many expressions of delight at the practical 
assurances afforded, that, in all the holiday enjoyment, the soldier was not 
^ forgotten, you would have been fully repaid for the trouble which our en- 
joyment has cost you. With the help of your contribution of gloves and 
mittens, I was enabled to present to the regiment about three hundred and 
fifty pairs, — a very acceptable New- Year's gift to men who had for two cold 
months done, bare handed, the hardest of cavalry-work. . . . 



WORK OF THE NEW-HAVEN SOCIETY. 473 

Be good enough to accept our hearty acknowledgment to yourself and 
ladies of your association, believing me, in behalf of the command, 
Very respectfully and gratefully, • 

Theodore J. Holmes, 
Chaplain First Connecticut Cavalry. 

The New-Haven Society received and disbursed, between 
Nov. 1, 1862, and Nov. 18, 1865, the sum of $27,304.96. 
The following table shows the details of the work : — 

60 



474 



CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 



O 



O 

o 

H 
I— I 

O 



M 

EH 

Ph 
O 



o 



g 

Q 
<5 

H 

p-l 

CO 

O 
K 

CO g 



W 2 -^ 









W O 



H 


rH 


Pi 


« 


< 


<5 


Fh 


H 


O 


Iz; 


M 


<1 


i-q 




g 


CO 




u 


o 


W 



C<2 K 

H 
O 



Denomination. 


9 
p 

B 
1" 


Dried Apples (bbls.). 


36 


Other dried Fruit (bbls. ) . 


4 
323 lbs 


Blackberry and other 
Cordials (gals.). 


251 


Wine and Spirits (gals. ) . 346 


Bay Rum and Cologne 

(bottles). 188 


Jellies and Jam (jars). 


1686 
110 lbs 


Farinaceous Food (lbs.). 


1,346 


Crackers (bbls.j. 


8 


Tea and Coffee (lbs.). 


148 


Broma, Cocoa, &c. 
(lbs.). 


260 


Sugar (lbs.). 


266 


Spices (lbs.). | 51 


Fresh Fruits (bbls.). | 8 


Tomatoes and Fruits 
(cans). 


141 


Pickles (gals.). | 960 


Lemons (boxes). 17 


Condensed Milk (cans). 


290 


Catsup (gals.). 


22i 


Tamarinds (tubs). 


4 


Ginger (jars). 


6 


Cider (bbls.). 


6 


Vinegar (bbls.). 


6 


Cheeses. 


16 


Onions (bunches). 


810 


Beets. 


880 


Squashes. 


150 


Vegetables (bbls.). 


453 


Groceries in packages. 


556 


Miscellanies — Fggs, 
Butter, Cookies, Soap, 
&c., &c. 


470 



Denomination. 


a 
p 

B 


tj, . . ( 5,291 Flannel. 
Shirts -j 4^723 Cotton. 


10,014 


Drawers ^4,207 Flannel 
} 1,765 Cotton. 


5,972 


Dressing-gowns. 


1,122 


Hdkfs. and Napkins. 


15,098 


Socks (prs.). 


10,755 


Mittens (prs.). 


1,412 


Slippers (prs.). 


682 


Towels. 


9,291 


Sheets. 


6,360 


Pillow-cases. 


4,449 


Quilts. 


2,400 


Blankets. 


787 


Pillows. 


3,333 


Pads and Cushions. 


2,750 


Bed and pillow sacks. 


203 


Neck- ties. 


300 


Fans. 


250 


Second-hand Garments. 


261 


Arm-slings. 


261 


Abdominal Supporters. 


219 


Needle-books and Com- 
fort-bags. 


700 


Bandages (bbls.). 


31 


Rags (bbls.). 


53 


Lint (bbls.). 


5 


Crutches (prs.). 


36 


Mosquito Netting (yds.). 


173 


Books. 


2,156 


Magazines. 


3, .300 


Miscellaneous Articles. 


1,639 


Cases (contents un- 
known). 


54 




CHAPTER XXIX. 

Harland's Brigade near Portsmouth. — More Digging. — A Handsome Camp. — The 
Twenty-first on Provost-Duty in Portsmouth and Norfolk. — Raid through Dismal 
Swamp. — The Eleventh at Gloucester Point. — Twenty-first at Newport News. — 
An Expedition up the James. — Fifteenth and Sixteenth go to North Carolina.— 
"Accidental" Fire. — Twenty-first at Newport Barracks and Newberne. — Life at 
Plymouth. —Battle and Capture by the Rebels. — Gen. Peck's Order. 

ARLAND'S brigade, the only brigade of Con- 
necticut regiments in the service, remained 
intact near Portsmouth during all the hot sum- 
mer months of 1863 ; the thermometer some- 
tiries ranging a hundred and ten degrees in the 
shade. MaUb} rce-cream saloon in Norfolk was a popular 
resort. 

The brigade was located at intervals on a military high- 
way ding along and within the line of fortifications 
from the Suffolk to the Elizabeth-city Roads, which roads 
converge towards Portsmouth. The distance to Portsmouth 
varied from two and a half to four miles. 

The officers of the brigade were : Brig.-Gen. Edward Har- 
land of Norwich, in command ; Capt. H. P. Gates of the 
Eighth (Norwich), A. A. G. ; Lieut. C. J. Arms of the Six- 
teenth (Norwich), A. D. C. ; Lieut. Alfred M. Goddard of the 
Eighth (Norwich), A. D. C. ; Lieut. N. P. Ives, of the Eighth 
(Meriden), Brigade Commissary; Lieut. Stuart Barnes of the 
Fifteenth (Fair Haven), Brigade Q. M. ; Surgeon Melancthon 
Storrs of the Eighth (Hartford), Brigade Surgeon. 

The regiments were kept almost constantly at work felling 
trees, digging trenches, and throwing up breastworks, with 
the accompanying picket-duty. The position in front of the 
Eleventh and Sixteenth was named Fort Griswold, after 

475 



476 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the brave captain, killed at Antietam ; and was surrounded 
by a flat, sandy plain, covered with a low stretch of pine and 
gum trees. The toil on the fortifications served as a con- 
ductor to carry off the fire of patriotism, and tended to 
diminish the soldierly spirit; but they had an occasional 
review and dress-parade with the accompaniment of a 
fine brigade band, when the weather was fair, which kept 
the military spark from becoming quite extinct, and re- 
minded the poor fellows, weary with chopping trees, rolling 
logs, and throwing shovelful after shovelful of dirt all day, 
that they belonged to the noble profession of arms. The 
men were required to be neat and cleanly in their persons 
and accouterments. 

During the warm weather, much sickness prevailed, espe- 
cially diarrhoea, diphtheria, and swamp fever; and there 
were some deaths from malarious diseases.^ All the sur- 
geons were faithful ; and, as the fall and winter months 
approached, health rapidly improved. The efficiency of 
Surgeon Dwight Satterlee of Ledyard was also especially 
mentioned ; and by the 1st of October there were only two 
members of the Eleventh in the hospital Surgeon Sat- 
terlee was afterwards promoted to be major of th*:^ regiment, 
— the only case of the kind in the regiments, | , : this 
State. 

A member ^ of the Sixteenth wrote, " We have of late 
had quite a number of ladies visiting us, and the effect on 
our men has been very good. Whereas you formerly could 
hear an oath now and then from an aggravated individual, 
now no such imprecations sully the air. Let me here men- 
tion the incalculable services rendered to our sick by Mrs. 
Burnham, mother of Lieut.-Col. John H. Burnham, now com- 
manding the regiment. Almost seventy years old, this grand 
old lady displays a vigor and tenderness, a discrimination and 
practical kindness, in her attentions to the sick, that have 
gone far to help us through a dreadful epidemic of diphthe- 
ria and of remittent fever, with the loss of only three men. 
She is constantly engaged in preparing those nice • home tit- 

1 Sergeant William H Hubbard of Guilford died in September. He was a well-edu- 
cated younj^ man ; moral and circumspect in his life, and happy in the hour of his sacrifice. 
"^ Surgeon Nathan Mayer. 



''-ci. 



476 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 



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FINE CONDITION OF THE TWENTY -FIRST. 477 

bits SO dear to the sick soldiers. Not satisfied with prepar- 
ing them, she administers them, talking all the time to the 
delio-hted men as onlv a o^reat, srood woman of that ag;e and 
such motherly feelings can talk." 

Surgeon Mayer, the successor of Dr. Abner S. Warner of 
Wethersfield, wrote of this time, " Gradually, the finest 
camp, but one, which it has been my fortune to see, grew 
up. The most perfect order, the most civihzed condition, 
prevailed. The tents were neatly and prettily furnished, as 
our Connecticut country homes are, and the ground alwaj^s 
in beautiful condition. As winter approached, the men built 
a hospital of logs, — log-houses for the officers, log kitchens 
and eating-saloons for the companies. Our pioneers erected 
a perfect village. 

"Buring all these weeks, the military standing of the regi- 
ment rose perceptibly. There was not a cleaner, prompter, 
more loyal, reliable, and honest regiment in the service. No 
brighter arms, no quicker evolutions, no greater perfection 
in drill, were to be found anywhere." 

The Twenty-first had been assigned to provost-duty in 
Portsmouth, — rather more agreeable service. Major Hiram 
B. Crosby was appointed provost-marshal. Col. Button, hav- 
ino' been released from the command of the 3d Brig^ade, agi;ain 
assumed command of the regiment. "Lieut-Col. Thomas 
F. Burpee, who had been absent several weeks, returned 
with restored health, and entered upon his duties with his 
usual energy, and did much toward bringing the regiment 
up to a high standard of excellence and perfection." ^ 

In September, the regiment was inspected by Col. Dono- 
hoe of a New- York regiment, from whose report the follow- 
ing is an extract : — 

" The clothing of the men is in very fine order ; coats fit 
well, and are well taken care of I believe that the general 
appearance of the regiment is equal, if not superior, to any 
that I have ever inspected. The officers appear to good 
advantao-e; and the non-commissioned officers deserve credit 
for their neat appearance and soldierly bearing. In conclu- 
sion, I can safely say, that the condition and general appear- 

3 Letter of Capt. Delos D. Brown of Chatham. 



478 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

ance of the regiment is as fine as any I ever had the honor 
to inspect ; and close observation will allow me to predict 
that the Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteers can be relied 
upon in whatever position they may be placed." 

During September, a movement into Secessia was planned ; 
and on the 20th, five companies of the Fifteenth — D, E, G, 
H, and K — started on boats along the canal straight south 
through Dismal Swamp, halting at South Mills, ten miles be- 
low the State line in North Carolina. Lieut.-Col. Tolles was 
in command of the detachment. On Oct. 12, the other 
five companies, with six companies of the Eighth, left camp 
at Portsmouth, and marched to Deep Creek, being there 
joined by a part of a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment. They 
moved on to South Mills next day; were there joined by 
three of the other companies of the Fifteenth ; and pilissed 
on to surprise, and, if possible, capture, a camp of " conscript- 
catchers" reported to be quartered in the swamp. Before 
arriving at the place, the infantry halted, while the cavalry 
and two mounted companies of the Eighth rode down on the 
camp of the bushwhackers ; but they were in the woods be- 
yond reach. The Union forces returned next day with nine 
prisoners, and a quantity of ducks, geese, turkeys, and other 
plunder. The expedition was under Col. Upham of the Fif- 
teenth; Capt. Hoy t of the Eighth commanding the battalion 
of infantry. 

As early as December of 1862, Lieut. John H. Burnham, 
the skillful and efficient adjutant of the Sixteenth, was 
promoted to be lieutenant-colonel ; superseding eight or ten 
officers who ranked him. The choice had already proved a 
most wise one. He had done much to brino; the recjiment to 
a high state of discipline, and to make the men soldiers in 
spirit, appearance, and action. An officer^ wrote, "He has, 
with little interruption, commanded the regiment since last 
January, and is regarded with as much love as can find room 
beside the respect due to a regimental commander." Major 
John E. Ward of Norwich had now become colonel of the 
Eighth, and Capt. Martin B. Smith of Waterbury lieutenant- 
colonel ; Capt. Henry M. Hoyt of Bridgeport command- 

* Surgeon Mayer. 



THE ELEVENTH AT FOET KEYES. 479 

ing the regiment in the absence of both. Capt. Charles 
L. Upham of Mericlen had been promoted to be heutenant- 
colonel, and then transferred to be colonel, of the Fifteenth. 

Our regiments seemed to have won the good opinion of 
the hostile neighborhood, as the Old Dominion, a journal 
published at Portsmouth, said, — 

" The gallant little State of Connecticut is well represented 
in this vicinity among the soldierj^; and, like brave men, 
thej know how to conduct themselves in the busy city and 
on guard-duty, as well as on the field of strife. This has 
been exemplified in the orderly conduct which has uniformly 
characterized the members in our midst. We have heard of 
not a single case of rowdyism or wanton interference with 
private rights since they have been stationed in our vicinity; 
but everywhere we hear encomiums of praise bestowed 
upon them for the rectitude of their conduct and the excel- 
lent morals which they exhibit." 

This good feeling was evidently mutual ; for Capt. Delos D. 
Brown of the Twenty-first, from East Hampton, wrote at the 
time, "Our stay in Portsmouth was characterized by a deep 
feeling of friendship, and a unitj^ of sentiment and action be- 
tween ourselves and many of the generous citizens of the 
place, which could but inspire the highest regard, and attach 
us strongly to the hospitable inhabitants of this portion of 
the Old Dominion. We shall ever cherish the remembrances 
of the associations formed there, as among the most happy 
and pleasant of our service." 

On Sept. 29, the regiment was ordered across the Eliza- 
beth River to Norfolk, where labor was more severe ; but 
municipal contact was still agreeable. 

The Eleventh, about the first of October, was ordered to 
Gloucester Point, opposite Yorktown, for a raid into Matthews 
County; but only Lieut. Krazynski (of Danbury), with twen- 
ty-five sharpshooters, participated. The regiment refitted 
and cleansed Fort Keyes, a rusty old reminiscence of McClel- 
lan, and made it healthful and neat. The uniforms, which 
the men wore from Connecticut two years before, were 
brushed to tidiness ; and the tattered tents were patched and 
reefed into winter-quarters. The place was not gay. The 



480 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

noble York River here narrows from two miles to one ; and 
a crazy, decrepit ferry-boat hitched across the river a few- 
times a day. The country round about was fertile, but aban- 
doned. The new-born national freedmen were huddled in a 
neighborhood known as " Slab Richmond," — not a lively spot 
to hibernate ; but the soldiers of the Eleventh had long be- 
fore learned not to be particular. They established a read- 
ing-room, and put in attractive order the books and journals 
from home. 

On Dec. 16, there was a terrible fire, followed by ex- 
plosions, at Yorktown. The fire began early in the even- 
ing, and burned its way to the forts. Chaplain Henry S. 
De Forest wrote, — 

" A premonitory flash was followed by bursting shell. The 
batteries then opened, and were kept playing till the fires 
were quenched by a rain-storm the next day. Like some 
grand Fourth-of-July display, these loaded sky-rockets cleaved 
the air, burning often in colored light, and tracing curves, 
we thought perhaps of death, certainly of beauty. Soon 
followed the first two of the four great explosions. A column 
of fire and smoke mounted heavenward, wonderful in size 
and grandeur. It rolled its folds, dark yet luminous, side- 
wards and upwards, till it seemed to half reach the clouds 
starting from its base ; and, using this as the background of 
the scene, scores of shells were tracing their terrible parabo- 
las in lines of fire. They had not reached the earth, when 
a second explosion followed, brighter and grander than the 
first. It was a volcano-scene such as is seldom witnessed by 
man. As the smoke rolled away, fire darted here and there, 
like lightning running on the ground. It was the bursting 
of what the explosion had scattered far and wide : and so the 
lesser displays went on ; till at midnight, and especially at 
four o'clock, an earthquake-shock was repeated, scattering 
a brick building to the four winds. Two of the regiment — 
Charles H. Cady of Hampton and Adelbert Spencer of Wood- 
stock — were stationed as a guard, almost within scorching 
distance of the fire. They were not relieved ; and, amid show- 
ers of brick and bursting bombs from the several explosions 
of that long night, they stood at their post, Romans in mod- 
ern times." 



"ACCIDENTAL" FIRE IN THE CAMP. 481 

On Dec. 10, the Twenty-first, much to its regret, was re- 
lieved at Norfolk by a Massachusetts regiment, and ordered 
to Newport News. It arrived there the same day, and en- 
camped within a few rods of its camp of a year before. Here 
the men devoted themselves to drill, reading, games, music, 
and, later, to discussing the merits of well-packed boxes from 
home. Capt. D. D. Brown wrote of this, " We have lately 
been the recipients of a schooner-load of good things from 
the Soldiers'-Aid Society at Bridgeport, Conn., and others, who 
may rest assured that we highly appreciate their many kind- 
nesses ; and the more so, from the fact that they came to us 
from a portion of the State from which few if any of our 
men came, and where the regiment must be but little 
known." 

Recruits from home, mostly substitutes, now came to all 
the regiments, and were closely guarded and industriousl}' 
drilled. 

Left alone at Gettysville, as the camp near Portsmouth 
was now called, after Gen. Getty, the Fifteenth and Sixteenth 
Connecticut began to think of active service again. On the 
morning of Jan. 21, 1864, both regiments broke camp, to em- 
bark on two steamers for Newberne, N.C. There was great 
consternation and grief wdien the order came to quit the fine 
slat and log houses, especially in a line of pretty cottages 
christened "Matrimony Row," where some officers resided 
with their wives. About three thousand dollars had been 
expended in the construction of the comfortable village. 

It being suspected that the division-general in command, 
Gen. Heckman, had employed this finesse in order to secure 
the admirable quarters for his own former regiment, the men 
set fire to their camp on evacuating it ; or, as Surgeon Mayer 
more circuitously wrote, " Some rubbish accidentally caught 
fire, and spread instantly to the buildings. Gorgeous tongues 
of flame leaped up with a peculiar roar; while the unfortu- 
nate possessors of the property', with pious resignation in the 
Lord's will, stood by, and chatted and smiled, and laughed 
and danced. By a like unaccountable accident, the officers 
were out of wood in the evening ; and, no other being at 
hand, the lofty flagstaff was hewed down to supply them. A 

61 



482 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

high wind threw down every chimney, and spread devasta- 
tion over the land. Thus, when the golden sun of Jan. 21 
beamed down on the world, the camp of the Sixteenth Con- 
necticut Volunteers was a desert as flat as my grandfather's 
bald pate. Flat voluntas tua ! " 

Transports bore the regiments down the coast. In an 
exclamatory style wrote an officer ^ of the trip, — 

" We arrive at Morehead City ; one hotel, which is not 
kept, and five houses not inhabited ; go by rail to Newberne, 

— sweet place, elms enough to furnish a second New Haven, 
everybody in a fever of friendliness towards us, nothing else 
to do ; we re-embark for Plymouth ; down the Neuse, across 
Pamlico Sound to Roanoke, along Albemarle Sound into the 
Roanoke River ; weather glorious ; water quiet ; high enjoy- 
ment on the voyage ; lots of fan ; reach Plymouth towards 
night ; set our brass bands blowing ; astonish the country ; 
air balmy and warm as in spring. 

" Plymouth is a quiet little town ; has been burnt down to 
some extent by the rebs ; rebs driven back ; excellent fortifi- 
cations ; well guarded ; Gen. Henry W. Wessels in command, 

— a Connecticut man ; belongs to the regular army, in which 
he is a lieutenant-colonel ; good, kind old gentleman, with 
high military knowledge ; makes semi-weekly irruptions in 
the enemy's country, burning and carrying off the stores of 
ham, cotton, and beef which they accumulate in this vicinity 
for the rebel government. Our men have been on two of 
these expeditions ; carried off some bales of cotton, and de- 
stroyed many ; destroyed also several hundred thousand dol- 
lars' worth of hams, — all for Uncle Sam; carried off sundry 
lots of poultry and eggs, — all for themselves ; like to go ex- 
ceedingly." 

Gen. Harland being detailed to serve on a military com- 
mission. Col. Beach commanded the brigade. Lieut.-Col. 
Burnham being absent, Capt. Thomas F. Burke commanded 
the Sixteenth. Major Henry L. Pasco and Capt. Edward H. 
Mix of Terryville had been detained at Portsmouth to 
explain the accident that happened to the camp of the Con- 
necticut brisiade. 

^ Surgeon Mayer. 



THE TWENTY-FIEST AT NEWPORT BARRACKS. 483 

In the mean time, the Twenty-first had not been' as idle 
as they anticipated. On Sunday, Jan. 25, an expedition, 
consisting of four gunboats, thirty of the harbor police, and 
a hundred and fifty men of the Twenty-first Connecticut, 
under Capt. James F. Brown of North Stonington (the whole 
under command of Gen. Graham), left Old Point for a recon- 
noissance up the James. They proceeded until within a 
short distance of Fort Powhattan, near the mouth of the 
Chickahominy, at a place called the Brandon Farm. Here 
the detachment of the Twenty-first was landed, and made 
a reconnoissance back into the country about two miles, where 
they surprised and captured a signal station with all its ap- 
purtenances, secret messages, and letters ; one of the latter 
indicating the whereabouts of a large amount of stores about 
to be removed to Eichmond. 

Capt. Brown made a raid upon the farm, captured the offi- 
cer in charge, and destroyed a very large quantity of stores 
of bacon, flour, corn, oats, and hay, the value of which was 
said to be estimated by the rebels at from two hundred and 
fifty thousand to three hundred thousand dollars. The 
detachment now returned to the river, and found that one 
of the gunboats had captured a schooner laden with tobacco, 
and an unfreighted sloop. Ten horses and twenty prison- 
ers were also taken. 

Early in February, the Twenty-first went from Newport 
News to Morehead City by water, thence straight towards 
Newberne. Previously to their arrival, Newport Barracks, 
ten miles from Morehead City, had been captured by the 
rebels, routing the 9th Vermont. The bridges had been 
burned in the flight. The Twenty-first with the troops that 
had been ejected, all under Col. Dutton, now marched back on 
the barracks, resolved to fight for possession ; but the rebels 
had decamped most willingly with what plunder they could 
carry away. The barracks were a pile of smoking ruins. 

They encamped for the night near the place; and Col. 
Dutton, being recalled to tlie city, left the command to Col. 
Ptipley of the 9th Vermont. Next morning, this vigilant 
ofiicer led his troops back towards Morehead City, having 
" discovered the enemy in front in large force." At the ur- 



484 CONNECTICUT DFEING THE EEBELLION". 

gent request of Lieut.-Col. Burpee of the Twenty-first, a stand 
was made at Carolina City, only five miles to the rear ; and 
in the afternoon a company of the regiment was sent up to 
reconnoiter. They were directed to advance slowly, and 
with great caution. "They proceeded cautiously along until 
they arrived at Newport, when they were surprised by As- 
sistant Surgeon Charles Tennant, of the Twenty-first, who, 
being asleep when the forces left to fall back on the city, 
had, upon awakening and finding himself alone, concluded to 
remain in possession of the place."® 

As soon as the company arrived. Surgeon Tennant sent 
back a dispatch, stating that he had held the place twenty- 
four hours, and thought that he shoisld be able to do so 
until re-inforcements arrived. Col. Ripley, feehng the ludi- 
crousness of his position, moved his force up with all speed 
on the cars. 

« Arriving at Newport, we were received by the surgeon 
and the discovering party ; and a salute of three guns was 
fired from a cannon they had found, and succeeded in remov- 
ing the spike from, and mounting on an old pair of wheels. 
They reported having seen no enemy ; and we reported the 
same. So we took a little something to steady our nerves, 
and again went on picket, resolved to make a desperate 
stand if we were attacked and were not ordered back ; and 
we didJ"^ 

Feb. 12, the Twenty-first proceeded to Newberne; and 
Col. Button was chief-of-stafF to Gen. Peck. 

During February, 1864, the regiments remained at Ply- 
mouth, employed mainly in drills, inspections, &c. An of- 
ficer,^ who evidently had not the fear of Gen. Casey before 
his eyes, thus facetiously described some of the efforts at mili- 
tary display : — 

"First of all, regimental guard-mounting. The band 
posts itself in the very center of an open space, and blows 
with might and main. Thereupon the details for guard 
from the various companies make their appearance, with 
gloves on their fingers, and, I had almost said, " bells on 
their toes ; " their accouterments all bright and brassy, and 

^ Letter of Capt. D. D. Brown. "^ Ibid. * Surgeon Mayer. 



ONE OF GEK PECK'S SCARES. 485 

their guns polished to the highest point of brilliancy. They 
are conducted by the orderly sergeants, who, bravely decked 
out with sash and chevrons, place them on a line with the 
music, and then elevate their hangers in the same manner 
that Edgardo does his dagger in the last act of Lucia, but 
in a reverse position, and not with any suicidal intentions. 
This is the salute. All being in line, the music stops; and the 
adjutant, who is fastened to an immense sword, which fate 
and a strong belt compel him to drag along, advances to the 
front, followed by the officers commanding the guard, a 
sergeant, corporal, and private. They are solemnly com- 
manded to 'bout face,' and to 'make their guard, march! ' 
all of which they seem to accomplish by walking off in 
single file, and hiding themselves behind the ranks. 

" IJpon this, follows the ' inspection of arms.' The band 
gives a melancholy tune ; and the officers keep time by rat- 
tling the ramrods of the arms to be inspected in the barrels 
of the guns. Now, two individuals, with scarlet sashes 
draped around their bosoms much in the way little girls 
wear their pink ribbons at parties, post themselves in front 
of the guard. They are the old and new officers of the day. 
The troops beat off {vitlgo, the musicians march up and 
down, playing a tune) ; the guard presents arms ; one of the 
red-sashed individuals raises his cap ; the adjutant turns 
about several times; and then — all go home to breakfast. 
This is excessively imposing when you see it every morn- 
ing, and have got used to it." 

Suddenly came the report of a rebel advance on New- 
berne ; and the Fifteenth went up on the Thomas Collyer, 
Feb. 3, to assist in the defense. In a few weeks, the 
Sixteenth was also called, and was soon upon a transport 
in the Neuse. It was " only one of Gen. Peck's scares ;" but 
the regiment disembarked, and went into barracks beside 
the Fifteenth, — the same camp formerly occupied by the 
Tenth. Here Major Pasco found the regiment (having 
convinced Gen. Butler of the innocence of his men), and 
assumed command. 

Capt. Mix, in attempting to get to Newberne, took a small 
schooner for Roanoke Island. While in Pamlico Sound, a 



486 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

squall struck the schooner ; and the boom knocked Capt. 
Mix overboard, as he sat smoking on deck. A boat was 
instantly lowered ; but, when within twenty-five feet, the 
unfortunate man sank to rise no more. He was a good swim- 
mer but was encumbered with a heavy overcoat and large 
boots. Edward H. Mix had been a lieutenant in the First 
Reo-iment, and was the last of the original captains of the 
Sixteenth. He was tall ; and his pale complexion, large 
dark eyes, and black mustache, gave him a striking appear- 
ance. He was genial in manners, of average general knowl- 
edge, and well versed in tactics and military discipline. He 
was much regretted by the regiment. 

On March 20, the Sixteenth returned to Plymouth. The 
transport encountered a very severe storm opposite Roanoke 
Island, and became disabled. It was feared she would go 
to pieces ; but the men, after suffering greatly from cold 
and hunger, were finally taken off by the steamer Gen. 
Berry, and carried to their destination. It would have 
been better for them if they had been wrecked upon the 
island. 

Plymouth lies on the south side of the Roanoke River, 
eight miles from Albemarle Sound, and was once a place of 
some importance, deg-ling largely in " tar, pitch, turpentine, 
and lumber." Besides the Sixteenth, the garrison now con- 
sisted of a New- York regiment, two Pennsylvania regiments, 
a light battery, and two companies of heavy artillery ; the 
whole in command of Gen. Henry W. Wessells, a brave and 
judicious officer of the regular army from Connecticut. 
There were Forts Gray and Williams, with Compher and 
Coneby Redoubts, and a long line of connecting breastworks. 
Co-operating was a fleet of five gunboats. 

By the middle of April, the rebels, under Gen. Hoke, 
began to gather in the woods south and west of the town. 
Sunday, the 17th, was a lovely day ; and, at the morning 
roll-call, sixteen hundred men reported for duty. The men 
listened to preaching at the various places of worship. Just 
at the close of the services, the cavalry pickets came dash- 
ing into town, and reported the rebels near. Artillery and 
cavalry were sent out to ascertain the strength of the enemy. 



EEBEL ATTACK OiNT PLYMOUTH. 487 

They soon returned, after a short engagement with a superior 
force, and reported three brigades of rebel infantry, with 
artillery and cavalry in proportion, — in all not less than 
ten thousand men. 

An attack was immediately made by the rebels upon Fort 
Gray, a mile above the town, on the river ; and a company 
of the Sixteenth, in command of Lieut. B. F. Blakeslee of 
Hartford, was driven into Compher's Redoubt. The Six- 
teenth was divided ; one wing being east, and the other west, 
of Fort Williams, occupying the center of the main works. 
On the following morning, the assault was made with energy 
along the whole line, but upon the left flank with heavy 
columns. About seven o'clock, Capt. Burke came in from the 
skirmish line, wounded in the shoulder. The sieo-e-orans of 
the enemy approached, and there was heavy firing at inter- 
vals throughout the day. Soon the beautiful camp was 
riddled, and the fort upon the left almost silenced. 

Lieut.-Col. Burnham ordered the reo:imental band to the 
breastworks ; and the spirit-stirring strains of national airs 
roused the blood of the soldiers, and imparted to them fresh 
energy. The fight was vigorously renewed, and the enemy 
fell back to develop other resources. 

Next day, the cannonading began with energy, and again 
the lines closed sternly in. The rebels had now occupied 
Fort Gray and a detached redoubt ; and the mailed ram 
Albemarle had ran through a bayou into the river below 
the town, sunk one of our gunboats, and driven off the rest. 
Nights were sleepless ; for all hands were required at the 
breastworks. 

Before daybreak on the fourth morning of the siege, the 
enemy, under cover of their guns, advanced up the Colum- 
bia Road with a wild yell, and charged upon the two re- 
doubts that defended the Union position on the east side 
of the town. A company of the 2d Massachusetts Artil- 
lery, which held the fort on that side, refused to fire a shot 
in opposition to the enemy, for fear of drawing the fire of 
the ram. The principal opposition made there was made 
by Col. Frank Beach of the Sixteenth, who had two small 
Napoleon guns bearing on the road, and who gave the 



488 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

enemy grape and canister until tliey were within a hundred 
paces of his guns. The number of their wounded on that 
spot, the horrible nature of the wounds inflicted, and the 
repeated wavering of their column, testify to the efficiency 
of his resistance, which, but for the bad management of the 
Massachusetts battery, would have kept the enemy at bay. 

The rebels also pressed in overwhelming numbers, regi- 
ment after regiment, in upon the west. An officer came 
up, bearing a Hag of truce and a demand for immediate sur- 
render. Gen. Wessells promptly refused. Again the rebels 
pressed in, surrounding Fort Williams, pouring in a terrible 
lire upon the detached portions of the Sixteenth, which re- 
turned the concentrated fire as well as it could. The battle 
was renewed along the whole line, but with abated vigor on 
our part ; and, as resistance became less and less effective, 
the remainder of the force outside Fort Williams was sur- 
rendered. The fort held out but a short time : the enemy 
was around it with a force of fifty to one. Company H of 
the Sixteenth, under Capt. Joseph H. Barnum of Hartford, 
had been sent to Roanoke Island as an escort for Union refu- 
gees, and escaped capture with the regiment. 

Major-Gen. John J. Peck, in command of the department, 
with headquarters at Newberne, on April 21 issued the 
foUowins: : — 

"■ TVitli the deepest sorrow, the commanding general announces the fall 
of Plymouth, N.C., and the capture of its gallant commander, Brig.-Gen. 
n. W. Wessells, and his command. This result, however, did not obtain 
until after the most determined resistance had been made. Five times the 
enemy stormed our lines, and as many was repulsed with great slaughter. 
For their noble defense, the gallant Gen. Wessells and his brave band 
deserve the warmest thanks of the country ; while all will sympathize with 
them in their misfortune." 

It might be objected that tliis is slightly turgid ; but it is 
enough to say that the subjects of the eulogy did not at all 
reciprocate the implied admiration. In fact, since the dig- 
ging and fortifying at Suffolk, upon a plan as incoherent as 
the kite projects of Mr. Dick, the soldiers had come to regard 
Gen. Peck as a rather inoffensive old gentleman. 



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CHAPTER XXX. 

The First Cavalry Battalion. —Demoralization. — Increased to a Regiment. — Fight in 
Virginia. — At Baltimore. — To the Field. — The Eighteenth Connecticut. —At 
Martinsburg. — Gen. Milroy on Winchester. — Prison-Life. — Officers at Libby. — 
Diversions. — To Macon. — Escapes. — An Interesting Adventure. 

FTER the battle of Cedar Mountain, in 1862, 
the Connecticut cavahy battaUon crossed the 
battle-field, and took part in the pursuit of the 
enemy to Eobinson River. From that time, 
Aug. 9, the battalion was for two weeks face to 
face with the enemy, protecting the Union flanks and rear; 
and was then transferred to Steinway's cavalry-brigade, and 
chiefly engaged in doing provost-duty until the end of Pope's 
retreat. Chaplain Edwin Warriner writes of that time, — 

"Some of the most efiicient scouts in that part of the 
army were men from this battalion. Corporal John A. 
Peters of Cheshire, in the disguise of an old woman, and 
Corporal Charles H. Marsh of New Milford, as one of Jack- 
son's men, passed through the thrilling adventures of Union 
spies. For months. Marsh was unheard of among us, and at 
last was reported hung at Aldie as a spy. Yet other months 
passed away, and he surprised us by appearing in Baltimore 
as a paroled prisoner from Richmond. He saved his life by 
the most consummate stratagem. He was lying in a Con- 
federate hospital, expecting daily to receive his sentence. 
Beside him lay a fellow-prisoner who was about to die. 
The surgeon who attended upon both these men was him- 
self a Union prisoner ; and, by his assistance, the two sick 
prisoners exchanged beds and names so secretly as to make 
it appear that Marsh died and was buried, and the other sol- 
dier lived, and was paroled." 

62 489 



490 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLIOK 

At the second battle of Bull Run, Sergeant Leonard P. 
Goodwin of Company A (from Plymouth) was detailed with 
a squad of men as a body-guard to Gen. Schenck. They were 
in the thickest of the fight, and around the general when he 
was wounded; and bore him from the field. Sergeant Good- 
win helped to rally a regiment, and received the commenda- 
tion of Gen. Schenck therefor. 

The battalion was mostly without rations, and lived as it 
could, doing severe service until the army fell back within 
the intrenchments about Washington. Major Lyon and 
Capt. Bowen had resigned, and great confusion arose as to 
which was the ranking officer ; Capt. Farnsworth refusing 
to serve under Capt. Middlebrook. The command was de- 
moralized ; and the companies had for weeks marched, skir- 
mished, and fought separately. Capt. William S. Fish was 
now made major ; and the battalion, about Sept. 7, was or- 
dered into camp near Georgetown, and an officer was sent 
home to obtain recruits. 

Capt. Middlebrook resigned soon, exhausted and sick, as 
the result of the exposures of the campaign. The camp was 
moved to a young apple-orchard near Tenallytown, north of 
Washington, where a hundred excellent recruits from the 
State were received. Company C, with all the horses of 
the battalion, under Capt. A. F. Niles of Hartford, went out 
to Fairfax Court House on provost-duty, and rendered 
highly acceptable service at Gen. Sigel's headquarters. 
Oct. 23, moved to Kalorama Grounds near Washington, 
where drilling was in order until Nov. 17 ; when location was 
again changed to Hall's Farm, about three miles from Aque- 
duct Bridge in Virginia. Here a beautiful and comfortable 
camp was made in the woods by clearing up a dense thicket ; 
and the battalion was again thoroughly equipped and 
mounted. " Major Fish's force and energy infused new 
spirit throughout the entire command ; and, when they were 
required to march as a portion of Sigel's Reserve Corps to 
the vicinity of Fredericksburg, they were in better condition 
for effective service than ever before."^ They were not, 
however, engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, but were 

1 Letter of Chaplain Warriner. 



THE CAVALRY REGIMENT BUILD BARRACKS. 491 

soon recalled to Stafford Court House, where the battalion 
jomed the encampment of the 11th Corps. 

While here, Company A was most of the time detached, 
and on severe duty at the extreme flank of the army. Cor- 
poral Michael Carver of Norwich, with four men, stopped at 
a house for breakfast ; and Carver was shot by guerrillas con- 
cealed in the house, who then ran to the woods. Capt. 
Blakeslee went with a squad, but neither rebels nor family 
were to be found. The house was burned by order of Gen. 
Burnside. "Carver was a brave, good soldier; always cheer- 
ful and full of spirit ; never shirking duty, but often volun- 
teering to perform extra duty for others."^ 

While the regiment was near Washington, during the fall 
of 1862, Major Fish began in earnest the task of increasing 
the battalion to a regiment. This was soon ordered to be 
done, mainly through his influence and exertions. But the 
battalion filled slowly; and in January received the- long- 
expected orders to march to Baltimore, whither it was called 
at the request of Major Fish. The Monumental City was 
reached duly after considerable exposure to rain ; and here, 
for a time, the toil of war was suspended, while the men 
devoted themselves to the lio-hter duties of a soldier. Their 

o 

first care was to rebuild the old, uncomfortable barracks at 
Camp Carroll ; and Yankee skill soon erected new ones, and 
made them tidy and pleasant, — a model of convenience 
and comfort. Each squad of six or eight had a large room to 
itself; and the kitchens were complete in their arrangements. 
Company streets were paved with brick, and the open spaces 
turfed in the most approved manner. The stables were 
roomy and well ventilated, and the grain-rooms supplied 
with bins and troughs. All the work was done by the men 
of the battalion ; the government piecing out the old boards 
with a small quantity of new lumber. A commodious chapel 
and hospital were also built ; and most of the work was prose- 
cuted under the energetic superinteuidence of Capt. Farns- 
worth.^ The place was named Camp Cheeseboro'. Major 
Fish was now promoted to be lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. 
Farnsworth to be major. 

2 Capt. E. Blakeslee. ^ Diary of Capt. Blakeslee. 



402 COXXFCTUl r in KlNi^ THK KKUKl.l.lON. 

On March 15. Capt. Albort F. Nilos. Nvho had boon through 
a voar of aotivo sorvioo Nvithout a siok day. was prostratod 
with lover at Baltinioro. and suddenly died. He was a nuui 
of tew woixls, and of a n ery self-onintained disposition, so that 
some thought him proud or distant : biu time proved him a 
perteot gentleman, and a eheerful. brave, ready. seU-rehant 
soldier. He was buried in Harttord with all honors. 

The regiment remained in Iviltimore during the ; pring 
and summer of ISOo. while recruits were gradually aceuuui- 
lating. Companies weiv detached lor duty on the Potomac 
and at other posts. On June *J0. signal rockets announcing 
the appiwich of T.oo caused great apprehension in l>alti- 
more. The alarm-bells were rung, and the Union League 
rallied at the barricades. The Fii^t Cavalry turned out under 
arms, Lieut, Joab 1>. l\ogei"s of Norwich was in command 
of a picket post on the Westminster l\oad. and heard the shout 
of alarm fivm an excited otheer a;? he dashed by the gnaixis, 
declarino: that the rebels were in close pursuit, and uriiinoj 
the pickets to Ml back. The lieutenant pi\>posed to remain 
at his post until he was ivlieved, or ordeivd in. or di'iven in 
by the enemy. He remained, and maintained the honor of 
a soldier. About the time of the battle of Gettysburg, the 
whole efteetive loive of the battalion was oixieivd to Har- 
per* s Ferry. 

On July 14. Major Farnsworth, Capt, Blakeslee. and tifty 
men. emssed the Potomac by order of Gen. Xaglee. to recon- 
noiter the enemy's position beyond Bolivar Height.s, and to 
ascertain his strength. Capt. Blakeslee reports. — 

" About two miles livm Harper's Ferry, the advance-guard 
(eighteen men. under nn'^elf^ charged upon the picket of the 
enemy \^ numbering about thirty \ and diwe them in confusion 
back upon their reserve. Major F'arnsworth. coming np now, 
charged upon the whole i^eserve of the enemy, about two 
hundi^d stixmg. The enemy also charged : and it became a 
hand-to-hand tight, in nhieh. owing to the disparity of our 
numbei"^ they ivpulsed us, ivcovering sevenU prisouei*s whom 
we had piwiously taken, and, I am sorry to add, captured 
Maior Farnsworth with twentv-four men. The major fouirht 
most gallantly until he was overpowered, and taken prisoner. 



THE CAVALRY RECRUITED BY REBEL DESERTERS. 403 

I took commanf] of the remainder of our men, and fell back, 
bringing with me as prisoners one captain, one second lieu- 
tenant, and two privates ; all of whom were captured by the 
advance in their first charge upon the picket, in which we 
shot several horses, and wounded the colonel of the 12th 
Virginia Cavalry, who was afterwards found, and brought in 
a prisoner. 

"Allen F. Phillips of Woodstock, first sergeant Company A, 
deserves special mention for Jiis courage and good conduct 
in the affair." 

Sergeant Horace H. Gore of Preston, a grandson of Asa 
A. Gore, the only male survivor of the massacre at Wyoming, 
was commended for good conduct in a skirmish soon after, 
in which he was severely wounded and permanently dis- 
abled. About the time he was mustered out of the service, 
he received a commission as lieutenant. 

Capt. Blakeslee was ordered to Connecticut to recruit, 
where he was promoted to be major, his commission dating 
from July 14, for gallantry displayed that day. 

Early in October, the battalion, now rapidl\' growing to a 
regiment, received a unique re-inforcement in a hundred and 
twenty veterans, — all of tliom rebel prisoners, or deserters 
from the rebel army. They represented nearly every South- 
ern State ; but a majority were from North Carolina and 
Tennessee. Most of them declared that they had been forced 
into the Confederate service, and had escaped at the first 
opportunity; and all eagerly took the oath of allegiance to 
the United States. 

" One of these brave men, who was dragged from his home 
by night, and compelled to take up arms against the Federal 
Government, said, ' I have a wife and little boy in Tennessee ; 
and no man loves his family more than I do mine : but sooner 
than lift my hand against the stars and stripes' (and the 
vow trembled on his lips), — 'before I'll be a traitor to my 
country. Til say farewell forever to my home and to those 
dear ones, and never see their faces any more.' They all 
know well that certain death awaits them if they are ever 
taken by the rebels. I suggested this fact to one of them. 
He replied, ' They will never take me alive.' " * 

* Letter of Chaplain Warriner. 



494 ■ CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

It was evident that few had ever entered the service at so 
much risk and sacrifice as these men, and that, if they were 
true to their new-made vows, the army would not contain 
better soldiers. They generally proved faithful, and every 
way worthy of the confidence and brotherly regard which 
the men from Connecticut did not long withhold. 

Several companies of the regiment remained at Baltimore, 
under command of Capt. William E. Morris of Roxbury ; 
detachments of which "were occasionally sent on delightful 
expeditions down the Chesapeake to Point Lookout and 
various parts of the eastern shore of Maryland." 

Two or three companies went to the polls in different 
counties to keep rebel soldiers from voting, and to be "a 
terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well." 

Companies A, B, and E, with parts of C and D, were at 
Harper's Ferry after July, under Capt. Howell Atwater of 
New Haven, performing duties attended with more hard- 
ships and fatigue. Capt. Elbridge Colburn of Ansonia was 
appointed brigade-quartermaster on the staff of Gen. Tyler. 
Capt. Edwin W. French of Mystic was assistant provost- 
marshal in command of the detective force, and provost-mar- 
shal in the absence of Col. Fish. Adjutant H. J. 0. Walker 
of Mystic Bridge had charge of passes and transportation. 
The seizure and disposal of confiscated property was under 
the direction of Lieut. Joseph Backus of Hebron ; and Lieut. 
J. B. Morehouse, returned from imprisonment, had control of 
military prisoners, and was soon promoted to be captain. 
So sped the summer, fall, and early winter, — time spent 
rather indolently by most of the regiment. 

During this summer. Gen. Schenck sent for Capt. Blakes- 
lee, directing him to establish a line of signal-stations twenty 
miles out on different roads. The captain replied that he 
knew nothing of the signal-system. " Then invent one," was 
the rejoinder : " you shall have a carte blanche." Blakeslee 
went at the work, and, before daylight, had prepared all the 
necessary flags and rockets, procured the requisite field-glass- 
es, and within three days had established the signals on both 
the routes, so that satisfactory reports could be sent over 
both lines in fifteen minutes, day or night. 



GREAT CHANGE IN THE CAVALRY REGIMENT. 495 

Lieut.-Col. Fish was promoted to be colonel, Aug. 22, 1863, 
and was detailed to be provost-marshal of Baltimore ; but 
early in 1864 he was arrested on charges of unsoldierlj con- 
duct. He was immediately tried, convicted, dismissed the 
service, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine and to be impri- 
soned for five years. The last two provisions of the penalty 
were afterward remitted in consideration of his previous gal- 
lant services; his guilt proving, moreover, on further ex- 
amination, much less than it had at first appeared. 

With the return of Major Blakeslee to Baltimore in Jan- 
uary, 1864, began the real military life of the First Regi- 
ment Connecticut Cavalry. He found some seven hundred 
men, mostly recruits, arranged in companies, and officered, 
but mostly without drill or discipline. They had been under 
the command, first of one captain, then of another, no one 
having had command for any length of time ; and were very 
much demoralized. There was little order or subordination, 
little military life or character. Major Blakeslee immediately 
established with a vig:orous hand all the reo^ular routine of 
camp-duties, including hours of daily drill. There had 
never been a school for regimental officers ; but one was now 
established, with long and thorough instruction every day. 
The daily drill was had on the lesson of the evening pre- 
vious. 

Major Blakeslee was detailed on a field-officers' court- 
martial, and at first frequently tried twelve or fifteen 
prisoners a day ; the action being so prompt, that prisoners 
were sometimes tried, convicted, papers all made out and 
approved, and sentence rendered on the same day. 

A great change w*as perceptible in the regiment in a week, 
produced by simply enforcing the ordinary rules of military 
conduct. Major George 0. Marcy of Bridgeport established 
a profitable school for sergeants ; and Major Brayton Ives 
(who now joined the regiment from New Haven) prepared 
a little work entitled Hints on the Treatment of Horses, 
which was considered so. valuable, that it was published in 
pamphlet form for the use of the regiment. Officers and pri- 
vate soldiers began suddenly to wake up to the fact that the 
days of " play-soldier " were over, and that thereafter they 



496 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

were to be fighting men. Major Farnsworth, while still a 
prisoner at Libby, had been promoted to be lieutenant-colo- 
nel, dating from Jan. 18, 1864. He returned to his regiment, 
but soon afterwards resigned his commission, and was hon- 
orably discharged. 

Lieut. E. H. Latimer of Montville died suddenly, Feb. 15, 
of small-pox. The body could not be removed to home and 
friends ; but Chaplain Warriner said, " The deceased had won 
the love of his comrades, and we who knew him well were 
mourners together." He had been promoted from the ranks, 
and had been mustered in as lieutenant only two days 
before his death. Some twenty others died while the regi- 
ment was in Baltimore. 

Towards the end of February, a new supply of five hundred 
horses was obtained ; and then followed the amusing task of 
assigning them. They were first assorted into colors, — ba}^, 
black, sorrel and light-bay, gray and piebald ; and then com- 
pany commanders drew lots for colors. The men were then 
marched up, and each man took the horse opposite to him. 
This was impartial, but not always satisfactory ; and all sorts 
of devices were frequently resorted to to effect a secret 
exchange for some better animal. Many got kicked by 
their strange steeds ; and some score were tumbled to the 
ground, making that mounting " a sight to see." Equip- 
ments were issued at once, and active battalion-drills begun. 

Orders were received to join the Army of the Potomac; 
and at eight o'clock, a.m., of March 8, the old camp was 
broken up and abandoned, rations cooked and distributed, 
horses fed and groomed, small packs made up ; and six 
hundred and seventy-five mounted men were drawn up, 
mounted in close column of squadrons, every man in place, 
sabres shining, flags flying, and guidons flashing in the wind, 
— a magnificent array. Major Blakeslee, young and almost 
beardless, might well be proud of his command as the 
bugler sounded the officers' call. The line-officers rode to 
the front, and received directions to permit no straggling 
nor foraging, and to keep the ranks well filled up. The 
bugler sounded the " Forward !" and away they rode to a 
year of deadly conflict, to toil and vigilance, heat, cold, and 
hunger, death-wounds and glory. 



THE EIGHTEENTH AT MARTINSBUEG. 49*7 

They went past the Relay House, and arrivecl at Annapo- 
lis Junction in the rain about three o'clock, p.m. Camp by 
squadrons was made east of the hospital. The officers fared 
well enough in the hospital ; but the men had the wettest, 
muddiest, dismalest night they had spent since Wheeling 
Island and Moorefield. They were drenched, and lying in 
mud knee-deep. Two days later, they found a better camp, 
on a slope in a grove, where they were comfortable once 
more on dry land. 

After the unfortunate battle of Winchester, about two 
hundred and twenty officers and men from the Eighteenth 
escaped in different directions towards the Potomac.^ Major 
Peale, with thirt}^ men, arrived on the same day at Harper's 
Ferry; having had a very narrow escape. About two hun- 
dred others from Milroy's scattered army were put under 
Major Peale, and led againsi the flank of Lee's army, now 
retreating from Gettysburg. They marched to Snicker's Gap, 
and captured many of the fugitives. Major Peale was next 
ordered to Sharpsburg, where he took command of the 
remnant of the Eighteenth. Company B, Lieut. F. G. Bix- 
by, being on provost-duty, had escaped intact with others; 
and in a few days he was ordered to report for provost-duty 
at Hagerstown to guard rebel prisoners. 

On Sept. 30, Major Peale brought the exchanged prison- 
ers from Camp Parole at Annapolis ; increasing the regi- 
ment to eight officers and six hundred men. On Oct. 3, 
they forded the Potomac, and advanced to Martinsburg ; 
making camp about half a mile west of the town on a 
wooded elevation as pleasantly situated for winter-quarters 
as could be desired. Here, notwithstanding the insufficiency 
of officers, good order w\as maintained ; and the regiment soon 
began to show improvement in drill and general discipline. 
Log-houses were built, furnished with stoves and other con- 

^ Immediately after the disaster to the Eighteenth, Henry B. Norton, a patriotic 
and liberal citizen of Norwich, went to the Potomac at the request of Gov. Buckingham, 
and was of great assistance in collecting the remnants of the regiment, and supplying their 
immediate wants. The Hartford Press said of him, — 

" No gentleman in the State has been so indefatigable in labors of this kind for the 
comfort of our soldiers since the war began. He has steadily refused all compensation, or 
remuneration of his expenses ; and is so unostentatious, that we fear to annoy him even by 
this brief and merited mention of his services." 
63 



498 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

trivances for comfort. The Yankee propensity to barter 
broke out, and the men supplied themselves with many little 
luxuries in exchange for surplus rations. 

There was also a warm social side to life at Martinsburg. 
Soldiers and citizens mingled a good deal in camp and at 
fireside, at church, prayer-meetings, parties, debating socie- 
ties. Private Albert C. Green of Company A established a 
singing-school in town, in which soldiers and citizens alike 
jDarticipated. This was of real value, introducing the "boys" 
into the best families, and adding a genuine zest to life in 
barracks. Acquaintanceships ripened into friendships; friend- 
ships, into intimacies; and, in at least one case, there resulted 
the." union of hearts and union of hands" which nothing 
but death or " incompatibility of temper " can dissolve. 
Slowly the regiment recovered its old tone and pride in 
military tactics, and at last won commendations again from 
citizens, officers, and inspectors. Major Peale and his subor- 
dinates labored with great zeal and success in restoring the 
true martial spirit. 

Once during the winter a raid resulted in the capture 
of several rebels ; twice or thrice, the regiment was in line 
of battle, or on a reconnoissance : but the winter was rather 
uneventful, and the men contented themselves in completing 
the capture of Martinsburg. 

The general in command, notwithstanding his apparent 
lack of great military genius, was always popular in his com- 
mand ; and, when he visited Martinsburg, " Daddy Milroy " 
was heartily received by the Eighteenth. They ordered 
him out with an affectionate if unmilitary clamor, and he 
addressed them as follows: — 

Soldiers of the Eighteenth, — 

I am glad to see you once more : I am liappy to see you looking so 
hearty and well ; happy to welcome you back again beneath the folds of 
your own stars and stripes, which you so nobly defended during the three- 
days' fight at Winchester. Since I last saw you, you have suffered cap- 
tivity in rebel prisons. We have been separated since then ; but I have 
come to see you, and to praise you for your gallantry. I saw you in the 
second day's fight as you charged the enemy from your rifle-pits and drove 
them back upon their reserves, holding them in check until night ; when 
you fell back, but with your face to the foe. Again I saw you the next 
morning, facing as hot a fire as I ever witnessed in my life. I looked in 
vain to see you waver. Boys, it was a hot place, — a hot place. I saw 



OFFICEES OF THE EIGHTEENTH IN LIBBY PEISON. 499 

you go where none but brave men dare go ; saw you make three succes- 
sive charges, preserving your line as well as if on di*ess-paracle. I wit- 
nessed it all. I saw you as you broke the first line of rebel infantry, and 
charged up to their batteries ; driving away their gunners, still pressing on, 
and breaking their reserves. But a third line was too strong for you. I 
knew it was. Only then did you fall back, when your lines were broken, 
and many brave Connecticut men lay bleeding on the field. But you only 
fell back to re-form, and give them another taste of your steel. I knew it 
was madness to order you forward again : it was ordering you to death 
and annihilation ; for I well knew you would attempt any thing for your 
general. Boys, I watched you with pride as you charged the third time ; 
but, when I saw your ranks withering and your comrades falling, it made 
my heart grow sad within me, and I ordered you to fall back. You know 
the rest. You were surrounded, and there was no escape. But I miss 
your noble commander. Col. Ely : may he soon return to you ! Boys, 
to your valor I owe my safety. You come from a State whose soldiers 
never disgrace themselves nor their flag. I am proud of you, aud ever 
shall be of such soldiers. 

And now accept my wishes for your safe return to your New-England 
homes when our flag shall wave in triumph over our whole country. 
Good-by. 

In January, 1864, Chaplain V. A. Cooper of New London 
having resigned, he was succeeded by Chaplain W. C. Walker 
of New Britain, who worked diligently to elevate the moral 
and physical tone of the regiment. 

In the mean time, most of the officers were still in Libby 
Prison ; and some of them #ere destined to remain longer in 
rebel captivity than any other officers from Connecticut, and 
be released only when the Confederacy itself was crushed 
in 1865. 

Twenty-four officers of the Eighteenth were together in 
Libby, and remained together nearly a year. The day's 
ration at first consisted of one-fourth of a pound of beef, 
and nine ounces of bread, wheat, or cornmeal, and nine 
ounces of rice. After the victory of Gettysburg, the fare 
was improved through fear of retaliation ; a large balance 
of prisoners being in our hands. Prisoners were now per- 
mitted to purchase moderately from the markets of Rich- 
mond, and to receive supplies from the North ; yet sharp 
discomfort was suffered from so many being packed and 
huddled together in the noxious air of an ill- ventilated 
tobacco warehouse. 

This monotonous life was occasionally varied by a distin- 
guished arrival. Col. Straight, then famous, enlivened the 



500 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

prison by his able and fearless debates of the slavery ques- 
tion with any rebel who came within reach. Gen. Neal 
Dow arrived from Mobile, where he had been a prisoner in 
the enjoyment of a considerable degree of freedom and 
intercourse w^ith the citizens ; and he now repeatedly ad- 
dressed the officers of Libby, informing them of the inner 
life of the Confederacy and its waning hopes and prospects. 
These speeches were frequently interrupted by the sudden 
appearance of the rebel sentinel ; when the speaker would 
continue, unterrified, "As I was saying, this indulgence in 
alcoholic stimulants is ruinous to the mental, moral, and 
social character of men," &c. Officers came in from all the 
armies constantly ; and the occupants of Libby were prob- 
ably better informed in regard to the condition of the 
Rebellion than were their friends at home. By a constant 
interchange of news and sentiments, they were kept in a 
cheerful spirit. 

Gen. E. M. Lee (of Guilford, Conn., an officer in the 
Michigan Cavalry), then in Libby, recently explained 
the financial condition of the prison at that time thus : " We 
had rations miserable in quality, and so small in quantity 
as scarcely to support life without other means. We felt 
that the rebels intended to compel us to make up this 
deficiency by- purchasing in their markets what it was their 
duty to furnish us. We yielded to the necessity imposed. 
But we soon learned better than to waste genuine cur- 
rency in this unwilling service of the Confederacy. They 
permitted brokers to come among us, who, when our money 
was exhausted, took our checks on Northern banks where 
we ' deposited.' We struck as good a bargain as possible, 
to avert suspicion, and then sold our checks, — checks on 
any bank of which we could recall the name. These fur- 
nished us with much food and clothing, and some luxu- 
ries ; and I don't think the checks were ever collected ! " 

In February of 18G4, Col. Ely escaped from Libby with 
one hundred and eig^ht other officers, throuo;h the famous 
tunnel. They had obtained entrance, through a hole in 
the floor, to an unoccupied basement ; and thence had dug 
straight out under Twentieth Street, loosening the earth 



LIFE IN THE LIBBY PRISON. 501 

with an old hinge, and removing it in a broken sugar-scoop 
taken from the hospital. The sand was then drawn out in 
a carpet-bag, and secreted about the cellar. They were 
at work upon the tunnel for fifty-five days, when the pioneer, 
Capt. J. N. Johnson of the Gth Kentucky Cavalry, struck 
daylight, and came up under an old shed across the street. 
That night, at nine o'clock, the first man left ; at five next 
morning, the last. About fifty were at last recaptured by 
the cavalry, who scoured the State in all directions ; among 
them Col. Ely, in a state of great exhaustion. He was 
taken by cavalry, forty-two miles out, after being absent four 
days. 

" The occupations and diversions of Libby were various," 
writes an officer of the Eio-hteenth.'^ "Aroused to morning: 
consciousness by the voice of a stalwart darky, our ears were 
saluted with, ' All fo' of de mawnin' papers ! Rise, gemraen, 
an' bye de mawnin' news ! Great news from de Rappahan- 
nock ! Great news from Charleston ! Great, news from de 
James Ribber ! Is all de gemmen s'plied wid de mawnin' 
news ? ' Thus we obtained the Richmond dailies, printed on 
a half-sheet of smoky brown paper, with little reliable news, 
and editorials filled with exaggerated falsehood. ... In 
Libby, the study of many languages was pursued, — French, 
German, Spanish, Latin, and Greek. A literary society was 
maintained, and important questions debated. A journal 
called the Libby Chronicle was edited with marked ability, 
with articles worthy of the best periodicals. Here would be 
seen a group rendering in sweetest concord the choicest se- 
lections from Handel, Mozart, and other masters of sacred 
song; there a party enjoying some admirable exhibition of 
comic minstrelsy." 

In March, 1864, Col. William G. Ely, Lieut.-Col. Monroe 
Nichols, Capt. G. W. Warner, Lieuts. I. N. Kibbe, M. V. B. 
Tiffany, J. P. Rockwell, and John A. Francis, were paroled, 
and returned to the North, their exchange following. The 
rest of the officers of the Eighteenth were, on May 7, sent 
to Danville, Va., and after a few days transferred to the 
new stockade prison at Macon. The prison-life at Macon, 

^ Surgeon Lowell Holbrook of Thompson, detained in prison four months. 



502 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Charleston, and Columbia, is elsewhere described. In Decem- 
ber, Capts. D, W. Hakes and Charles D. Brown, with Lients. 
A. H. Lindsay, George Kies, and A. G. Scranton, were paroled, 
and went North. In February, 1865, the rest of the officers 
of the Eio-hteenth were sent to Charlotte. Lieut. Henry F. 
Cowles jumped from the cars, was secreted by the negroes, 
and joined Sherman's advance cavalry. Lieut. Ezra D. Car- 
penter escaped from the hospital, and occupied Columbia the 
day before Gen. Sherman. The remaining officers were pa- 
roled at Williamston, N.C., in March, 1865 ; having been in 
captivity twenty-one months, without the loss of a man. 

Lieut. Carpenter had a singularly interesting experience. 
He described it in a letter to a friend, from which we 
make an extract : " When the prisoners were removed to 
Charlotte, off the track of Sherman's advancing army, I was 
very much reduced, and declared unable to be moved with 
the rest. I was taken to a large hospital with others. The 
streets were full of tumult in the effort to escape from the 
doomed city. At last, when Sherman's first shells fell in the 
city, the rebels came to remove us. I dressed and passed 
down, but, remembering that I had forgotten something, 
went back, and concealed myself under one of the bunks. 
Inquiries were made for me ; but, after search, they conclud- 
ed I had gone in a former load. A slave, sent up to clean out 
the building, discovered me, and, with the quick instincts of 
his race, immediately agreed to help me to escape. Finally 
rebel soldiers came into the room to sleep for the night. 
They came up to the bunk under which I lay, and I saw their 
boots as they walked around it. They then built a fire at 
the other end of the room, and sat around it, dividing among 
themselves my bag of scanty clothing and personal effects, 
which they had found where I dropped it when I secreted my- 
self At eight o'clock, I crawled softly down to the next floor; 
and soon one of the attendants, with a light, passed within a 
few feet of where I lay behind a bunk. A few minutes after, 
I got out the window, and jumped to the ground. My first 
effort was to find a black man, — the first thought of ever;^ 
prisoner who ever escaped from rebel bondage. They were 
in their quarters. At the first hovel, a white man came to 



ENTRANCE OF SHERMAN INTO COLUMBIA. 503 

the cloor. I inquired where Mr. lived, and was glad to 

get awa}^ At the next, I passed as a rebel soldier; and 
some ladies gave me the food I so much needed. I then 
went straight to the hotel where Gen. Beauregard stopped, 
registered my name as J. C. Cady of Charleston, went to bed, 
and lay until nine o'clock next day. My sleep had been in- 
terrupted all night by constant noise and bustle on the 
street ; and, when I went down, confusion seemed to reign. 
I could obtain no breakfast : the landlord said he ' couldn't 
get the niggers to work.' I ultimately got breakfast, and 
paid my bill (twenty dollars) in Confederate currency. I 
bought a morning newspaper. Every thing looked well for 
the rebels : Gen. Beauregard, the war-horse, snuffed the breeze 
from afar, and was at his post; and Sherman would get a 
warm reception. I went out, and found that the rebels had 
been evacuating the city all night. Far in the distance arose 
a cloud of dust ; nearer were heard faint cheers ; down Main 
Street came a carriage bearing a flag, which grew into the 
stars and stripes as I gazed. I trembled with inexpressible 
joy ; for our general and the mayor of the city were in the 
carriage. The swift cavalry whirled though the city ; the 
long line of boys in blue marched steadily up the street to 
the strains of Yankee Doodle : Columbia was ours ! " 




CHAPTER XXXI. 

The First and Second Artillery, Sixth, Tenth, Fourteenth, and Seventeenth, during the 
Winter of 1 803-64. — The Second Light Battery. — The Seventh in Florida. — Battle 
of Olustee. — Ninth in New Orleans. — The Twelfth at New Iberia. — The Thirteenth 
in the Rcd-Hiver Expedition. — Battle of Cane River. — Connecticut Regiments Home 
on Veteran Furlough. — Speeches and Banquets. 

NCAMPED south of the Potomac, the First Ar- 
tillery remamecl, during 1863, in the forts form- 
ing the most important section in the chain of 
defenses to the capital. Batteries B, Capt. Ager, 
and M, Capt. Brown, were still detached with 
the Army of the Potomac. Col. Tyler was promoted 
brigadier-general, Nov. 19, 1862, and Henry L. Abbot of the 
regular army was made colonel. He had graduated second 
in his class at West Point, and was on the staff of Gen. 
Daniel Tyler at the first battle of Bull Run, where he was 
wounded in the leg. Col. Abbot did not relax in any 
measure the severe discipline which had raised the regiment 
to its high position. 

The men were required to be soldierly in their habits and 
cleanly in their persons ; and the result was, that, during the 
entire period of life at Arlington, very few were in hospital. 
They were drilled as artillery and infantry, in company and 
battalion movements ; and they had a great deal of practice at 
firing, both from heavy guns and mortars, at targets, and in 
experiments made by order of the department at Washing- 
ton, with elongated and other projectile, to test scientifically 
the depth of penetration, &c. One experiment, suggested 
and tried by Col. Abbot, was of an entirely new combination 
in a mortar projectile, which gave great satisfagtion, and was 
afterwards adopted. 

504 



THE NINETEENTH CHANGED INTO ARTILLERY. 505 

Chaplain Edward A. Walker^ of New Haven had resigned 
in 1862, and Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis of Salisbury was ap- 
pointed his successor. 

Since the regiment had been in service, but one officer, 
Capt. Charles E. Bulkeley of Hartford, had died, and few 
men. 



The Nineteenth was relieved from duty at Alexandria, 
Jan. 12, 1863, and moved to Fort Worth, about three miles 
west, where it was at once brigaded with the First Con- 
necticut Artillery, under command of Brig.-Gen. Robert 
0. Tyler. The regiment began to drill in heavy-artillery 
tactics as well as infmtry, and was kept constantly busy in 
an easy' service. Sibley tents were obtained ; mails w^ere 
regular ; the visits of friends were frequent. In May, Com- 
panies A, C, D, E, 11, I, and K moved to some redoubts near 
Fort Lyon; while B, F, and G moved to Fort Ellsworth, 
near Alexandria. The entire summer w^as probably as 
pleasant as ever fell to the lot of soldiers. Weeks passed 
without the death of a man. 

On the 9th of November, the brigade was reviewed by 
Gen. Berry ; when the Nineteenth showed to such excellent 
advantage, that an order was issued by the War Department 
on the 23d, changing the regiment from infantry to heavy 
artillery, under the designation of the Second Connecticut 
Artillery. The boys lost no time in tearing off the blue 
facings and o-etting; on the red ; and several officers and men 
were detailed to go to Connecticut and recruit. The re- 
cruiting-party consisted of Lieut. B. F. Hosford ; Sergeants 
D. E. Marsh, Gad N. Smith, Calvin B. Hatch, Oscar Piatt, 
and 0. R. Tyler; Corporal D. B. Wooster; and Private 
James Baldwin. This arm of the service was popular ; and 
these men succeeded in sending twelve hundred recruits in 
three months, raising; the regiment to the maximum. Some 

1 Chaplain Walker, during McClellan's retreat to the James, was in the saddle for 
nearly the whole of six days and nights, in charge of an arahulance-train. Prostrated by 
disease and exhaustion, he' was prevailed upon by his friends to leave the army. From 
that severe service he never recovered. He spent six months in Europe, and, on return- 
ing, went to Lake Superior, where he died, April 10, 1865. He graduated at Yale in the 
class of 1856 ; and had preached for a short time in Terryville, before the war. He was 
versatile in his tastes and acquirements, and gave promise of much usefulness. 
64 



506 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

were " boimty-jiimpers," and deserted on the way down ; but 
many were among the best soldiers in the service. 

Col. Wessells had now resigned, and Lieut.-Col. E. S. Kel- 
loo-o" succeeded to the command. This and the change to an 
artillery re<nment involved the addition of a large number 
of officers, — a lieutenant-colonel, three majors, three cap- 
tains, and twenty-nine lieutenants ; and for a time promo- 
tions were the chief topic of interest. The new regiment 
was divided into three battalions of four companies each ; 
which garrisoned respectively Forts Worth, Williams, and 
Ellsworth. Col. Kellogg adopted a rigid system of discipline 
and drill ; and his command rapidly improved in soldierly 
qualities. 

Major Nathaniel Smith of Woodbury became lieutenant- 
colonel ; and Capts. James Hubbard of Salisbury, William 
B. Ells of Plymouth, and James Q. Rice of Goshen, were pro- 
moted to be majors. 

A letter written in November, 1863, says, — 

" Our colonel has just been surprised by the presentation, 
mainly from the privates, of a handsome and valuable horse ; 
one on which we are not ashamed to see him appear on 
any occasion. This renewed testimony of attachment was 
entirely unexpected, and called forth an expression of thanks 
which must have abundantly repaid the donors." 

One night about this time, Private C. W. Jackson of New. 
Milford, one of the hospital guard, perceived an unusual 
fire in the valley, half or three-quarters of a mile distant. 
Suspecting all was not right, he stealthily and alone recon- 
noitered, and found one of the bridges of the Alexandria 
and Orange Railroad oja fire. After kindling a fire on the 
track to arrest the trains, he applied himself to save the 
bridge ; and after great exertions he succeeded. 

The Sixth remained at Hilton Head during the fall and 
winter of 1863-4, under Lieut.-Col. Redfield Duryee, — pro- 
moted in a single step from the rank of Adjutant, vice Lieut.- 
Col. John Speidal resigned. Col. Duryee commanded the 
post. The men were here put upon laborious fatigue-duty 
in loading and discharging government transports. From 
this they were relieved in October j and Col. Duryee devoted 



THE SEVENTH AT OLUSTEE. 5()'7 

himself to bringing back the regiment to its former high 
standard of excellence. They found it difficult to recover 
the loss of Col. Chatfield ; and one of the subalterns wrote 
at this time, " His name was synonymous with all that was 
good, noble, brave, and kind. Few men ever lived in the 
midst of the excitement and allurements of camp-life who 
resisted so practically the attractions that lead man}'^ a good 
man astray." 

The Seventh, from Oct. 16, spent most of its time on 
St. Helena Island. Drilling in boats was soon succeeded by 
drilling with the new breech-loading Spencer rifles, and the 
usual routine of winter camp-life. On Feb. 5-6, 1864, 
the regiment (excepting the re-enlisted veterans, home on 
furlough) embarked with that portion of Gilmore's forces 
ordered to Florida for the expedition to Olustee. A force 
of five thousand men of all arms left Hilton Head, under 
Gen. Gilmore, for the St. John's River, with intent to strike into 
Central Florida for the purpose of cutting off the enemy's 
supplies, and of helping to reconstruct the loyal government. 
Gilmore pushed forward to Jacksonville, and sent* a small 
force to Baldwin ; surprising the enemy, and capturing eight 
guns and a number of prisoners. Gen. Truman Se^'mour 
was in command of the division ; and Gen. Gilmore returned 
to Jacksonville, leaving instructions for Seymour to make no 
advance beyond Sanderson without orders. On the 18th, 
Sej^mour started with the whole force to destroy the rail- 
road near Suwanee River, a hundred miles west. Col. 
Hawley commanded a brigade composed of the Seventh 
Connecticut, 7th New-Hampshire, and 8th United-States 
colored troops. 

The Seventh Connecticut Volunteers numbered three 
hundred and sixty-five men, consolidated in four companies ; 
the first under command of Capt. Mills, the second of Lieut. 
Jeremiah Townsend, the third of Lieut. Robert Dempsey, 
and the fourth of Capt. John Thompson. Surgeon George 
C. Jarvis was with the battalion. Next day the column 
reached Barber's Station, thirty miles west. Having some 
information of the designs of the enemy. Gen. Seymour hur- 
ried forward next day towards Olustee. About three miles 



508 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

east of that town, the rebels beghming to annoy our 
vedettes, the general sent for a company, and soon for the 
whole, of the Seventh Connecticut, to throw out as skirmish- 
ers in advance of the cavalry, and move westward. The 
first brigade was thrown forward to encounter the enemy. 
"The enemy's skirmishers continually fell back, until they 
arrived at a point where the road and railroad crossed. Here 
was an open space, backed by pine-woods, partially inclosing 
the space in the form of a crescent. In front of and in the 
woods,- the enemy w\as posted in force, with batteries sta- 
tioned to sweep the roads. Gen. Seymour sent orders ahead 
for the Seventh Connecticut to advance, and take the batter- 
ies. They moved forward rapidly, the discharges of their 
seven-shooters making a continuous roll like the musketry 
of a whole brigade." '~ 

Capt. B. F. Skinner of Danbury, in command of the Sev- 
enth, reported, — 

" Our advance soon came up with the enemy's advance guard, and ex- 
changed a few shots with them ; when they retreated, firing occasionally as 
they went. We followed them in this way about three miles, when, after 
firing a few shots from an advance battery (Capt. Elder's), the enemy replied 
with a battery of three or four guns ; when I was directed by Gen. Sey- 
mour to go forward with the rest of my command, and, if possible, secure 
the enemy's battery. I moved the remainder of my command forward im- 
mediately, in double-quick time, upon the right of the railroad for about 
three hundred yards ; when we came up with my line of skirmishers. 

" I immediately directed the remainder of the third company, which had 
been held in reserve, to deploy as skirmishers, and move up to the support 
of the advanced line : I also deployed the fourth company with the same 
dii-ections, the enemy having made a flank movement in order to mass his 
advance on our right. Capt. Mills followed, moving a portion of his com- 
mand across and to the right of the railroad ; the whole forming a very 
strong line of skirmishers three or four hundred yards in length. I imme- 
diately pushed the line forward as fast as possible, paying particular atten- 
tion to the enemy's batteries, the strength of which had developed itself 
upon the left of our line to the right of the railroad. After moving up two 
or three hundred yards, I found the enemy drawn up in line to receive us, 
and in position to support their battery ; the enemy here showing a front 
of five regiments flanked on the right and left by cavalry, which made 
occasional demonstrations upon our flanks, but were easily turned back in 
disorder after a few moments' attention from our seven-shooters. 

" Supposing that support was close at hand, I pushed forward, firing 
rapidly as I went ; which caused the enemy to give ground to us, I should' 
judge two hundred yards, in some confusion, but firing as they withdrew. 
Here I discovered that the enemy were intrenched, and delivered well- 

2 Letter of Col. Hawlej. 



THE SEVENTH ACTS AS KEAE-GUAED. 509 

directed volleys of musketry. I found, also, that my ajnmunition was very 
nearly expended, some of my new men being entirely out. There was no 
support in sight. I had already pushed so far in the enemy's center that 
my line formed a semicircle, and I was receiving the enemy's fire from 
three sides." 

They found themselves confronted and nearly surrounded 
by four or five rebel regiments. The supporting column was 
nearly a mile behind. " At this juncture," continues Capt. 
Skinner, " I determined to withdraw, and save my command, 
which was done at the proper time ; for, had I remained 
there five minutes longer, my whole command would have 
been swallowed up in the enemy's advance. My men with- 
drew rapidly : those who had ammunition fired as they 
withdrew, and divided to the right and left in order to un- 
mask the 7th New-Hampshire Volunteers who approached." 

The other regiments met the enemy in heavy force, and 
were repulsed. As they broke. Col. Hawley endeavored to 
rally them to another attack; but order could not be re- 
stored at once, and the line fell back. The Seventh received 
another supply of ammunition, and resumed a" station front- 
ing the enemy. " We remained in this position, occasionally 
firing, or permitting a portion of the men to fire, as the ene- 
my showed himself, until, by direction from Col. Hawley, we 
moved to the rear about one hundred yards, our forces on 
the right and left being on the retreat ; then faced about, 
and, putting the guide-sights at four hundred yards, opened 
an effective fire for a few minutes. Soon after this the en- 
gagement closed, though we took position in line two or 
three times." ^ 

The regiment deployed one hundred and twenty-five men 
as rear-guard for the army, which had now left the field. 
" I occupied this relative position and marched in this man- 
ner until I reached Barber's Ford, for a distance of about 
eighteen miles from the battle-field, when I marched my 
command on to the same ground that it had occupied before 
leaving Barber's Ford the preceding morning ; my men hav- 
ing marched a distance of thirty-six miles, eighteen of which 
were made Avithout rest, and over bad ground." * " It was 
a weary, woeful march. The poor wounded fellows dragged 

3 Capt. Skinner's Report. * Ibid. 



510 CONKECTICUT DURmG THE EEBELLIOK 

themselves along on foot, or bestrode mules, supported by 
their comrades on either side, or were borne over a rough 
road in jolting wagons. In going sixteen miles, to Barber's, 
the army occupied eight hours. Here the men rested five 
or six hours, and then the wounded and stores were sent to 
Jacksonville in cars drawn by horses." ^ Capt. Skinner men- 
tions the services of Adjutant John I. Hutchinson of Crom- 
well in this battle. 

The Seventh, by direction of Gen. Seymour, acted as rear- 
guard during the entire retreat, and remained in Baldwin 
after the rest of the troops had fallen back. In returning to 
Jacksonville, Capt. Charles C. Mills found three cars loaded 
with four hundred boxes of hard-bread ; and his company 
pushed them along several miles, and saved them. The 
force returned to Six-mile Creek, and there went into camp. 

Col. Hawley, in his official report, said, — 

" Capt. B. F. Skinner, who commanded the battalion of the 
Seventh Connecticut (a large portion of the regiment being 
absent on veteran furloughs), was on the sick-list when the 
regiment took the field ; but he performed his laborious 
duties with the energy and bravery that have always 
characterized him; and his battalion received the hearty 
commendation of the' general at the close of the fight. It 
is greatly regretted that he has felt compelled by ill health 
to quit the service. Lieut. Dempsey of that regiment, a 
faithful, patriotic man, was killed early in the action." 

Lieut. E. Lewis Moore (of Salisbury), A. A. Adjutant-Gen- 
eral; Lieut. John Van Keuren (of New Britain), A. A. In- 
spector-General ; and Lieut. William T. Seward (of Guilford), 
commissary, — all on Col. Hawley's staff, received honorable 
mention. "Private Edward C. Vinton (of Woodstock), 
mounted orderly, had his horse twice shot and finally killed ; 
but he soon found another, and continued on duty." 

In the battle of Olustee, the Seventh Regiment was repre- 
sented only by those who declined to re-enlist and the recent 
substitutes : but the former proved that it was no lack of 
courage which prevented their re-enlistment ; and the latter 
that they had caught the spirit which had placed the men of 

6 Letter of Col. Hawley. 



THE NINTH STILL IN LOUISIANA. 511 

the Seventh among the best soldiers of the war. The testi- 
mony of the correspondent of the New- York Herald was 
given as follows : ''• Great praise is awarded by all to the Sev- 
enth Connecticut for their superb conduct in the advance, 
throughout the fight, as skirmishers. They did not falter 
or waver, but employed their Spencer, rifles so accurately 
and effectively, that the enemy will long have occasion to 
remember their presence on the field. They lost quite 
heavily." 

Hawley's brigade lost five hundred and eighty, — more 
than thirty-five per cent. Of these, the Seventh lost sixty- 
nine. 

When Lieut. Robert Dempsey (of Winsted) fell, he said 
to those who would have removed him, " I'm going to die 
here. Let me die on my side ; " the blood at the same time 
gushing from his breast. Lieut. Dempsey w^ent out as sec- 
ond lieutenant on the orio;inal formation of the reoiment. 
He was about thirty years old, an Irish Catholic, and a true 
soldier. 

The regiment remained for a short time at Six-mile 
Creek, when an order came for a transfer to service in the 
battles of the James. 



During 1863, the Ninth had its headquarters at New Or- 
leans ; but the regiment was dismembered, — two companies 
guarding the Mexican-gulf Railroad and mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi ; one company at Algiers, opposite New Orleans ; four 
companies doing provost-guard duty at New Orleans ; and 
three companies stationed at Pass Manchac, about thirty- 
eight miles above New Orleans, at the water communication 
between Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, the outer limit 
of the defenses of New Orleans. 

Col. Thomas W. Cahill was placed in charge of the de- 
fenses, and in command of a brigade consisting of the Ninth, 
and three Massachusetts regiments. Lieut.-Col. R. Fitz Gib- 
bons was in command of the regiment. Major Frederick 
Frye commanded Pass Manchac, and the fort there, includ- 
ing a detachment of the 21st Indiana. Major Frye wrote at 
that time, " Refugees come in daily, — sometimes as many as 



512 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

a dozen at a time, — men, women, and children; ragged, 
half-starved, and worn down with fatigue. What some of 
these mothers, with babes in their arms, suffer, is beyond 
ima«3"ination. Think of a mother and child alone two days and 
nio^hts in a swamp knee-deep, with nothing to eat ; where 
snakes, among them the deadly water moccasin, abound ; 
where in the daytime the heat is insufferable, and at night 
chilly ; losing her way ; struggling through ; and, amid all, 
more afraid of falling again into the enemy's hands than of 
the surrounding dangers, — think of this, and you have but 
an everyday occurrence. And, oh ! with what heartfelt joy 
she smiles, and nestles up her child, when she falls in with a 
Yankee picket ! None of the blacks have had a suit of 
clothes since the war broke out ; and what with liviiiGr in 
the woods, traveling nights, escaping rebel pickets, they have 
but little of the manufactured article about them when they 
reach our lines. Four have just come, — flxir specimens in 
their get-up of a Carnival of Venice. They are the surviv- 
ors of fifteen who started a week ago, and have been in 
woods and swamps, hunted by dogs and rebels ; and, as they 
say, ' De balance do?ie gone squandered.' " 

Col. Cahill continued, during the summer and fall, military 
commandant of New Orleans, in the administration of which 
office he gave much satisfaction. His good judgment and 
decision carried him through several trying situations with 
credit. He commanded a brigade for months, and proved 
himself an enterprising and judicious officer, — successful 
alike as governor of a city and as a leader in heated and 
critical action. 

At several periods during the fall and winter, detachments 
of the regiment were stationed upon the Gulf, along the 
shores of Lake Borgne, iA the defenses at Lakeport, Proc- 
torville, and Chalmette, or on the canal and railroad ; while 
a portion were at the North, and a portion in Texas with 
the field signal-corps. The regiment was serving fixithfully 
in detachments, but had no opportunity to add to its honor- 
able fame. 

During this season, five companies, under Lieut.-Col. Fitz 
Gibbons, had a skirmish with the enemy near Terrebonne. 



THE TENTH AT ST. AUGUSTINE. 5^3 

Company I, Capt. Elliot M. Curtis, was detached to watch 
the cross-roads; while Companies G, under Capt. William 
Wright ; C, under Lieut. A. E. Payne ; E, under Lieut. T. 
F. Gibbons ; D, under Capt. John G. Healy ; K, Capt. Ter- 
rance Sheridan, were sent out to skirmish through the 
swamp towards Chackahoola Station. There was a brisk 
engagement; but the enemy maintained possession. Capt. 
S. W. Sawyer also made several raids into the district to the 
south-east. 

Major Frye wrote from Pass Manchac, referring to the 
natural attractions of the place, — 

" The moccasins and rattlesnakes are quite abundant, and 
apparently old settlers, as we killed one with nine rattles. 
They are quite a protection against a flank movement of the 
enemy through the swamp ; and the alligators actually stick 
their noses into the tents, in hopes of stealing a biscuit or a 
piece of pork. And then all night long the soldier is lulled 
to sleep by the most infernal croaking of tree-toads, and 
kept asleep by the buzzing and biting of myriads of mos- 
quitoes and 3^ellow flies. One knows not how it is ; but 
though every soldier has a mosquito-bar, still daylight will 
find as many inside as out: and then innumerable green lizards 
about four inches long, harmless but sportive, gambol and 
catch flies and mosquitoes freely upon your ftxce or body." 



The Tenth went to St. Auo;ustine, after Fort Wao;ner, 
to recruit its wasted streng;th and to recover from the 
effects of its terrible experience ; but even here it was not 
wholly beyond either toil or danger. Picket and guard 
duty taxed it heavily; and about Jan. 1, 1864, it suffered a 
loss of twenty-two, ambuscaded while out for the protection 
of wood-choppers just beyond the lines. Private William 
A. Burns of Greenwich was killed, and the rest made prison- 
ers. The camp at St. Augustine was thus described by Chap- 
lain H. Clay Trumbull : — 

" The camp is outside the city gates, a short distance beyond the old 
Spanish fort. The location is a good one. New tents of the A pattern have 
been recently secured, and pitched on handsome and regular streets ; being 
lifted some two and a half feet from the ground, and curtained with the 
canvas of the tents before condemned. Good floors and bunks arc being 

66 



514 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

made for all ; and in many cases substantial chimneys are erected of the 
peculiar cochina, or shell-marl, of the vicinity. Good water is obtained by 
little dio'o'iQ"" ; and the wells of the several companies are quite attractive, 
presentin<i' an Oriental appearance, with a barrel-shaft sunk in a large earth 
basin, walled with turf or china, having wide steps of the same descending 
from the street level. Much ingenuity is shown in some of the cook-rooms 
and kitchens, also constructed of turf, or cochina ; while exquisite taste and 
real refinement are often displayed in the interior of some of the tents, adorned 
with the well-arranged arms and military equipments, family photographs, 
home mementoes ; bright, golden clusters of oranges, lemons, or limes ; and 
fragrant boughs of the abounding jessamine ; or bouquets of the rich variety 
of Southern roses and other flowers of this land of bloom and beauty." 

Col. Otis had command of the post ; Capt. J. S. Engles 
was provost-marshal ; Lieut. Benjamin Wright, post-adjutant, 
and Lieut. Sanford B. Pahner, post-quartermaster. Lieut-.- 
Col. Ley;£i;ett commanded the reij-iment at Fort Marion. 
Chaplain Trumbull wrote, " More of the men are to be relied 
on for a fight than for any holiday performance ; more for a 
skirmish than for a dress-parade ; for a battle than for a 
review. For instance, at one time on Morris Island, when 
the greater part of both officers and men were so exhausted 
by the labors of the prolonged siege as to be really unfit for 
service, only seven officers were reported for daily duty; 
but at a night alarm, when an attack was anticipated, fifteen 
officers were with the regiment, with a proportional increase 
in the nnmber of men." 

On April 17, a suspicious-looking craft having been seen 
some distance below, Capt. Engles put off" with some men in 
a row-boat, and captured her as a prize, — a schooner of 
twenty tons' burthen, trying to run the blockade with pri- 
vate stores and fifty thousand percussion-caps. 

The Seventeentli Connecticut came from Folly Island to 
St. Augustine in February, 1864 ; and Col. Noble was again 
placed in command of a brigade. 



The Twelfth, after the battle of Port Hudson, marched 
with other troops southward through the State to relieve 
Western Louisiana of rebel domination. Brashear City was 
recovered. While here, Lieut. Stanton Allyn of the Twelfth 
died in hospital on Aug. 28. He was a son of Col. Roswell Al- 
lyn of Ledyard, and a young man of high promise. "Among 



THE TWELFTH AT NEW IBERIA. 525 

all his comrades at school, he was without a peer. Books 
were his constant companions, and he carried the head of a 
man on his youthful shoulders." ° He had thought to adopt 
the legal profession ; but, when the war broke out, he stepped 
into the line without a moment's hesitation. He went bravely 
through every battle, — Georgia Landing, Irish Bend, Bis- 
land, and the long, terrible weeks at Port Hudson. On the 
fatal 10th of June, in that disastrous charge, he was fore- 
most, and with a few of his men gained a position under the 
enemy's guns, lying till night came upon the rebel parapet. 
Lieut. Allyn was in the column of a thousand heroes which 
Banks summoned as a forlorn hope. 

'* The great strain upon Lieut. Allyn's nerves during the 
progress of this siege was too much for him to bear ; enter- 
ing upon the siege in a state of convalescence, he was quite 
unfit for its trials. A few weeks more of exposure to the rains 
and scorching suns brought him low : a violent fever seized 
upon his system, and shortly after swept him away." ' He 
was much loved and deeply mourned ; and those who knew 
him best felt that the Rebellion had not in its heavy 
exaction of loyal blood required the life of a nobler man. 

November, 1863, found the regiment encamped on an 
old cotton-field, three miles below the town of New Iberia 
on the Teche. A soldier wrote home at that time, — 

" The men have shelter-tents (mere strips of cloth which 
they button together), and the ofiicers have A tents about 
six feet square ; but, in your well-furnished parlors in Con- 
necticut, you can scarcely conceive how we prize these little 
comforts. Almost six months we were — men and officers 
too — without any tents whatever; exposed to all kinds 
of hardship ; making long marches ; fighting hard battles ; 
enduring heat, hunger; crowded on boats where all could 
not find room to lie down; drinking the most miserable 
water, from which even cattle at home would turn away in 
disgust; always in front, and subject to constant alarms; 
building railroads and bridges ; and then, instead of a quiet 
camp in which to recruit our wasted energies, spending the 
worst season in the year, viz., — August and September, — in 

^ Vide Sketch iu Connecticut War Eecord, 1864, by Ledyard Bill. '^Ibid. 



516 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

one of the most unhealthy locaUties in Louisiana. Nearly 
all the regiment were sick at Brashear City ; so that the fall 
campaign was entered with less than two hundred men for 
duty, and with nearly three hundred in the various hospitals 
of tlie department." 

Col. Colburn (still on detached service), after building for 
government the steamboat Col. Colburn, already referred to, 
was made superintendent successively of the Opelousas and 
the Jackson Railroads, and put both in running order. A 
man of great skill and energy, he made himself exceedingly 
useful in many ways. 

Lieut.-Col. Frank H. Peck commanded a brigade at New 
Iberia ; while Capt. S. E. Clark commanded the regiment, 
in the absence of Major George N. Lewis, not yet recovered 
from the serious wound he received at Port Hudson. 

During:; November and December, the men of the reo-iment 
mostly re-enlisted; and during the first week in January they 
started for New Orleans, on the way to take their veteran 
furlough. The general commanding the division issued the 
following complimentary order, richly deserved: — 

Headquarters First Division, 19th Army Corps, 
New Iueria, La., Jan. 1, 1864. 

General Orders No. 2. — The Twelfth Connecticut Volunteers, Lieut.- 
Col. F. H. Peck commanding, having re-enlisted, will comply with 
Special Orders No. 1, from headquarters 19tli Army Corps, and proceed 
to New Orleans. 

The general commanding the division thinks it due to this regiment, and 
to the lieutenant-colonel commanding it, to express his high opinion of its 
good conduct, whether in the face of the enemy or in camp, and especially 
the promptness with which it has come forward to re-enlist under the first 
call of the President of the United States. 

The regiment is the first that has been called upon under the law. It 
has set a good example. The country, and the authorities which represent 
the country, will not fail to honor the Twelfth Connecticut. 
By command of Brig.-Gen. Emory. 

Frederick Speed, A. A. General. 

At New Orleans the regiment arrived in the cold and 
rain, and took up quarters in the old Picayune cotton-press 
in the lower part-of the city. A member of the regiment 
wrote before startino; for home, "Those unaccustomed to a 
soldier's life know little what we endure of personal discom- 
fort. Think of two years' life without sleeping in a bed ! 



THE SECOND LIGHT BATTERY IN NEW YOEK. 517 

without undressing a single night ! — a board or the ground 
3'our softest bed, the ration of the sokliers possessing Uttle 
variety; but it is wonderfid how we get used to these 
things, and eat to live, not live to eat. But we don't care for 
the hardships. We are in for putting down this Rebellion, 
and sweeping the rebels from the face of the earth ; and we 
are going to stick to it : and we are sho^Ying the rebels, some 
of whom in this section know the Twelfth Connecticut well, 
that we can hold out as long as they cany 

This seemed to be the spirit of the regiment ; for it fur- 
nished one-fourth more re-enlisting veterans than any other 
infantry regiment from the State. After a veteran furlough 
of thirty days, the Twelfth left New Haven on May 8, 1864, 
and returned to Carrollton, La., with about four hundred 
veterans and eighty recruits. The old Enfield arms were 
exchanged for Springfield rifles, a more efl&cient weapon. 
The regiment soon received additional recruits, and insti- 
tuted rigorous drill until it was ordered to return, to Fort- 
ress Monroe in July. 

The Second Connecticut Light Cattery, under Capt. John 
W. Sterling, was encamped on the front line of the army, 
near Wolf-Run Shoals, on the Occoquan, in Virginia, from Jan- 
uar}' to midsummer ori8G3, leading rather an uneventful life. 
The captain now reported to Brig.-Gen. R. 0. Tyler, com- 
manding all the reserve artillery of the Army of the Potomac; 
and the battery fought gallantly under that officer at Get- 
tysburg, as has already appeared. After the battle, Capt. 
Sterling took his battery to Camp Barry, Washington, to re- 
fit ; and on the 15th of August it was ordered to New York 
for defense against rioters in case of draft. Headquarters 
were first at East New York, then on the Battery ; sections 
being at Troy, Kingston, Tarrytown, and other places, under 
Lieuts. Miles Gray and Philo B. Sherman. About the mid- 
dle of October, tents w^ere struck, and the battery returned 
to Washington ; where it was thoroughly re-equipped. New 
carriages were furnished, and the armament w^as changed to 
six 3-inch rifled guns. In January, 1864, the battery was 
embarked for New Orleans, where it was assigned to the 



518 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

outer defenses at Brashear City. Frequent raids and occa- 
sional attacks were made by the rebels; but the post was 
held throug-h the summer. 



Midwinter of 1863-64 found the Thirteenth at Thibodeau, 
as comfortable as the mud and cold would allow. On New- 
Year's eve, a handsome sword and equipments were pre- 
sented to Gen. Birge by his old regiment. Capt. McCord 
had selected them at Tiffany's at an expense of five hundred 
dollars. Here Quartermaster Joseph B. Bromley, one of the 
most genial men in the service, gave his brother-officers " a 
scientific supper." 

The rebel citizens seem to have had a wholesome fear, if 
not esteem, for the soldiers in their midst. Col. Sprague 
tells of a fugitive slave-woman, who recovered her clothing, 
retained by her late master, on presenting the following for- 
midable document : — 

Headquarters Company A, 13th Conn. Vols., 
Thibodeau, Jan. 29, 1864. 

General Orders No. 1. — Lucinda (colored) is hereby appointed 
laundress of Company A, Thirteenth Connecticut Volunteers. She will 
be obeyed and respected accordingly. 

J. C. Kinney, 

Lieutenant Commanding Companij A, loth G. V. 

Our soldiers in the war had reason to adopt the language 
of the old revolutionist : — 

" I am proud to see 
Men, not afraid of God, afraid of me." 

On March 25, the regiment embarked, and went to New 
Orleans ; and thence up the Mississippi and Red River as a 
part of the expeditionary force under Gen. Banks. Gen. 
Birge commanded the brigade, which included the Thirteenth. 
Three days later, they debarked at Alexandria, encamped a 
few days, and moved on a steamer to Grand Ecore. Here 
the whole army fliced towards Slirevej)ort, and, going 
through Grand Ecore, formed a continuous semicircle around 
the rear of the village. For several nights, the soldiers slept 
on their arms amid alarms and countless speculations. 
Breastworks were thrown up. The enemy was evidently 



THE BATTLE OF CANE EIVER. 519 

in front. After a week of tedious occupation, Banks turned 
his army down the river, and marched out on the old Natchi- 
toches Road, along the banks of Cane River. The rebels, 
mostly mounted, kept in front, and were apparently in- 
creasing. 

On the 23d, the enemy stood, and gave battle. Birge 
took his brigade across the river to Ml upon the rebel flank 
and rear. The Thuteenth waded the stream first, the water 
w\aist-deep. Line was immediately formed ; and the force 
advanced silently a mile through the woods. The command 
was given not to fire a musket-shot, but to carry the position 
with the bayonet. Col. Blinn led the Thirteenth. The 
line steadily advanced, and drove the rebels from the first 
summit they had occupied, and moved among the trees down 
the opposite slope. Col. Sprague says, — 

" Suddenly the thousand-fold rattle of musketry and rapid 
discharges of artillery, the foe being invisible and yet appar- 
ently within touching distance, struck a momentary con- 
sternation in our ranks. They halted as if paralyzed. The 
moment was a trying one. We had been ambushed, and 
completely taken by surprise. A Braddock defeat stared 
us in the flice. We could not stand under that witherins; 
fire, and we would not retreat. ' The Thirteenth never re- 
treats,' we shouted, and ' Forward, forward ! At them with 
the bayonet ! ' We leaped over the fence into and out of the 
ravine ; one or two companies on the right dashing across 
the narrow bridge. We rushed rapidly towards the rifle 
smoke and flash. Some twenty of Meissner's cavalry came 
dashing back pell-mell through our ranks. Many of them 
were covered with blood ; horses and riders were falling ; 
Meissner himself shot through and through; Gen. Birge 
borne along hatless by the tide ; Capt. Young of Banks's 
staff with limbs horribly mangled by a shell ; eighteen of 
the thirty troopers being killed or wounded ; the whole 
scene tending to strike a panic into the two regiments. 
Many of the men fell flat on their faces to escape the storm 
of shot: some started to retreat. Col. Fiske was heard 
above the din, exclaiming, ' Stand up ! For God's sake, stand 
up like men ! ' Most of the officers joined in the same com- 



520 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

mands ; and the universal shout of, ' Forward, forward ! ' 
ao"ain rose. The two regiments wavered but a moment, and 
then plunged wildly on towards the enemy. A crooked ra- 
vine, running diagonally across the field, and filled with 
interlacing vines, arrested our disorderly advance, and afford- 
ed shelter. For ten or fifteen minutes, the firing continued." 

An arrangement was now made for a final advance, still 
relying on the bayonet alone ; and when shortly the charge 
was made, the enemy had fled, and the field was won. So 
ended the battle of Cane River. Thenceforward the return 
to Alexandria was not seriously impeded. There was a sharp 
fight below Marksville, and an artillery duel on Mansura 
Plains; and, on May 17, the column reached Simsport, and 
marched along the same bayou where the route had lain 
just a year before. The enemy attacked the wagon-trains; 
but Quartermaster William Bishop brought the wagons of 
the Thirteenth off" safely. The regiment encamped on the 
Mississippi just above Morganza, where it lay for several 
weeks. 

On June 19, the enemy was reported in force up at Tunica 
Bend; and the division which included the Thirteenth moved 
up to give them battle. They encountered a small party of 
guerrillas ; but the main force of rebels had fled. The military 
service of the Thirteenth in Louisiana was ended ; for about 
the middle of July came the long-delayed " veteran fur- 
lough," and the regiment embarked for home. 



The veterans from all the old regiments were received in 
the State with the most overwhelming demonstrations of 
gratitude and affection. People from every county rallied 
at New Haven and Hartford to greet them. The line of 
march was magnificent with flags, welcoming devices, and 
patriotic decorations. Almost every house bore signals of 
the general joy. The streets were crowded, and cheer fol- 
lowed cheer through the awakened city. The cannon 
roared and the bells clanged in jubilee. A double reception 
was given most of the regiments, — first in New Haven, 
then in Hartford. 



GOV. BUCKINGHAM'S ADDRESS TO THE VETERANS. 521 

The Eighth and Eleventh, which had always been bri- 
gaded together, and were strongly attached, came home in 
company. They reached New Haven on Jan. 15, and were 
most warmly and cordially greeted. They mustered three 
hundred men each. 

They were escorted to Music Hall by a military proces- 
sion, accompanied by an immense throng. Mayor Tyler was 
ready to welcome them in grateful words ; but they had 
eaten no breakfast, and were straightway bidden to partake 
of the bounteous collation there spread. In Hartford, AUjai 
Hall was elaborately ornamented with war-flags and eulogis- 
tic mottoes. 

Gov. Buckingham addressed the veterans as follows : — 

Gen. Harland, and Officers and Men of the EigIith and Elev- 
enth Regiments, — In behalf of the General Assembly and the citizens 
of Connecticut, I greet you with a cordial welcome, — not as long-lost prod- 
igals who have neglected their duty to themselves and their homes, but as 
devoted sons who have gone in their manhood from parental roofs, and, 
after achieving brilliant success thi'ough heroic deeds and sacrifices, return, 
crowned with glory, to receive the blessings of parents and friends, 

T remember the time, not long in the past, when a certain race of men 
declared to the Avorld, that, from the corner-stone of human bondage, they 
would erect a government of their own in defiance of law and constitu- 
tional obligations ; and that they raised armies to carry out their bold dec- 
laration, though the land should be deluged in blood, I remember that 
they, in their madness, struck at the old flag of their country as it waved 
over Fort Sumter ; and that earnest men, fired with the zeal and patriot- 
ism which should animate every true American heart, while on their way 
to defend the capital of the nation, were shot down in the streets of 
Baltimore by an infuriated mob stimulated to bloody deeds by the desire 
to overthrow liberty that slavery might live. Then it was that you 
stepped out from your Avorkshops and fields of labor, and, bidding adieu 
for the time being to peaceful pursuits and the enjoyments of home, buckled 
on the armor of brave men, and marched to distant fifelds to defend the 
national life from the assaults of a wicked and desperate foe, I remember 
— and the people of Connecticut remember — your full ranks as you stood 
shoulder to shoulder, two thousand strong, when leaving the boi'ders of the 
State ; and since that time watchful eyes and prayerful hearts have not 
lost sight of you. Through all the vicissitudes and dangers of the battle- 
field, you have been watched with eager anxiety, ^V^e remember when, 
Avith the indomitable Burnside, you landed on the sands of Roanoke Island, 
through the battling waves of Ilatteras, to the securcment of a foothold in 
the old North State. We remember you at Newberuc, at South Mountain, 
and at other fields where your valor has been displayed Avith untold honor 
to yourselves and your native State. At A.ntietam, Avhere your gallant 
Col. Kingsbury laid doAvn his life ; where the intrepid GrisAvold led the 
way across that fatal stream, and died heroically ; where the brave Lieut. 
66 



522 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Wait would not leave his post, though wounded mortally, — we remember 
you with particular devotion. It is in that record that we find the names 
of sixty-nine of your numbers who knew how sweet it was to die for their 
country, and of over two hundred more who died in defense of libex'ty. 
And we owe you who stood at their side a debt of gratitude Avhich Ave 
can never repay. We would have your names inscribed on the finest mar- 
ble and granite ; but, if that can not be, you may rest assured, that, engraved 
on the brightest pages of history, the names of the nation's defenders 
will ever stii'the gratitude of those who shall read hereafter the history 
of this Rebellion. 

Though your flags come back tattered and torn, they are crowned with 
glory, and will ever stand, with the names of bloody battle-fields which are 
inscribed upon them, as faithful witnesses of your struggles in defense of 
constitutional liberty. 

I feel grateful to God that you are here ; that you come to us with such 
a noble record. Your re-enlistment is evidence that you first entered the 
service of your country from motives of patriotism, and are ready to fight 
on, giving your lives, if need be, to the maintenauce of those principles 
Avhich lie close to the heart of every true lover of his country. So loug as 
our hearts continue to beat true to liberty, so long Avill they cherish with 
gratitude the services of the Eiglith and Eleventh Connecticut Regiments. 

After another speech by Rowland Swift, Esq., and an ex- 
cellent dinner, they dispersed, to seek that tenderer recep- 
tion by fathers, mothers, wives, and sisters, in many happy 
homes. 

The Seventh was soon announced. The common council 
of New Haven voted a thousand dollars to pay the expenses 
of the reception, A stirring committee of influential citizens 
— Major F. Wayland. jr., Major B. F. Mansfield, Capt. R. R 
Cowles, Charles W. Allen, Henry E. Pardee, Charles T. Gril- 
ley, and John G. North — was appointed to co-operate with 
the common council. The regiment arrived on the 28th, 
and was escorted through the city by an immense pro- 
cession. 

" Residences and stores along the route were tastefully 
decorated. The stars and stripes floated everywhere, and, 
seeming almost instinct with the spirit of the hour, waved 
mute but grand welcome. A thousand miniatures of the 
broad national ensign, in fair hands and in tiny hands, waved 
lively and patriotic greeting. A sweet and gracefal little 
Goddess of Liberty, eight years of age, at the residence of 
Dr. Skiff", made many a sturdy soldier-heart beat quicker 
w^ith pride and pleasure. The streets swarmed with an 
eager, vociferous crowd. Every window displayed an aston- 



CONTINUED EETUEN OF VETERANS. 523 

ishing number of faces, — all lively, good-naturecl, and intent to 
do honor to the returning braves. Cheers, blessings, boister- 
ous and hearty recognitions, blended with the roar of cannon 
and merry bells — never before so noisy — to form a bewilder- 
ing tumult of joyous sounds." 

At Music Hall, they were greeted by Mayor Tyler; and 

Rev. Dr. Bacon (whose son, Capt. Theodore Bacon, was in the 

regiment) made the welcoming address. Chaplain Wayland 

. eloquently responded, and the following is an extract from 

his speech : — 

" As we look over these rauks, feelings of sadness oppress us as we 
remember that all are not here whom we took with us from the State. 
Some, in consequence of woimds and sickness incurred in the service, were 
deemed by the medical examiner unfit to bear the toils of another term of 
service. Others, alas ! are languishing in the dungeons of the capital of 
the enemy's country. Others are no more. They lie all along the Southern 
coast. They crov^'d the slope of Fort Wagner. They sleep under the pines 
of Hilton Head and the live-oaks of St. Helena and Beaufort. The waves 
oa lone Tybee murmur near their graves. They sleep in the modest en- 
closure under the captured walls of Fort Pulaski. They repose in Fernan- 
dina. At St. Augustine, they lie in the military buryiug-ground, beside 
the dead of the old Florida War, consecrating anew that spot of time-hon- 
ored and patriotic memories. As I think of these, — of Hitchcock, a son of 
New Haven, of others not less worthy of honor, — I would God they were 
here to-day to witness and to share this greeting ! Indeed, they are not 
altogether absent." 

Next day the Sixth arrived, and had a grand midnight 
reception, amid an exhibition of fireworks. The success of 
this was credited largely to the energy and enterprise of 
Alderman Marble. Music Hall was decorated, and the vete- 
rans sat down to an abundant supper. 

The Fifth was received in Hartford on the 25th with 
nnabated enthusiasm, and was escorted to the City Hall by 
an undiminished throng. An earnest speech of welcome 
was made by H. C. Robinson, Esq. ; w^hen the brave fellows 
were led forward to the charge upon the laden dinner-tables. 

The veterans of the Tenth, under Major E. S. Greeley, 
arrived at New Haven on Feb. 19, and left for Hartford next 
morning. They "were received in Hartford with all honors, 
escorted proudly about the cit}^, and marched to a collation 
at the City Hall. Here Rev. Mr, Calkins welcomed the regi-- 
ment. Chaplain Henry Clay Trumbull, coming into the hall, 



524 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

was hailed with repeated cheers by the men, who insisted 
that he should make a speech. He addresed them as fol- 
lows : — 

" Companions of the Tenth, — I am glad to see you here iu my own 
home. I am glad you are here to prove what I have so often said about 
you, — that you are men of whom Connecticut may well be proud. You 
have shown your devotion to the cause by re-enlisting for three years ; and 
I believe you would enlist for thirty years if necessary to secure the full 
triumph of that flag. 

" But not all of your number are here. More than forty of your officers 
and men are gone. And some who are now here will not be here again. 
You know that well. We honor you for what you have done, and for 
what you will do. More than sixty times you have been in line of battle ; 
and you will, if need be, be in line of battle sixty or a hundred times more, 
and go forward and never flinch. 

" I have heard it said that veterans re-enlisted for the bounties and 
furloughs. When I was in prison at Columbia, S.C., I saw that tested. 
There were soldiers and sailors suflTering for the want of a little money. 
But when Beauregard's officers came and offered them money without stint, 
and furloughs to go where they pleased, if they woidd answer a few questions 
about our army, not one American soldier or sailor listened : there wasn't 
money enough coined to- buy up these soldiers. When at Whitehall our forces 
were being swept by a murderous fire (the river was before them, but no 
bridge), and volunteers were called for to swim that icy stream and fell trees 
in the face of that deadly fire, they sprang forward from the Connecticut 
Tenth. When an expedition to attack Fort Sumter was forming, and men 
were wanted to march to certain death, — to carry powder to blow up the 
postern gate of Sumter, that others might obtain entrance over their bodies, 
— volunteers stepped forward from the Connecticut Tenth. 

" I am glad to meet you here, soldiers ; and I ask no better place than 
to be with you anywhere, till our work shall be ended." 

The chaplain was presented with an elegant sword : on the 
hilt was set a silver cross, and on the blade engraved the fol- 
lowing text of Scripture, '• Let the high praises of God be 
in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand." 

The Twelfth, under Lieut.-Col. Frank II. Peck, having re- 
enlisted almost unanimously, arrived in New Haven on 
Feb. 12. Here and in Hartford they were feted and eulo- 
gized ; Ezra Hall of Marlborough making a stirring speech 
of welcome at the City Hall in Hartford. 

The Ninth, Col. Thomas Cahill in command, arrived at 
New Haven, April 15, and had a handsome reception on 
short notice. The people seemed not to tire of these 
displays ; but each return of the heroes of the war seemed 
. to summon a larger crowd than the last. The veterans were 
escorted to the State House to a dinner, where they were 



EECEPTION OF THE NINTH AND THIRTEENTH. 525 

welcomed by Ma3^or Tyler. Rev. Matthew Hart of St. Pat- 
rick's Church delivered a brief address, of which the follow- 
in o; is an extract : — 

" We hoped for great things from you ; and I proclaim before you that 
our hopes have not been disappointed, — no, not in a single instance. "We 
have followed you from Ship Island to Pass Christian since your first en- 
counters in the war, when, after having conquered the fathers, you gave 
bx'ead to the starving children. We followed you to New Orleans. We 
found you in the expedition bound for Vicksbnrg. There many of your 
noble brothers in arms laid down their lives upon their country's altar. 
Sacred be their memories to-night ! Honored be the graves in which 
their patriotic dust is laid to rest ! and may our country, for which they 
died, care for their widows and orphaned ones ! From Vicksburg, we 
Avatched your steps to Baton Rouge, now made famous by your exploits ; 
where, after a most desperate contest, lasting for six houi'S, your gallant 
colonel (Cahill) was placed in command, by whose efforts the day was 
won, and the enemy defeated, forced to retire, leaving their dead and 
wounded in your hands. You have done well. We are proud of you. 
Other regiments may have fought more than you, because they had it to 
do. You have done all the fighting given you to do, and done it Avell. 
We honor you, therefore, and were proud of you when we heard of your 
congratulatory orders, and your compliments for discipline and bravery." 

The Thirteenth, under Col. C. D. Blinn of West Cornwall, 
did not reach New Haven until July 26. The veterans were 
cordially greeted. Gov. Buckingham made a short address, 
of which the following is an extract: — 

"• We know that the dangers which you have braved have not dampened 
your ardor nor quenched your patriotism ; but you have re-enlisted to give 
yourselves for three years more to the country, and, through the country, to 
God. Those at home appreciate your services and your devotion ; and, 
though you may sometimes feel that there is a coldness toward you, let me 
tell you it is only in appearance : there is a feeling in this people's heart 
which perhaps no other people have cherished towards their brave sol- 
diers. Let me tell you, that, so long as this heart beats, it will beat with 
gratitude and love for the men who have oflfered themselves as a bulwark 
to the nation. So long as this voice can speak, so long will it speak in 
praise of the men of the Thirteenth Connecticut. God bless you ! I 
welcome you to the City and the State." 

The veteran regiments received many recruits at home ; 
and they marched back again to the front, when their brief 
furlough was ended, followed by the benedictions of the 
State, and made readier by the touch of loving hands for 
the last death-grapple with the Rebellion. 




CHAPTER XXXII. 

The Sixteenth in Rebel Prisons. — Tlie Enlisted Men at Andersonvillc. — Eations. — 
Terrible Suffering in the Stockade. — The " Dead-Line." — Starvation. — Insanity. 
— The Patriot's Bnrial. — The Hospital. — OfRcers at Macon. — Chivalry and Blood- 
hounds. — The " Glorious Fourth." — In Charleston. — Efforts to Escape. — Ex- 
change. 

LYMOUTH was the end of the active war-life of 
the Sixteenth. Ahnost a year of captivity was 
before them, — the year when rebel prisons 
were the portals of death. Of the four hun- 
dred enlisted men, less than two hundred ever 
escaped to tell the story of the starvation and nameless tor- 
tures in the loathsome hell of Andersonville. The cowardly 
jjersecution of prisoners of war had. not then culminated; 
and the men had but a very faint foreshadowing of the 
ghastly future, as they dropped their burnished arms, and 
stepped into the midst of the exulting " graybacks." 

The Sixteenth had fallen into the hands of a detail of the 
35th North-Carolina, kindly-disposed fellows, who treated 
Union soldiers with some humanity and respect.^ The 
prisoners were not plundered, but retained their blankets, 
overcoats, and all clothing and personal property. They 
perhaps abused their privileges ; for the soldiers tell, that, as 
they marched into Williamston, they howled into the ears 
of their indulgent escort the song, — 

"John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave." 

The hard-tack and raw pork captured at Plymouth were 
dealt out in slim rations. At Hamilton, some of the officers 

1 The following account of the imprisonment of the enlisted men is mainly com- 
piled from Life and Death iu Rebel Prisons; a book by Sergeant-Major Robert H. 
Kellogg of the Sixteenth. 
526 



ANDERSONVILLE PEISOK 527 

bought corn-meal pone at five dollars a small loaf; and 
the prisoners struck up a " right smart of trading " with the 
guard. Those who were deserters from the rebel army 
were taken out to be shot. "For a piece of pie," says Ser- 
geant Kellogg, " I gave the last ' greenback ' dollar I had in 
the world. Some time before, our forces had made a raid 
to Elizabeth City ; and some of the men, breaking into the 
Farmers' Bank, appropriated to themselves a large number 
of unsigned certificates of deposit. These were now filled 
out with any names most convenient, and passed with the 
greatest readiness as good, sound money." 

They staid a w^iile in Tarborough ; thence by rail, uncom- 
fortably enough, to Wilmington ; thence to Charleston, 
arriving May 1 ; thence to Savannah ; thence to Macon. 
Here the officers found quarters. The enlisted men sped on 
si§:ty miles south-westward to Andersonville. As they 
entered, they were shocked to see the prisoners reduced to 
mere walking skeletons by privation and exposure, and cov- 
ered with filth and vermin. A ration for a day consisted of 
a pint and a half of coarse corn-meal, two ounces of musty 
Ijacon, and a pinch of salt. The first night, ten died near 
the position of the Sixteenth. The old prisoners called it, 
with a touching humoi', '• being exchanged." 

Men were shot for wandering; over the " dead-line," or for 
crossing the brook. On the fifth night, a squad tunneled 
out; but they w^ere hunted down with bloodhounds, cap- 
tured, and returned ; some of them horribly lacerated. The 
dead were piled, just as they were, one upon another, in 
wagon-loads, carted out, thrown into a ditch, and covered 
with earth ; and that was the patriot's burial. 

Sometimes women came to the gates, and amused them- 
selves by throwing in bread, and witnessing the eagerness 
with which the poor fellows scrambled to get it. The men 
had no bed but the ground ; too little food to support life, 
and not w^ood enough to cook even that little ; clothing that 
did not cover their nakedness. Rations were cut down one- 
half. 

There was great rejoicing at the news brought by prison- 
ers from Sherman's army ; and the fact that telegraph dis- 



528 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

patches were cut from the pcapers which were handed in 
filled the men with hope and enthusiasm. The rebels were 
very ignorant. A pompous Confederate officer in search of 
a clerk addressed a newly-arrived lot of prisoners one day, 
" If there is a man among you that can write his name, he 
may step this way." Of course, the whole crowd charged 
on the inquirer, to his infinite amazement and perplexity. 

Suffering became extreme. Men died every hour, and 
were carted off" like cattle. Rations grew worse and w^orse. 
One day a cripple, unable to hold his way any longer, and 
filled with despair, deliberately crossed the dead-line, and 
refused to go out; telling the sentry that he wished to die. 
The sentinel shot the poor fellow dead ; and the released 
soul could not have found at the hand of a lovinsj Father 
any other hell, like that from which it had escaped. 

The prisoners made sundry attempts to dig out; but eveyy 
time, just as they were upon the eve of accomplishing their 
escape, they were betrayed. After a while, the rations were 
varied to one bucket of mush for forty-five men. Those 
who still had life enough left for a facetious word called it 
" chicken-feed ; " for it was nothing but coarse corn-meal and 
water, half cooked. 

About the 1st of June, a large number of prisoners came 
in from Butler's army, including twenty-foi]r of the Eighth 
Connecticut, fifty-two of the Seventh, a hundred and thirty 
of the Eleventh, and fifteen of the Twenty-first. 

Rations were again reduced ; and rains came on, beating 
mercilessly on the unsheltered thousands. Many died of 
exposure ; and corpses were now carried from the stockade at 
the rate of a hundred a day. The ration w^as a few teaspoon- 
fuls of uncooked rice, and two ounces of bacon, to be cooked 
and eaten amid the mud and desolation of the place. One 
or two could almost always be seen at the brookside, whither 
they had crawled to die. Every week, some were killed at 
the dead-line ; one being; shot for reachino; over to o-et a 
root to kindle fire with : and constantl}^, through the long 
and dreary months, the hopeless prisoners were tortured 
anew with the promise of immediate exchange. 

Large gangs of prisoners, from fifty to five hundred a 



GREAT SUFFERINGS OF THE PRISONERS. 529 

day, were brought within the stockade, which increased the 
number, notwithstanding the loads of the dead daily carted 
out. Every week, the waiting skeletons heard from the 
armies of Grant, Butler, and Sherman. On the 4th of July, 
a little raw food was thrown in to them, and they were de- 
nied wood wherewith to cook it. Some of the wasted crea- 
tures gave their morsels away to others, declaring that they 
were tired of fighting for life, and were resolved to die of 
the hunger that had seized them. Many were now too 
emaciated, even if they could have obtained wood, to cook 
the bits of bacon on which masi;o;ots were crawlino;. Yet 
the day was not wholly forgotten ; for Kellogg says, '' One 
of the boys had a few percussion-caps, and, by snapping 
these with a fragment of brick upon a tenpenny nail, we had 
a miniature celebration." 

A petition to President Lincoln for exchange was at this 
time circulated ; but the men of the Sixteenth generally 
refused to sign it, on the ground that it might embarrass the 
government in its dealings with the Rebellion ; and that the 
loyal authorities were already, doubtless, doing what they 
could. There were now thirty thousand in the stockade. 
A rebel contractor came in to induce men to desert, and 
promised them good rations and pa}^ if they would go out 
and make shoes for the Confederacy : but the starving pa- 
triots resolutely refused such service ; and the recruiting cob- 
bler was hooted and jeered out of the stockade. It was now 
Aug. 1 ; and the distress had become very great. Some of 
the Sixteenth died nearly every day. 

The prisoners had nothing to shield them from the thun- 
der-storms and the burning sun. Many were insane. One 
poor fellow would strip off his rags, and wallow in the dirty 
stream where the men both washed, and quenched their 
thirst. Sergeant Kellogg asked him, " Why don't you wash, 
and not stay there in the sun ? " His hopeless reply was, 
" I am waitins: for the water to become clear." Alas ! it 
would never run clear for him ; for the rebel cook-house was 
on its brink outside, and the prisoner's .sink upon its brink 
inside. Hundreds lost their lives by scurvy. A member 
of the 52d New-York became corrupt while still conscious 

67 



530 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

in life, and his body was literally devoured. Parts became 
raw and bloody ; and the filthy maggots could be seen issu- 
ing from his nose and mouth. 

Uncooked, meager rations, with no wood, was the rule ; no 
soap, no salt ; and at night the famished, wretched men 
threw themselves on the wet ground to think over again 
the promise of exchange repeated during the day, and then 
to fill into uneasy slumbers, and dream of being guests at a 
luxurious banquet, or a Thanksgiving dinner in Connecticut, 
— to dream for the hundredth time about the pleasant home- 
circle, and to listen to — 

" The echoes that start, 
While Memory plays its old tune on the heart." 

In the hospital, matters were just as bad. To enter was 
to face almost certain death. " The emaciated, pain-racked 
frames had no place to rest but the cold, hard ground ; and 
in numberless instances their heads were pillowed on nothing 
softer than a stick of wood. The skin would often wear 
away, leaving their bodies sore." ~ Many of these were the 
manly youths who had left Connecticut with patriotism in 
their heart, fire in their eye, vigor in their arm, elasticity in 
their step ; the pride of countless homes, the idols of many 
hearts, for whose return love was still keeping its hearth- 
stone bright, — now treated like vagabonds and outlaws ! A 
day's ration for these invalids consisted of '■ a piece of corn- 
bread about two inches square, and about two ounces of 
meat. I have seen hundreds of cases of scurvy, where the 
men have actually starved to death, being unable to eat the 
coarse food furnished." ~ 

" My patients are in a deplorable condition. In the first, 
second, and third wards, we have no bunks ; the patients 
being obliged to lie upon the ground, many of them without 
blankets, or any covering whatsoever. We have men in this 
ward who are a living, moving mass of putrefaction, and can 
not possibly be cured unless we can make them more com- 
fortable." 2 " 

In the stockade and hospital, three thousand died during 

^ Sergeant Hiram Buckingham of the Sixteenth. 

8 Report of Dr. Thoruherg, rebel surgeon, to the authorities. 



EXPEEIENCE OF THE CAPTUEED OEFICEES. 531 

August, and thirteen thousand during the summer. At last, 
in September, the men of the Sixteenth still living were 
taken out, and transported to Charleston, imder promise of 
exchange. But here again they were turned into a camp 
on the race-course, and were again in prison. The Sisters 
of Charity — those Roman-Catholic angels of mercy, who 
were omnipresent in good deeds throughout the war — ad- 
ministered greatly to their comfort. About the 1st of Octo- 
ber, the yellow-fever made its appearance ; and they were 
taken to Florence and another stockade. Here some Union 
soldiers, broken down with sickness, exposure, and starva- 
tion, enlisted in the rebel army, on a promise of food and 
clothintj;. About the 1st of December, most of the survivins: 
members of the Sixteenth were taken to Savaunah, and ex- 
changed ; going North immediately on a steamer. They had 
endured tortures such as no battle-field witnesses; and their 
sufferings for the Union cause had doubtless been ecjual to 
those of any regiment from the State. 

The officers had an experience scarcely less terrible. They 
arrived at Macon early in May, and were put into a pen, 
with one thousand and ninety-five others. Chaplain Charles 
Dixon of Wallingford preached in the evening from Exodus 
iii. 2. The rations were very poor, and the most of the offi- 
cers soon expended their last dollar in purchasing food. 
Many attempts to escape were planned ; but few were suc- 
cessful. Major Pasco was a member of a band of eighty, 
bent on escape by tunneling. They w^ere betrayed ; and the 
officer in command ordered Major Pasco, who stood near, to 
fill up the tunnel. A revolver was held menacingly at his 
breast ; but he resolutely refused. He was then taken from 
the prison ; and the authorities threatened to '^ make an ex- 
ample of him" by hanging him, unless he should comply 
with the demand, and furnish other information that was 
required. He showed no sign of yielding, and was finally 
recommitted. 

On June 10, fifty of the highest Union officers in the 
hands of the Confederates were taken from prison, and ex- 
posed in Charleston, under and in range of the guns of 
Gilmore from Morris Island. Among these was Lieut.-Col. 



532 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

Burnliam. They received the outrage complacently ; and, 
within two weeks, lifty of the highest rebel officers were con- 
fined within a hot inclosure on Morris Island, watching the 
plunging shots that dropped about them from the rebel forts.. 
This prompt retaliation brought about an exchange of the 
two parties, after little delay. 

Sixteen officers of the Eighteenth Connecticut, from Libby, 
arrived at the Macon stockade about the same time. The 
inclosure measured two and a half acres, and contained from 
a thousahd to eighteen hundred prisoners. Capt. Henry 
C. Davis, one of the best officers of the Eighteenth, has writ- 
ten, '" The treatment of the officers was inhuman, and in 
strong contrast with the treatment in Libby. We were 
herded together like cattle, and for a long time without any 
shelter from the storm or the burning sun. Chronic diar- 
rhea, fever, scurvy, constantly diminished our ranks. Rations 
were issued once in five days, and consisted of seven pints 
of coarse corn-meal, half a pint of sorghum, one-seventh of a 
pound of maggoty, rancid bacon, two table-spoonfuls of beans 
(black and wormy), two table-spoonfuls of salt ; this for 
each man for five days." 

One night, three tunnels were nearly completed, but were 
discovered. The Morning Republican, under the head of 
The Escaping Yankee Doodles, had an editorial which 
closed as follows : — 

" We have hundreds of dogs, trained to catch negroes, 
which are thirsting for blood, and are ready to be put on the 
trail of escaping Yankees. We will use them for the benefit 
of all who attempt to escape ; and the best thing the Doodles 
can do is to remain under the protecting care of their rebel 
superiors." 

On the 4th of July, the rebels gave them four roll-calls 
in the morning;. " An officer hoisted a small United-States 
flag, which we all cheered lustily, much to the chagrin 
of the rebel guards ; then another sang the Star-spangled 
Banner : we cheered that ; then, without any preconcert, we 
went into a large building, and held a meeting. Chaplain 
Dixon made one of the most patriotic prayers I ever heard ; 
then earnest, off-hand speeches were made, filled with a deter- 



SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE. 533 

mination to persevere until the Rebellion slionld be crushed. 
Lieut.-Col. Forbes was particularly defiant, and the rebels 
threatened to put him in irons. In the evening, we made 
fireworks out of fat and pine, and had an exhibition of the 
elephant and other animals."^ 

On the 1st of August, the officers of the Sixteenth and 
Eighteenth were taken, with others, to Savannah. Lieut. 
John M. Waters of Hartford died on the 29th, of bilious 
fever. On Sept. 13, they were again removed; this time 
being taken to Charleston, where, saj^s Lieut. Blakeslee, 
" the rebels gave us an enthusiastic reception." They were 
here imprisoned in full view of Gilmore's batteries on Morris 
Island. They had been under fire before, and, even in their 
helplessness, felt more than compensated by the ruin which 
the solid shot and bursting shells were working on every 
hand. Cheer after cheer went up to hear the missiles crash 
through adjacent buildings. 

Lieut. Blakeslee at this time wrote in his diary, " In the 
evening we often watch the shells coming, and it is a beau- 
tiful sight. We first catch the flash of our guns; then, after 
waiting a few seconds, we can see the missile, which looks 
like a shooting or moving star, climbing up higher and 
higher ; and, when it reaches its full hight, we hear the re- 
port of the gun that sent it ; and by this time the shell is so 
near, that we can hear its sharp, shrill shriek ; then it grad- 
ually descends, and approaches until it is right over our 
heads, and bursts ; most of the pieces going beyond us. The 
report of the explosion then reaches us, as we hear the frag- 
ments rattle among the brick walls, or crash fearfully through 
the wooden tenements." During imprisonment here, Lieut. 
James D. Higgins of the Eighteenth escaped by a bold 
stratagem, and arrived safely at Hilton Head. 

Oct. 5, they left Charleston on the railroad running north- 
ward. No rations were issued, and the ofhcers were in a piti- 
ful condition from hunger. Efforts to escape still continued : 
a number were successful. The rebel officers proposed to 
increase and improve the prisoners' rations if they would 

* Diary of Lieut. B. F. Blakeslee of the Sixteenth, from Hartford. 



534 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

give their parole not to try to escape ; but they indignantly 
declined the offer, in consequence of which all sorts of pri- 
vations were imposed upon them. 

They were now taken to a camp near Columbia, S.C., 
which the prisoners named Camp Sorghum, on account of 
the prevalence of that saccharine in the meagre rations. One 
or two hundred had escaped by jumping from the cars. 
Some were killed ; some hunted down and recaptured ; 
many made their way to the coast, and found refuge under 
the old flag, — never before so beautiful or so sacred. More 
escaped from the stockade, — a score every day, a hundred 
almost every night. This was accomplished by either brib- 
ing the guard, or charging out in a crowd, and taking the 
chance of death by the musket of the sentinel. They heard 
that Sherman was rapidly approaching, and they usually 
made their way towards his lines. 

In this manner, several officers of the Sixteenth escaped: 
among them Major Henry L. Pasco ; Capts. Timothy B. Rob- 
inson of Bristol, Alfred A. Dickerson of Hartford, Thomas 
F. Burke of Hartford, Mark C. Turner of Hartford, Charles 
W. Morse of Collinsville, and Henry Hintz of Suffield ; and 
Lieuts. H. Bruns of Bristol and George Johnson of Derbj^ 
The first five made their way to our lines on the second 
attempt. A few were recaptured ; but their condition at 
Camp Sorghum was so wretched, that no risk was too great 
to prevent constant efforts to escape. ^ 

Capt. H. C. Davis of the Eighteenth escaped by giving the 
guard an old watch, and fifty dollars in Confederate money ; 
but, after a tramp of one hundred and fifty miles through 
wood and swamp, was run down by a j)ack of hounds, atid 
brought back after an absence of twenty-three days. 

In February, Sherman arrived at Columbia, and the pris- 
oners were hurried off" his line of march to Camp Asylum ; 
and in March, 1865, the of&cers of the Sixteenth were taken 
about a mile from Marlborough, N.C., and exchanged. Lieut. 
Blakeslee's diary tells of the joyful occasion : " As soon as 
we were able clearly to comprehend that there was not 
somebody at our side with a loaded musket, we swung our 
caps, cheered over and over again, hugged, kissed, rolled 



GREAT EEJOICIXGS. 535 

on the ground, sang, laughed, and finally cried. Then, tak- 
ing in another breath of fiesh American air, we flung up 
our old pans, kettles, bags of meal, and bundles of all sorts, 
and cheered again for Lincoln, Gen. Grant, Gen. Sherman, 
and Gen. Exchans^-e ; and huQ-o-ed the horse of the colonel, 
who was trying in vain to get us into line." 




CHAPTER XXXriI. 

Up the James River. — The Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first 
at Bermuda Hundred. — A Reconnoissance. — The Raih'oad destroyed. — Battle 
of Drury's Bluff. — Repulse and Heavy Losses. — " Bottled up " within the Intrench- 
ments. — Fi^ht of the Twenty-first. — Death of Col. Arthur H. Button. — Losses 
of the Seventh. — The First Connecticut Artillery ordered to Bermuda Hundred. — 
The Non-Veterans mustered out. 

ijEE still contended bravely for the possession of 
Virginia ; though no relief came to the armies 
of the Rebellion with the spring of 1864. 
While Sherman was consolidating the armies 
of the West, and Grant getting the Army of the 
Potomac well in hand, Butler marshaled the Army of the 
James. The Connecticot regiments had by this time been 
filled with recruits, nntil, with one or two exceptions, they 
again mustered eight hundred to a thousand men each. A 
large proportion of these soon deserted, leaving the regiments 
little stronger than when they came. 

On the morning of March 1, the veterans of the Eighth 
and Eleventh Connecticut, returnino; from furloug-h, were 
on board a transport anchored ofi' Fortress Monroe. The 
Eighth debarked at Portsmouth, and returned to the old 
camp. On the loth, the regiment was ordered to Deep 
Creek, wdiere it remained performing outpost and picket 
duty one month, when it shared in the reconnoissance to- 
w^ards Sufiblk. It now broke camp at Deep Creek, and 
went to Yorktown, where it encamped on April 21. The 
Eleventh arrived at Williamsburg, March 3, constituting the 
force nearest Richmond. . Recruits had been received, so 
that 1,035 were present for duty. The Eighth was now in 
the 1st Division, and the Eleventh in the 2d Division, of 
the 18th Army Corps, under Gen. W. F. (" Baldy ") Smith. 

636 



THEEATENEI^ ATTACK ON WASHINGTON, N.C. 537 

On April 2G, the veterans of the Tenth, under Lieut.-Co]. 
E. S. Greeley from Connecticut, and the non-veterans, under 
Col. John L. Otis from Florida, met at Gloucester Point; 
and the regiment was assigned a place in the 10th Corps. 

On the 27th of April, the Sixth ^ embarked at Hilton 
Head, and the Seventh took steamer at Jacksonville, Fla., 
on the 13th ; and both regiments proceeded to Fortress 
Monroe, and thence to Gloucester Point, where they tvere 
assigned to the 10th Army Corps, under Major-Gen. Gilmore. 

In March, Gen. Edward Harland was stationed at Wash- 
ington, N.C, in command of the sub-district of the Pam- 
lico. After the capture of Plymouth, on April 20, it was 
expected that Gen. Hoke would attack Washington. Harland 
was ordered to evacuate. He made hasty preparations ; 
and the Twenty-first Connecticut and 51st Pennsylvania had 
already embarked on transports, when Hoke invested the 
town. The regiments were at once ordered back, and put 
into the works. Every preparation was made to repel the 
attack. The Fifteenth Connecticut still remained here. All 
the troops were assigned places in the intrenchments, and 
at three o'clock each morning were called out to the breast- 
works in readiness for action, where they remained until 
da3'break. Picket-lines were strengthened, and every pre- 
caution taken to guard against surprise, and to insure pro- 
tection to the town. Gen. Harland, ever active, superin- 
tended the arrangements for defense of the town in person, 
and by his activity and energy did much to inspire the 
soldiers under his command with confidence and courasre. 

When the transports returned, Hoke thought Harland 
was receiving re-inforcements, and withdrew in the night 
without attack. 

Finally, towards the end of April, Gen. Harland evacuated 
the town, and prepared to go to Newberne, sending the 
Twentj'-first before him to the Army of the- James. On 
the 28th, the Twenty-first marched down to the wharf, 

1 On April 20, Capt. Lewis C. Allen, jr., died of disease. In former years, he was 
a member of a militia company in Gcory,ia ; and afterwards, removing to Ncav Haven, 
was drill-officer of the New-Haven Blues. He went out as a first lieutenant in the third 
three-months' regiment, and as captain of the Brewster liifles of the Sixth. lie was 
provost-marshal at Hilton, and participated with credit in all the battles of the regiment. 
68 



538 CONNECTICUT DUMNG THE BEBELLION, 

to find that the boat assigned to them had been loaded 
down with the anxious negroes and their baggage. The 
trespassers were ordered off. Capt. Delos D. Brown wrote 
of the scene, — 

" After ihe negroes were all disembarked, our men were ordered on 
board to unload the baggage ; and mounting the hurricane-deck, where 
it had been packed away, they charged upon the confused mass of African 
possessions, and commenced transferring them in a very unceremonious 
manner to the wharf. The scene which followed baffles description. 
Feather-beds fell like snow-flakes, only rather more forcibly, upon the 
heads of the frantic searchers for ' their own ' household goods. Bedding, 
clothing, all manner of domestic goods, filled the air, and fell like rain in 
one confused and inextricable mass. Hooped skirts were hurled gracefully 
from the deck to come down enveloping some corpulent wench, and add- 
ing to her wrath. Some were crying, some laughing, some fighting, and 
all wi-angled amid the shower of ' bag and baggage ' which ' mingling 
fell.' And thus we left them, to be subsequently conveyed to Newberne ; 
but, if they ever live to sort that baggage, they will exceed the average 
African longevity." 

The Fifteenth returned to Newberne, forty miles south, 
while the Twenty-first proceeded to Fortress Monroe, and 
encamped at Portsmouth. Hampton Roads now presented 
a very animated sight. Plundreds of steamers and trans- 
ports of all kinds moved to and fro, busy in preparations 
for the coming campaign against Petersburg. 

On the 4th of May, Gen. Butler's force — the 10th and the 
18th Corps — embarked on transports, and followed gun- 
boats up the James. The enemy was surjorised ; and the land- 
ing at City Point and Bermuda Hundred,™ on each side the 
Appomattox, was unopposed. The Sixth and Seventh Con- 
necticut were in Col. J. R. Hawley's brigade of Brig.-Gen. 
Alfred H. Terry's division of Gilmore's 10th Corps ; and 
the Tenth was in Plaisted's brigade of the same division. 
The Eighth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first were in Smith's 
corps ; the Eleventh, in a brigade commanded by Col. Griffin 
A. Stedman ; and the Twenty-first, in a brigade commanded 
by Col. Arthur H. Button. 

On the 7th, both corps advanced cautiously through the 

^ Bermuda llumlrcd is a small cluster of houses on the extremity of the peninsula 
formed by tlie James and Appomattox Rivers. In the early settlement of Virginia, 
slaves were loeated at different places in gangs of a hundred at each point. These set- 
tlements were usually designated by taking the name of the place from which the slaves 
were bought, with the word " hundred " afBxed. The gang landed here was from Ber- 
muda; hence the name Bermuda Hundred. 



THE SEVENTH RECAPTURE A PIECE OF ARTILLERY. 539 

thick woods, towards the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad ; 
and the ground was feebly contested. 

Hawley's brigade struck the railroad near Chester Station, 
on the morning of the 10th ; when the Sixth under Lorenzo 
Meeker, and the left wing of the Seventh under Major 0. S. 
Sanford, moved up towards the station, destroying the track. 
This was done very thoroughly in the flice of an alert enemy. 
Skirmishing was constantly kept up, and the Sixth lost one 
(Capt. Jay P. Wilcox) killed and twentj'-one wounded. Ser- 
geant John H. Bolts of Stamford lost his eyes. 

Capt. Jay P. Wilcox left Waterbury as a private soldier in 
the Sixth, but was soon promoted to be corporal, and thence 
rapidl}' to be captain, for gallantry, and fidelity to the inter- 
ests of the service. He was sincerely mourned. 

In the mean time, Lieut.-Col. Rodman, with the right wino: 
of the Seventh, moved up the turnpike to destroy the tele- 
graph. After a short time, they were ordered forwai'd at a 
quick pace. " Arriving at the top of the hill, to the right 
of and near Chester Station, we were ordered into line of 
battle on a road leading from the right of the turnpike ; and 
immediately threw out Company D, under Capt. Jeremiah 
Townsend, as skirmishers. We were soon joined by the left 
wing, under Major Sanford. Two companies, E and H, under 
Capt. John B. Dennis, were immediately sent to support a 
battery upon a hill a little in front of our line. I then 
ordered Major Sanford, with Companies B and K, to proceed 
to the top of the hill, and engage the enemy." ^ 

Major Sanford reported, — 

" I threw the right of my line a little forward, and opened fire on the 
left flank of the enemy, stationed in the woods, and drove them back. 
Vre engaged the enemy at intervals. They were trying to take a piece of 
artillery Avhich had been abandoned by the 4th New-Jersey, and was near 
their lines. I drove them back at every attempt. The enemy opened with 
two pieces of artillery ; and I sent a request for a section of battery to 
silence that of the enemy. One piece of the 4th New-Jersey was sent to my 
position, and immediately opened upon them. I then ordered Lieut. Charles 
E. Barker, with Company K, to move forward, and bring in the abandoned 
piece, which he succeeded in doing. I placed the piece in position, manning 
it with men from Company K, taking ammunition from a caisson Avhich 
was also abandoned by the 4tli New-Jersey, all the horses having been shot. 

2 Report of Major Sanford. 



540 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

After firing about ten shots from that piece, and as many more from the one 
already there, we drove the enemy's battery from its position. ... I was 
then ordered to take position on the left of the 169th New- York Volun- 
teers, where I found the other three companies, under command of Capt. 
Theodore Bacon, supporting a section of the First Connecticut Battery. 
We remained there until dark, and then Avere ordered to camp. 

" Of the conduct of the officers and men under my command during 
the ent;a""emeut, I can but speak in terms of the highest praise, particularly 
of Lieut. Barker and his company for their gallant conduct in rescuing the 
o-un which had been abandoned, and was near the enemy's Hue. On at- 
tempting to work the piece, I could find no lanyard ; and my thanks are due 
to Private Clapp of Company K, for the promptness and ingenuity dis- 
played in forming one from a piece of telegraph-wire near at hand." 

The rebels charged the First Connecticut Battery three 
times, and were repulsed gallantly. The Eighth, after assist- 
ing to destroy the track, also encountered the enemy in- 
trenched near Walthall Junction, and soon became warmly 
ensrag-ed. " The reo;iment was here formed in line of battle, 
and repeatedly drove the enemy. They as repeatedly re- 
formed behind an embankment, and were not dislodged, but 
confessed to heavy losses, and at night retired from the posi- 
tion. We were in an open field, exposed to artillery as well 
as musketry. . . . The regiment was complimented by the 
lamented Gen. Burnham for heroism that day, and as it 
returned from the field was cheered by the whole brigade."^ 
In this affair, the regiment lost seventy-two. Col. John E. 
Ward v\^as severely injured by a shell; Capt. James E. Moore 
and Lieut. John H. Vorra, severely wounded ; and Lieuts. 
Levi C. Bingham of Meriden and Alfred M. Goddard of Nor- 
wich, killed. Lieut. Goddard^ came home from the Sandwich 
Islands when the war broke out, to join in the contest for 
the Union. He served on Gen. Harland's staff until the 
transfer to the Army of the James: then he rejoined, his 
regiment. He often said, " If I ever flinch or skulk in bat- 
tle, I hope I shall be shot on the spot. I never wish to 
survive such dishonor." Capt. Charles M. Coit, himself a 
model soldier, wrote of his death, " I have no words to ex- 
press my appreciation of his behavior in this his first action. 
He was thoughtful, considerate, and commiserate. Not rash 

* Official report of Major William M. Pratt. 

5 Lieut. Goddard was a brother of Capt. Henry P. Goddard of the Fourteenth, who 
had been promoted from the ranks, and who resigned for disability resulting from severe 
wounds received at Chancellorsville. 



A MOVEMENT TOWARDS RICHMOND. 541 

or impetuous, but cool and collected, ready for every emer- 
gency, willing for every duty. While most bravely fighting, 
and cheering on our men, the fatal bullet struck him, and he 
was taken from the field. As he was carried past me, he 
said that he was wounded, but that he had done his duty. 
Most truly can I echo those last words." 

An officer of Harland's staff wrote, " May God rest the 
soul of our martyr-hero ! He is no more. But the memories 
which the thought of him suggests are of the most tender 
and pleasing character. How kind and unselfish he was! 
What a sturdy champion for every thing just and noble 
and right ! How he loathed oppression and injustice ! How 
he loved his country ! While his heart was tenderly suscepti- 
ble to the sufferings of both parties in the great conflict, he 
was filled with determination to fifi-ht it to the bitter end." 

o 

The regiments were now engaged for two or three days in 
intrenching their position at Bermuda Hundred. On May 9, 
at dawn, the Eleventli was led out towards the railroad. It 
crossed a creek, formed in line of battle on the left of the 
pike, and did its part in expelling the enemy from the 
woods, and driving them across Swift Creek. The regiment 
was again led by Col. Stedman, and lost two killed and ten 
wounded. 

On the loth, a movement in force was made towards 
Richmond ; Smith's Corps advancing along the James River 
to Drury's Bluff, and Gilmore pressing forward on the left. 
The enemy skirmished spiritedly, and fell back to within 
three miles of Fort Darling ; and Gihnore passed beyond the 
halfway-house, when the troops rested for the night. In the 
morning, a flying column was organized, and sent out to turn 
the enemy's right ; Gen. A. H. Terry commanding, with the 
brigades of Havvley and Plaisted in advance. Terry led his 
division rapidly around to the rear of the Confederate works, 
when the enemy were driven from their position in retreat 
towards Richmond. The captured works were occupied, 
and the rebels again intrenched three-quarters of a mile 
to the rear. 

In this movement, the First Connecticut Battery had been 
warmly engaged, and had fought gallantly. Among its losses 



542 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

was the death of First Lieut. George Metcalf of Hartford. 
He was an efficient officer, and a kind-hearted gentleman : 
he died at his post, as the soldier dies, and was buried in a 
lovely spot on the banks of the James, — the family burying- 
ground of a loyal Virginian. 

In the battle of Drury's Bluff, of which this advance was a 
prelude, the First Connecticut Battery took part ; also the 
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first 
Connecticut Infantry. More or less skirmishing was kept up 
until the 16th ; at which time the enemy had fallen back to 
a defensible line, stretching from Fort Darling to the rail- 
road, and our forces had strengthened their position in 
front. 

On the morning of the lOth, the rebels massed, and made 
a determined dash against our right, mider cover of a very 
thick fog ; and, after long and hard fighting in the darkness, 
Weitzel's division was overborne, and forced to the rear. On 
the left was a simultaneous attack, resisted fiercely ; but at 
last the enemy's massed column made its way, and Terry's 
division was obliged to retire. To consider more especially 
the part taken by each of the regiments from this State : — 
Five companies of the Sixth were on picket when the 
rebels attacked ; and when driven they were supported by 
the remainder of the regiment. After three hours' fighting, 
having expended ammunition, they fell back, and rallied 
behind the earthworks until the troops on the flank gave 
way. 

The regiment had lost seven killed and fifty-four wounded. 
Among the wounded were Lieut.-Col, Lorenzo Meeker, Capts. 
Charles H. Nichols, John N. Tracy, and Henry Biebel, and 
Lieuts. Bennett S. Lewis, Charles J. Buckbee, and Norman 
Provost. Capt. Horatio D. Eaton of Hartford was killed 
while gallantly leading his men before Fort Darling. He 
served through the three-months' campaign, and afterwards 
went out as first lieutenant in the Sixth. He was greatly 
beloved by a large circle of friends, and possessed the esteem 
of all who knew him. 

The Seventh moved out, on the 12th, to the vicinity of 
Chester Station, and bivouacked. Next day, with occasional 



GALLAKT CONDUCT OF THE SEVENTH. 543 

skirmishing, the regiment moved forward to the right and 
rear of the enemy's intrenchments ; the rebels retiring, and 
occupying works farther in the rear. Early in the morning 
of the 14th, the regiment advanced to support the left of 
Turner's division, which was moving on the enemy. The 
latter occupied strong works along a ridge, while the advan- 
cing column formed in line of battle in the valley in front. 
In front of the Seventh, Capt. Dennis commanded the skirm- 
ishers, and they maintained their ground nobly. About three, 
P.M., at the word of command, the line swept forward under a 
furious fire, and occupied the top of the hill, driving the 
enemy into his works. Chaplain Jacob Eaton wrote, — 

" Our men were ordered to lie down after reaching this 
advanced position, as they were exposed to a terrific fire 
from the rebels, who were massed behind their breastworks. 
Our gallant fellows did not remain idle ; for in a few minutes 
they had formed, by the aid of the cups and plates which 
were in their haversacks, a slight cover of earth, which effect- 
ually impeded the storm of rebel bullets. This precaution 
saved scores of our men from wounds or death. As nig-ht 
came on, and our sharpshooters were unable to distinguish 
the heads of the enemy, the rebels opened a most terrific fire 
of musketry upon the Seventh. Old officers say they never 
witnessed before such continuous and heavy volleys. But the 
heroic Seventh could not be driven from their advanced posi- 
tion. The volleyed wrath of the rebel hosts could not daunt 
and demoralize the men who had so nobly fought at Pulaski, 
James Island, Wagner, Olustee. There they remained under 
the blaze and crash of musketry, clinching their Spencer rifles, 
and ready to repel any assault of the enemy." 

Lieut.-Col. D. C. Rodman, not yet recovered from his ter- 
rible wound at Fort Wagner, had rejoined his regiment, and 
was again in command. He says of this attack, "Just about 
dark the rebels opened fire furiously, and charged from their 
works with desperation. We opened for about a minute and 
a half with the full rapidity of the Spencer carbine. The 
rebels' fire was completely subdued, and the charge repulsed.'' 

Of the experience of the Seventh on the 16th, Major 
0. S. Sanford reported, " Every thing remained quiet until 



544 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

about four o'clock on the morning of the 16th, when heavy 
firing and cheering was heard on the right of our lines, in- 
creasino- and nearing our position, until about five o'clock ; 
wdien the enemy tried to force the lines on our left, and 
were driven back. In about fifteen minutes, the picket in 
our front fired and fell back, reporting the enemy advan- 
cino- in force. It being very foggy at the time, they could 
not be seen until within forty or fifty yards of our position. 
I immediately opened upon them, driving them back with 
o-reat loss. They rallied, and advanced a second and third 
time with a determination to carry the position, but were 
at each attempt repulsed ; leaving the dead and wounded in 
great numbers on our front. I was soon informed that the 
enemy had forced the line back on my right, and was 
pouring an enfilading fire upon my right fiank. I ordered 
a fire to be opened from an angle in the center of my lines, 
in that direction, and from my right-flank company, which 
silenced the enemy for a short time. I sent word to the 
colonel commanding brigade to have my right supported, 
and I would hold the position against any force. The fog 
lifting about that time, I could see the enemy about a 
hundred tyards on my right flank, secreted behind a fence 
and trees, picking my men off. I set sharpshooters at work, 
and succeeded in keeping them down. ... I soon received 
orders to leave a strong picket-force and fall back. I had 
fii'teen men from each company selected to remain under 
charge of Lieuts. Charles E. Barker, Raphael Gilbert, and 
John B. Young, the whole under command of Capt. John B. 
Dennis ; and was about to fall back with the rest of my 
command, when I received orders to fall back immediately 
with the whole, and form in the field to the rear of the woods. 
I then irave orders ; but the men who had been selected to 
stay, not hearing it, remained. We fell back rapidly ; the 
enemy pouring volley after volley into us over the top of 
their works, and coming out in thousands to sweep the little 
band (which had been left beliind, and were pouring a 
murderous fire into them) from their position. Arriving in 
the open field, I received orders to fall back to a position 
in the woods, across the field. ... I will mention the names 



HEAVY LOSS OF THE SEVENTH. 545 

of Corporals John Walker and Patrick Brannan, Privates J. 
D. Lampbere and Christopher Holmes, Company H ; Privates 
M. G. Painter, Abraham Miner, John R. Jackson, and Horace 
W. Wright, Company C ; and Privates D. C. Andrews and 
Charles A. Brockett, Company E, — who volunteered to re- 
connoiter in our front after the enemy were driven back, and 
went forward into the fog, upon the ground just vacated by 
the enem}^ And of the fifteen men from each company left 
back, too much praise can not be given them for their con- 
duct in holding the rifle-pits until the rest of the command 
had got safely into the woods : but for them the whole 
command must have been badl}^ cut up." 

" The commanders of the companies have assured me 
that the most trying duty they ever performed was to select 
men for such work, when those men had served long and 
faithfully, and with the conviction that they would, with few 
exceptions, be either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. 
Yet every man thus selected, after bidding his comrades 
good-by, turned his face towards the advancing enemy, and 
performed his duty with a willing heart and undaunted 
spirits. Such courage was never surpassed," ^ 

About eighty of these men were killed or captured. 

In this engagement, the Seventh lost twenty-seven killed, 
ninetj'-three wounded, and seventy-five prisoners.^ Among 
the killed were some of their bravest. Lieut. Charles A. 
Wood of Willimantic was highly esteemed. He enlisted 
from patriotic principles, and was promoted from the ranks 
for efficiency and gallant service. Sergeant David D. Keyes 
of Farmington was also killed here. He was regarded by 
regular officers as the best artillerist among the enlisted 
men en<>:a2:ed in the reduction of Fort Sumter. He refused 
promotion while in the Department of the South, remark- 
ing, '' that he could serve his country as effectually in the 
position he then occupied as in any other." During the 
engagejnent, he occupied a position with the most advanced 

^ Chaplain Eaton. 

"! Among the prisoners lost was Private George N. Trowbridjre ^f Snfficld. He had 
been in captivity since the assault on Wagner, and was now taken again. This time, he 
was confined at'Andcrsonville through that deadly summer, and arrived at Annapolis in 
the fall, emaciated and diseased, to die — another martyr to the cruelty of a barbarous 
foe. 

69 



546 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION 

line of skirmishers, and died a brave soldier and true patriot. 
Sero-eant Charles II. Eiple}^ of Windham was a gallant of- 
ficer, and conspicuous for courage in every engagement in 
Avhich he participated. He fell while urging on his brave 
men, and inspiring them by his own example. 

Here, also, Sergeant Hobart L. Bailey of Southington, a 
mo.st worthy man, was instantly killed. Sergeant Andrew 
B. Nichols of Redding was mortally wounded b}' a ball 
which passed through both hips. A braver soldier never fell 
for his country. First Sergeant William S. English was shot 
through the body, and died immediately. This gallant sol- 
dier was wounded on the 14th, but remained with his corn- 
pan}^, doing and daring for the country he so ardently loved. 
Here fell Corporal William McEwen of Portland, Everett 
Bailey of Hamden, H. C. Parker of Essex, and a score of 
sterlins; men. 

Manv also were wounded. While Serjeant Daniel Mor- 
gan of Bridgeport was standing with his hand upon his side, 
a ball carried awav his second fino-er, and buried itself in his 
watch. He was carried to the rear, his comrades supposing 
he had been mortally wounded ; but the sergeant soon 
reported to the major, saying, as he held the impaired time- 
keeper in his left hand, " There goes fifty dollars." 

Chaplain Jacob Ea.ton wrote about this time, — 

" Geu. A. 11. Terry of Couuecticut, originally colonel of the Seventh 
Connecticut Volunteers, is in preat fovor with the corps commanders, sub- 
ordinate officers, and soldiers of this army. He handled his division, in the 
battles of the 14th, loth, and 16th of May, wi'th masterly coolness and 
ability. lie was master of every situation in which he was placed, and 
fought his command with great vigor and effectiveness. He is in every 
sense a good officer and a true gentleman. Connecticut may refer to his 
record with just pride and admiration. 

" Col. J. R. Hawley commands the 2d Brigade of the 1st Division, 
10th Corps. His record as an officer is adorned with acts of conspicuous 
courage and noblest devotion to the cause of justice, humanity, freedom. 
Capable, cool under tire, and devoting all his energies to the work of sup- 
pressing the Rebellion, he has achieved a reputation most honorable and 
enduring." 

The Eighth, farther to the right, moved forward on the 
13th in a jaded condition. Every day they skirmished con- 
stantly, and every night slept on their arms. 

Chaplain Moses Smith wrote, " On Saturday morning, the 



i 



THE EIGHTH ATTACKED IN XHE FOG. 547 

13th, the whole line advanced to the deserted breastworks 
on Drury's BliifF, before Fort Darling ; and our regiment 
lay in those trenches, with no relief, until Monday morn- 
ing. The casualties of the four days during which we were 
thus on the front were not great; but such unrelieved 
watching utterly took the heart out of our men. Many 
could not endure it, and were forced to leave. Those who 
remained were badly prepared for what was to follow. 

" Monday morning, a dense fog settled down over all the 
line. The enemy, who knew every inch of the ground, and 
who had been re-inforced during the night, seized the oppor- 
tunity to make a heavy assault upon the right of our army, 
and succeeded in driving it back. The Eighth Connecticut 
occupied the right of the left center, and were soon attacked. 
Our lieutenant-colonel, Martin B. Smith, then in command, 
had remarked the day previous, to the general commandino- 
our division, that the right and left center were not united : 
. . . but no protection was given to that place or to our right. 
On Monday morning, as the right line was being pressed, 
and while the fog was so dense that a man could not be seen 
at a distance of ten paces, the enemy in mass came pouring 
in at our right. The only alternative seemed to be, fall back, 
or be captured. But for an hour our men battled them : 
sometimes mixed with the enem}', sometimes driving them ; 
but constantly exposed to the enfilading fire, and the enemy 
gaining. At length, to prevent capture, our lieutenant-colo- 
nel gave the order to fall back. For this order, he was 
at first blamed, and the heroic old Eighth reported as hav- 
ing '■ skedaddled.' That some men straggled in the fog is 
true ; but be it remembered that the regiment was already 
so flanked, that the right was compelled to pass within the 
breastworks, and go down the rebel side, and then over those 
works, to rejoin the regiment." 

" We held our position on the works for some time, with 
considerable loss, until flanked both right and left ; when we 
fell back in as good order as possible under the circum- 
stances, the fog and smoke being so dense that it was impos- 
sible for officers or men to distinguish each other."® 

8 Beport of Lieut.-Col. M. B. Smith, commanding regiment. 



548 CONNECTCICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

The losses of the Eighth were seven killed, thirty wound- 
ed, and twenty-six prisoners. Among the dead were the 
brave Capt. John McCall and Sergeant Edward Wadhams. 

John McCall of Yantic enlisted as a private in the Eighth, 
was elected by his comrades first sergeant, and soon pro- 
moted to be lieutenant. He was made a captain for gal- 
lantry. His bravery at the capture of Fort Huger was con- 
spicuous. Whenever the regiment was under fire, he was at 
the head of his men. On May 14, while under a severe fire, 
Capt. McCall was sitting on the ground, when a bullet pierced 
his heart. He sprang to his feet, saying, "I shall be dead in 
a minute ! " and fell backwards, dead. He was a general 
favorite, — as a companion, frank, genial, and manly; as a 
soldier, prompt, bold, and enterprising.^ 

Edward Wadhams was one of three brothers of Litchfield, 
and his record as a faithful soldier was unsurpassed. One 
who had known him in camp and battle wrote of him, 
" Sergeant Wadhams was a man of sterling common sense, 
and sound moral and religious convictions. His life was 
never stained by evil word or deed. He was firm and strict 
in discipline, yet kind, judicious, and helpful." Within 
two weeks, both his brothers were killed in battle. 

Among the wounded were Capt. Henry C. Hall and Lieut. 
Edwin D. Hall, both severely. 

The Tenth had fought on the left ; Gen. Plaisted's brigade 
adjoining Col. Hawley's in Terry's division. Col. John L. Otis, 
in command, sent forward a strong line of skirmishers, under 
Major Edwin S. Greeley, which drove in the enemy's skirm- 
ishers, and uncovered their position. The First Connecti- 
cut Battery, Capt. A. P. Rockwell, was at the left, doing good 
execution. The attack of the enemy in the evening was 
handsomely repulsed. 

Col. Otis, in his official report, says, " On the 16th a furious 
cannonade, with heavy volleys of musketry, commenced on 
our right at half-past four, a.m. The regiment was formed in 
order of battle immediately, and at six was ordered forward 
to support an assault on the enemy's works. No assault 
was made, however ; and at half-past nine. Col. Plaisted or- 

8 Vide sketch in War Record by Hon. John T. Wait. 



THE TENTH COMPLIMENTED. 549 

dered me to move my command off by the right flank, takino- 
care to keep up commimication with Col. Hawley's brigade, 
which was executing the same movement on our right. We 
moved off as directed, and, on reaching the open field near Gen. 
Gilmore's quarters, took position to cover the withdrawal of 
the advance regiments of our own brigade and a portion of 
Col. Hawley's. While in this position, the enemy attacked us 
in. strong force, but was completely repulsed after a sharp en- 
gagement in which we took several prisoners ; our own loss 
being three killed and fifteen wounded. As the enemy fell 
back, I sent forward a body of skirmishers under Capt. E. D. 
S. Goodyear, and ascertained they had left our front entirely. 
The regiment remained in this position until the killed and 
wounded had all been removed, and was then withdrawn ; 
taking a new position to cover the retreat of a portion of 
White's brigade on our left. After they had all retired, the 
regiment fell back to the position occupied by our artillery, 
and, joining the other regiments of the brigade, marched 
rapidly across to the Richmond Turnpike,- and again formed 
in line of battle to cover the withdrawal of the troops in front. 
At two, P.M., we advanced up the turnpike to the halfway- 
house, and were posted on the left of the road to support a 
section of battery. The regiment continued in this position 
about an hour, and was then withdrawn under a scatterino; 
fire of musketry." 

Gen. H. M. Plaisted, commanding the brigade, said, — 

" Of the Tenth Conaecticut and 24th Massachusetts, I need hardly say- 
more than that they fully sustained the splendid reputation they have hitherto 
borne. For steady and soldierly behavior, under most trying circumstances 
too, entirely new to them(for uev^er before vs'ere their backs turned to the ene- 
my), they may have been equaled, but never surpassed. Under a fire in 
which eighteen fell from the left of the Tenth Connecticut in almost as many 
seconds, not a soldier of the regiment spoke a word, or moved a heel from 
the alignment. Too much credit can not be accorded to the commanding 
officers of these regiments — Cols. Osborn and Otis — for their coolness and 
self-possession under tire, and the skillful manner in which they handled 
their commands." 

The losses of the Tenth were seven killed and thirty 
wounded. Capt. Charles C. Brewster of Hartford was se- 
verely wounded in the leg. 



550 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

While the Tenth was moving slowly off, serving as rear- 
guard, Adjutant Henry W. Camp, ten months a prisoner, and 
just exchanged, came riding towards the front. He was 
affectionately greeted by all, from Gen. Terry down to the 
private soldier. " Each company successively greeted him 
with hearty hurrahs, while he sat, cap in hand, in all his man- 
ly beauty, receiving their congratulations with feelings of 
grateful pride that atoned for weary months of waiting and 
suffering in prison." ^^ Again " the twins," Camp and Chap- 
Iain Trumbull, were together. 

The Eleventh, in Wistar's brigade, had met a fate similar to 
the -rest. Col. Stedman, in his official report, says, " No shot 
was fired by the regiment until the enemy charged in line of 
battle the immediate front ; when, opening fire, the advance 
of the rebels was checked, and after about an 'hour their line 
was driven back. At this time, and within a few moments 
after the reg-iment ceased firino; an order reached me from 
Gen. Wistar to fall back. Facing my regiment about, I re- 
luctantly obeyed, and marched through thick woods to a road 
a quarter of a mile to the rear. At this point, I was ordered 
to advance, and re-occupy the breastwork. Moving without 
delay, the regiment returned, and, under a heavy fire from the 
rebel line which occupied the fortifications, retook its old 
position. No other regiment of the brigade was there, nor 
could any Union troops be seen along the whole line to the 
right or left. A rebel battery enfiladed the regiment from 
the left. After twenty minutes, I saw a movement on the 
part of the rebels, indicating an intention to charge our front ; 
and I saw a column file into the road to the position before 
occupied by the 2d New-Hampshire, — within thirty yards of 
my right flank. Finding myself unsupported, and in danger 
of annihilation or capture, I faced the regiment about, and 
marched to the rear, constantly obliquing to the right to avoid 
the enemy, who were following the movement with yells." 
The regiment came off in tolerable order, with a loss of four- 
teen killed, fifty-four wounded, and one hundred and twelve 
missing. Capt. Henry J. McDonald of Danbury was among 

10 The Knightly Soldier, p. 224. 



' STUBBORN BESISTAKCE OF THE TWENTV-FlilST. 551 

the captured, and Lieuts. Morris Krazynski and Erastus 
Blackmar were wounded. 

The Twenty-first, Lieut.-Col. T. F. BurjDee comuianding, 
was in the thickest of the fight at Drury's Bhiff, and fought 
stubbornly and suffered severely. Of its participation, Capt. 
Delos D. Brown wrote, " The fog wfts still thick, and hung 
heavily about us, making it impossible to see what was the 
cause of the alarm ; but it soon became evident that the en- 
emy were making a dash upon our lines, and with no small 
force, as the firing was very heavy. The skirmishers stood 
their ground firml}^, and resisted every assault of the enemy, 
notwdthstandinij; the severe fire which was directed ao;ainst 
them. Soon, however, it became evident that the rebels were 
massing their Ibrces for an attack upon the right. Favored 
by the fog, they succeeded in getting a strong position on 
and in rear of the right flank of our lines, and then at once 
threw a large force upon us in front. 

'•' The battle now opened in earnest, and raged with ter- 
rible energy. Charge succeeded charge, volley returned vol- 
ley, repulse followed repulse, backw^ard and forward surged 
the mighty waves, lashed into fury by the struggles of the 
infuriated combatants. Nobly did our forces breast the ter- 
rible storm which assailed them." 

The rebels had massed here, and hurled their army upon 
the right of our line. At last, the 9th New-Jersey and 2Tth 
Massachusetts retired, and left the right of the Twenty-first 
exposed ; so that this regiment and the 8th Maine were com- 
pelled to face to the north, and form line of battle at right 
angle to the works. Says Capt. Brown, '' Again and again 
they hurled their forces upon us, but were met by the firm 
and desperate resistance of unflinching columns and the mur- 
derous fire of opposing and determined men. The 8th Maine 
now fell back, and the Twenty-first Connecticut was left to 
breast the battle alone. At this juncture, an aide came dash- 
ing up, and said, that, if we could hold the enemy in check 
on^ halt-hour. Gen. Smith would have re-inforcements to re- 
esfHblish the right of the line ; and wished us to hold the po- 
sition at all hazards. Inspired with this hope, we determined 
to hold our position ; and with renewed energy continued 



552 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the battle, which every moment increased in fury. Char- 
ging through the thick woods and marsh, we delivered vol- 
ley after volley into the maddened enemy, until, in the thick 
smoke and fog, we could see nothing but the flash of the 
rebels' muskets as they returned our fire. The battle now 
assumed the character of Indian warfare, while, with the 
enemy nearly surrounding us, we fought to hold our position 
with the energy of desperation. Finding that we were 
being fast surrounded and overpowered, the colonel gave the 
order to fall back slowly, as no re-inforcements had appeared, 
and we were suffering terribly in killed and wounded. 

" Arrived at the open field beyond the woods, we again 
formed line of battle and advanced into the woods, and once 
more opened a brisk fire upon the enemy ; aud never did 
men face a foe with more apparent indifference or coolness 
than in this last engagement." 

The regiment was now recalled to a position near the 
halfway-house. It had lost fifteen killed, seventy wounded, 
and twenty-four missing. Among the wounded were Chap- 
lain Thomas C Brown, Capts. C. T. Stanton (severely), J. 
M. Shepard (lost a leg), and Lieuts. William S. Hubbell, A. S. 
Button, Alvin M. Crane, and Color-Sergeant John C. Doug- 
lass (severely). 

Capts. Stanton and Shepard displayed great courage at 
the skirmish-line. The venerable Chaplain Brown of East 
Hampton was constantly near the front, ministering to the 
wounded and dying. He was always brave and faithful, 
^nd greatly beloved by his men. Col. Crosby afterwards 
wrote, " Chaplain Brown remained with the regiment, dis- 
tributing ammunition among the men, assisting the wounded, 
and praying with the dying. His conduct on that occasion 
greatly endeared him to the regiment. He had been a 
soldier in the War of 1812 ; and, though his head was frost- 
ed with years, the fire of youth was by no means quenched. 
Our gallant chaplain was a hero at Drury's Bluff" 

Col. Crosby also mentioned Capts. James II. Latham atM 
Nathan A. Belden, and Lieuts. William S. Hubbell, A. 'S. 
Button, A. M. Crane, Delos B. Brown, W. P. Long, P. ]?. Tal- 
cott, G. W. Shepard, Frank C. Jeffrey, and E. P. Packer for 
gallant conduct in the engagement. 



THE SIXTH AND TWENTY-FIRST IN ACTION. 553 

All the forces of Butler now fell back to the original 
lines, and began strengthening their intrenchments, stretch- 
ing from the James to the Appomattox. The rebels ad- 
vanced, and again occupied and repaired the railroad from 
Richmond to Petersburo-. 

Col. Stedman of the Eleventh wrote at this time, " "We 
have moved our camp, and are now delightfully located upon 
the banks of the muddy Appomattox in a pine-forest and on 
a dry soil. We look out on a wild country, made pictur- 
esque and beautiful by varied features of hill, dale, swamp, 
cultivated fields, and primeval woods, with three plantation- 
houses at long intervals, giving an air of civilization to the 
scene. With a glass, we can distinguish the rebels at a dis- 
tance of two miles, working like beavers at a fort ; and they 
are probably entertained in watching us, for all our men are 
industriously digging in the attempt to render this position 
defensible." 

On the 20th of May, the Sixth, now attached to Col. How- 
ell's brigade, was engaged in a charge upon and capture of 
a point in the enemy's advanced line of rifle-pits. The 
ground was maintained for several days. In this affair, the 
regiment, commanded by Major Daniel Klein, lost three 
killed and thirty-three wounded. Lieut. William F. Bradley 
of Madison was among the slain. He was a true soldier. 

The Twenty-first did not long rest. 

" On Ihe 25tli of May, Col. A. H. Button, commanding the brigade, 
having received orders from Gen. Wilham F. Smith to reconnoiter the left 
of the enemy's position, near om* line of intrenchments at Bermuda Hun- 
dred, designated this regiment for that purpose. The regiment passed out- 
side our lines, and crossed the deep and almost impassable ravine that runs 
along the left of our Avorks until it meets the Appomattox. On the farther 
side of the ravine, the left wing was posted in reserve, and the remaining 
companies were advanced to the front. Our skirmishers swept along the 
west bank of the ravine, and thence farther into the interior, coming well 
on to the enemy's right flank. But, night coming on, Col. Button recalled 
the skirmishers ; and the regiment returned to camp with orders to be 
ready to continue the reconuoissance early the next morning. On the day 
following, the 26th, Col. Button again crossed the ravine with the brigade, 
consisting of the Twenty-tirst Connecticut, 58th Pennsylvania, 188th Penn- 
sylvania, and 92d New-York, with orders to push the recounoissance until 
stopped by the enemy. Gen. Bevens's brigade also moved out on our ex- 
treme left, along the Port-Wahhal Road, to co-operate with Col. Button, 
who took up the line of march in the direction of Port Walthal. After an 
advance of about two miles, through heavy woods, our skirmish-line came 
70 



554 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

upon the rebels, strongly intrenched, and almost hidden from view by the 
thick underbrush. Line of battle was 'formed at once ; but, as our skir- 
mishers were becoming engaged, Col. Dutton, who was then, as usual, on 
the skirmish-line, was mortally wounded."" 

The command of the brigade then devolved upon Lieut- 
Col. Thomas F. Burpee, who shortly received orders to 
retire. 

Col. Dutton died on the 5th of June, in the very morning 
of his life. When a boy, young Arthur had felt a tendency 
to a military life, and he went from his home at Wallingford 
to West Point, where he graduated in the engineer corps of 
1861 ; Custer, Benjamin, and Farqhuar being among his 
classmates. When war broke out, he was called to the staff 
of Gen. Mansfield, at Washington, and assisted in laying out 
the forts. He had thoroughly mastered the higher studies 
in the art of war, and he exhibited remarkable genius as an 
engineer. Subsequently^ he had charge of the defenses at 
Fernandina, Fla., until mustered as colonel of the Twen- 
ty-first. No regiment went from Connecticut better com- 
manded, — Arthur II. Dutton, colonel, Thomas F. Burpee, 
lieutenant-colonel, and Hiram B. Crosby, first adjutant and 
then major. All of them were superior officers, and all lived 
to lead the regiment repeatedly to battle. Col. Dutton 
commanded a briirade almost from the first of his service. 
In North Carolina, he won much credit as chief of staff of 
Major-Gen. Peck, and afterwards of Major-Gen. Dix ; while = 
during the battle of Drury's Bluff he held the sauie office 
under Major-Gen. Smith, corps cotnmander. He v.-as an 
officer of much promise. Major Crosby, in announcing his 
death, said, " Bold and chivalrous, with a nice sense of honor, 
a judgment qniclv and decisive, an unwavering zeal in his 
chosen profession, he was in every respect a thorough sol- 
dier. As an engineer, his talents were of the highest order ; 
and at the time of his death he had attained the rank of 
captain of engineers in the regular army. By his compan- 
ions in arms he will never be forgotten ; and to them his 
last resting-place will be as a shrine commemorating the 
friendships which not the rude shock of war nor lapse of 
time can blight or destroy." 

11 Official Report of Major Hiram B. Crosby, commanding. 



A PORTION OF THE SEVENTH CAPTURED. 555 

About this time, the Seventh suffered the loss of Major 
OHver S. Sanforcl and eighty officers and men as prisoners 
of war. On the evening of June 1, the regiment, number- 
ing fifteen officers and three hundred and twenty-four en- 
hsted men, went upon the picket-line in front of Bermuda 
Hundred. Four companies, under Capt. Theodore Bacon, 
were posted across open ground in front of our works. On 
the right was Capt. John B. Dennis, with two companies, 
the line turning rather abruptly to the front ; and on the 
left, Capt. Charles C. Mills, with four companies, the flanks 
of the regimental line being in thick woods. In front, the 
rebel line was one hundred and fifty yards distant, but in 
the woods approached to within twenty yards. There were 
no reserves nearer than the intrenchments. 

About sunrise on the 2d, the rebels attacked with a strong 
skirmish-line. " In the woods on the left," says Capt. Bacon 
in his report, " this attack was extremely rapid and sudden : 
a few steps placed the enemy in our pits, in a position, which, 
favored by the direction of part of the line, enabled tbem to 
cut off and capture a large part of Company B. Such part 
of Capt. Mills's command as was not captured fell back 
slowly, contesting the ground, to a position nearer the works, 
which they held until later in the morning ; when they were 
re-inforced, and re-occupied and held their first position. 

" In the open field, the advance of the enemy began a few 
moments after firing had been heard on the left. The ene- 
my moved toward us in good fine, but slowly and hesitat- 
ingly. I opened fire along the whole line, and in two 
minutes they had all dropped to the ground ; where they 
lay, firing from such cover as they could get, for a few min- 
utes lono-er, when the entire line rose, and ran to the shelter 
of their rifle-pits, at full speed, followed by our cheers and 
bullets. From this cover, they never ventured again, con- 
tenting themselves with a dropping fire from it until we 
abandoned our entire line. On the right of the line, the 
movement of the enemy was by a dash across that part of 
the line which ran along the edge of the woods, nearly at 
rifdit andes with the ^-eneral direction of the line. This 
movement, of which at the time I had no information, cut 



556 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

off nearly all of the two companies posted there, together 
with the major commanding the regiment." 

The whole line now fell back to the main works, except- 
ing a portion of Company E, which held its ground at the 
left, until the men pushed forward again, and re-established 
the line. 

In this they were materially assisted by a company of the 
First Connecticut Artillery, holding the works here. Lieut.- 
Col. Nelson L. White, writing shortly afterwards, said of 
this, " Capt. William G. Pride, with Company L, had the 
honor of participating in another brilliant though short affair 
on the 2d of June. The enemy had driven in our pickets, 
and captured two companies of the Seventh Connecticut in 
the woods in front of this redoubt, compelling our picket- 
line to fall back. Capt. Pride opened upon them with can- 
ister, with deadly effect, causing them to retreat to cover. 
He sent out all his garrison, excepting twenty-one men left 
to man the guns in the redoubt, — at first, forty of the caval- 
ry and twenty-one of Company L, with instructions to form 
a junction with such of our pickets as had remained in line ; 
and soon after, Lieut. William H. Rogers of Company L, 
with the remainder. The rebels at this time waved a white 
flag from the point at which the canister had been fired. 
As our skirmish-line advanced to the flag, twenty-three of 
the enemy surrendered. They had suffered severely by 
the fire from Pride's howitzers, losing their colonel (Dantzer, 
22d South-CaroHna)." 

In this affair, the Seventh lost five killed, twelve wound- 
ed, and eighty prisoners. Among the captured were Major 
0. S. Sanford, Assistant Surgeon S. B. Shepard, Capt. John 

B. Dennis, and Lieut. Henry H. Pierce. Among the wound- 
ed were Capt. C. C. Mills, severely, in right breast ; Lieut. 
William S. Marble, severely, in right shoulder ; and Lieut. 
B3a^on Bradford. Capt. Bacon, in his report, speaks of " the 
extraordinary coolness and courage of Capt. Mills." Capt. 

C. C. Mills resigned and went home, where he lingered in 
much suffering, and was finally released by death. He had 
just begun a course of study at Yale College when the war 
began. 



FORMATION OF A SIEGE-TRAIN. 557 

About this time fell Private James L. Allen. At the 
beginning of the war, he enlisted from the Jeffersonian 
office in Danbury. Being but fifteen 3''ears old, he wrote 
to his mother at Norwalk, " Dear mother, I have enlisted. 
Please telegraph your consent, for I do not wish to be a 
disobedient boy." He served three years, re-enlisted, and 
was mortally wounded on picket, having never been absent 
from duty for a single day. Chaplain Jacob Eaton wrote, 
'•' Major Sanford was self possessed, and handled his troops 
admirably under fire. No one could be more highy es- 
teemed by the officers and men of his regiment." 

About this time, Lieut.-Col. D. C. Rodman resigned. The 
severe wound which he received while gallantly leading his 
regiment at Fort Wagner had unfitted him for active ser- 
vice ; and he declared he would not hold a position while 
physically incapacitated to perform its duties. Lieut.-Col. 
Eodman was a generous, intelligent, and patriotic man, and 
a brave and efficient officer. 

As early as April 20, Col. Henry L. Abbot, commanding 
the First Connecticut Artillery in the defenses of Washing- 
ton, had been directed by Gen. Halleck to organize a siege- 
train, and report to Gen. Butler at Bermuda Hundred. The 
train, afterwards largely increased, was to consist at first 
of forty 30-pounder rifled Parrotts, ten 10-iuch mortars, 
twenty 8-inch mortars, twenty Coehorn mortars, and six 
100-pounder Parrotts. The guns, ammunition, and materiel 
were immediately gathered. Capt. S. P. Hatfield was de- 
tailed as ordnance-officer to superintend the loading. He 
was assisted by Lieut. L. W. Jackson. Twelve schooners, of 
two hundred tons' burden, were obtained from the quarter- 
master's department ; and the material was afloat by May 10. 

The regiment was ordered forward in advance of the 
train, and arrived at Bermuda Hundred, seventeen hundred 
strong, on May 13. The men were soon at work construct- 
ing magazines, getting into position the heavy guns already 
up, and strengthening the lines ; so that when, on May 16, 
the army fell back, the defenses were in a state of forward- 
ness. Col. Abbot was assigned by Gen. Butler to the com- 



558 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

mancl of all the siege-artillery, and Lieut. W. C. Faxon and 
Lieut. C. Gillett were detailed as ordnance-officers. From 
this date until the latter part of June, an artillery-fire was 
kept up intermittently along the lines. 

On May 24, the rebels made a determined attack on 
Wilson's Landing. ' " The mail-boat was stopped," says Col. 
Abbot, " and all the troops on board were landed to meet 
the assault. Among them w^ere six enlisted men of the 
First, returnino; from veteran farlouo;h. Althouurh no offt- 
cer of the regiment was present, these men volunteered to 
serve a 10-pounder Parrott, then silenced ; and served it so 
effectively as to contribute materially to the repulse of the 
rebels. They fired about eighty rounds, — some being double- 
shotted canister at about two hundred yards' range, — and 
their gun was the only one not silenced by the enemy. 
The names of these brave soldiers are Sergeant W. H. H. 
Bingham, Company G ; Privates W. B. Watson, Company H ; 
James Kelley (afterwards killed by a shell in front of 
Petersburg), IL G. Scott, James R. Young, and John Kea- 
ton of Company L" 

On j\Iay 25, Company G, Caj^t. Wilbur F. Osborne of 
Birmingham, was placed with two 20-pounder Parrotts in 
Fort Converse, on right bank of Appomattox River. Subse- 
quently, two 30-pounder Parrotts were added. They did 
important service in repelling an attack on May 31, and 
also in occasionally shelling Fort Clifton from an advanced 
position on the river-bank. On May 26, Major-Gen. Gil- 
more was placed in command of the whole line ; and he 
appointed Col. Abbot his chief of artillery, and, on June 1, 
his acting: chief ent>:ineer. 

Sergeant George B. Butler of the First died in Hartford 
during the spring of 1864, of disease engendered by ex- 
posure in the service. He was a graduate of Harvard Col- 
lege, an intelligent and enterprising young man, and while 
in service developed considerable genius as an artist. He 
well deserved promotion, but was kept in the ranks, like 
hundreds of others, by the jealousy of inferior '-superiors." 

In May the three-years' service of the regiment had 
expired ; and three hundred and seventy-five men who had 



LLL-TREATMENT OP MEN FOR NOT EE-ENLISTING. 559 

not re-enlisted as veterans were mustered out, and made 
their way home as best they could. On arriving in New 
York, they drew up and adopted a series of resolutions. 
They began by rehearsing an order of Col. Abbot, dated 
May 21, urging them to " stand by their colors, and not 
march to the rear to the sound of the enemy's cannon." 
They then resolved, — 

" That those who can not appreciate thirty-six months of service would 
also fail to appreciate thirty-eight or thirty-nine months ; and that we indig- 
nantly denounce those who would attempt to disgrace us for retiring to 
our homes and friends, from whom we have been absent three long years, 
as ingrates Avorthy only of our deepest and heartiest contempt." 

The reason for their non re-enlistment seems to be stated 
in the charge against Col Abbot : — 

" That he has spared no pains to place over us a military aristocracy, 
subjecting us to every variety of petty annoyance, to show his own power, 
and take away our manhood ; subjecting men to inhuman and illegal 
punishments for appealing to him for justice ; disgracing otiiers for attempt- 
ing to obtain commissions in colored regiments ; . . . about May 4 orderin''- 
Ids heavy artillery men who had not re-enlisted, into the ditch for the 
i-emainder of their term of service, thus placing us on a level with prison- 
ers under sentence of court-martial ; and finally capping the climax by leav- 
ing u* to the tender mercies of provost-marshals, turning us loose on the 
world, without pay, without officers, without transportation, without 
i-ations, and without our colors." 

They further presented the following view of the situa- 
tion : — 

" That when the able-bodied men of our land have taken their turn of 
three years in the national service, if an army is still needed to enforce 
the laws of the land, none will sooner fall into the line than those who 
sprang to arms at the first note of danger ; that no class of men have a 
deeper interest in the pi-esent struggle than those who have carried mus- 
ket and knapsack for the past three years ; and that we will not allow 
abuse from superiors to interfere with our duty to our country." 

They then offered their " heartiest thanks " to Gen. R. 0. 
Tyler for his services as their old commander, and to Gen. 
Butler and the various officers who had helped them home. 
They were received in Connecticut with the honors due to 
their patriotic services. 




CHAPTER XXXIV. 

The Fourteenth at Stevensburg. — The Affiih- at Mine Run. — How to build Winter- 
Quarters, and how to enjoy them. — Figlit at Morton's Ford. — First Connecticut 
Cavahy joins the Army of the Potomac. — Grant crosses the Rapidan. — Struggle of 
the Wilderness. — Flank March to Spottsylvania. — Terrible Fighting. — The Second 
Connecticut Artillery (Nineteenth) comes up. — Gen. Robert 0. Tyler commands 
a Division. — S])irited Contest. — The First Cavalry in Front of Richmond. — To the 
North Anna. — Another Flank Movement. — Death of Gen. John Sedgwick. — His 
Character and Public Services. 

ORAGING and picketing, with considerable rest, 
and now and then a fight, the Fourteenth waited 
in Virginia, — the only Connecticut regiment in 
the active Army of the Potomac. The State could 
not have been more gallantly represented. Of 
its life during the fall of 1863, Capt. Samuel Fiske ("Dunn 
Browne ") wrote, " Our regiment has had its share of the 
marches and countermarches, the picket-duty, the fatigues, 
the skirmishes, the night-retreats, and the whole ever-vary- 
ing experience of camp and field life, in the Army of the 
Potomac for the last two months. We picketed along the 
Rapidan for some three weeks ; left the front with the 2d 
Corps on the 6th of October; bivouacked near Culpeper 
till the 11th; crossed, recrossed, and crossed again the Rap- 
pahannock in apparently the very profitless maneuvering 
of Oct. 12 and 13 ; and, after a long and fatiguing night 
and day march, participated in the brilliant skirmishes 
of the 14th of October. Our regiment did its share in re- 
pulsing the sudden attack of the euemy at Bristoe Station. 
Our loss was twenty-six killed and wounded ; mostly in the 
first fifteen minutes of the fight. It would have done your 
heart good to see the steadiness and alacrity with which our 
men, marching by the flank, faced to the front, and advanced 

560 



EXTRACT FROM CAPT. FISKE. 561 

in line of battle at the double-quick, across the railroad, and 
into the woods whence the fire opened on us, without know- 
ing at all how manj^ rebels we should find there ; without 
having had a moment's preparation, or thought of being at- 
tacked. Scarcely a man faltered, save from the fatig-ue of 
the double-quick, which few can sustain for any long distance 
with knapsacks, rations, and equipments on, in heavy march- 
ing order. The enemy were driven out of sight, live hun- 
dred prisoners and a battery captured, and the skirmish 
over, almost before we realh^ began to understand that a 
fight was going on at all ; then we lay along the track of 
the railroad till ten p.m., and withdrew. 

" Oh ! that was indeed a fatiguing night-march to Centre- 
ville, — fording two deep streams; plunging through the mud ; 
stumbling over stones and stumps; standing a half-hour at a 
time, with your eyes closing iji spite of yourself, waiting for 
the head of the column to pass an obstacle ; getting mixed 
up with wagons and artillery ; and finally, after wading Bull 
Run (from two to three feet deep), lying down about four 
o'clock in the mornino;, on the u:rass, in the drizzling: rain to 
sleep. We didn't take much cold, because a cold is produced, 
I believe, by a want of equilibrium in the system in respect 
to dampness or heat ; and we were so thoroughly wet and 
cold all over that there was no partial process possible. 
Such is the soldier's life in the field. 

"Our new recruits (substitutes) are proving themselves 
generally very good soldiers ; and the regiment is, on the 
whole, in good condition, with its complement of officers 
nearly filled, and a fine, long line at dress-parade, contrast- 
ing very favorably with the corpoi'al's guard, or a few more, 
that gathered round our colors a few months since. 

"I have just burned my bedstead to cook my breakfxst 
with, — to such extremities am I reduced. Fortunately our 
furniture hereabouts is not very costly. My bedstead above 
mentioned consisted of seven three-cornered rails from a 
Virginia fence, laid down side by side in the mud near the 
fire, on which my lieutenant and I spread our blanket, and 
slept very sweetly, with a rubber blanket over us, tlu'ough 
the steady, heavy rain that improved the darkness of the 

71 



562 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

night to come down upon us unseen, but not unfelt. This 
mo^li^(^ ashamed to look us in the face after such deeds of 
darkness, the rain has entirely ceased ; and the face of Nature 
beams on us as smilingly and roguishly as if the dripping 
doino's of the niglit were an exquisite joke. Well, it seems 
to us much more like a joke than it did, as the creases made 
by the rails are getting rubbed out of our sides and legs, and 
the clothes are mostly dried. 

"Picketing is pretty good fun after all. How many of you 
are coming out here to try it ? my dear readers ! there 
are at least a fall thousand of you, — a strong, able-bodied 
regiment among you, — who certainly ought to be here, who 
can't possibly get an exemption-certificate from your own 
conscience. 

" I would not bring one recruit to our ranks by misrepre- 
senting the case to him. Soldiering is a hard business, the 
best 3' ou can make of it. I have laid a good deal of stone 
fence, dug many a rod of ditch, worked at carpentering and 
all sorts of farming, been a bookbinder, set up type ; sawed 
a cord of oak-wood three times in two, split and piled it, be- 
sides getting my lessons and reciting them (after a fashion), 
all in one dav ; I've taug-ht a big district school of little 
urchins of the Yankee persuasion, which is harder than any 
of the above ; and I've attended three sewing-societies and 
made five and twenty calls of an afternoon, which is hardest 
of all: but, of all the different kinds of manual labor that 
I ever attempted, the business of marching with an army in 
heavy marching order, and on rations of hard-tack and pork, 
is the most exhausting. There is very little poetry, and a 
great deal of hard work, about an active campaign. It is 
hard to be a private, hard to be an ofiicer, hard to march, 
hard to fight, hard to be out on picket in the rain, hard to 
live on short rations and be exposed to all sorts of weather, 
hard to be wounded and lose legs and arms, and get ugly 
scars on one's face, hard to think of lying down in death 
without the g-entle hand of love to smooth one's brow : but 
there is just one thing that makes all things easy; and that 
is the spirit of Christian patriotism. 

" The army is going to do up the work, whether you re- 



MEADE MOVES AGAINST LEE. 563 

inforce us or not. It is for you to say whether you will come 
in to share the glory of it. We have worked for Uncle Sam's 
thirteen dollars a month, and spent that to eke out our monot- 
onous rations, and replace the clothing We have been com- 
pelled to throw away in battle, or drop in wearisome marches, 
till the worship of the almighty dollar is driven out of us any 
way ; and if you prefer to stay at home on your farms and 
with your merchandise, and trade in oxen, and marry wives, 
and revel in luxuries, and clothe your wives with contracts at 
the expense of the brave soldiers who are fighting your bat- 
tles, — why, be the money and ease yours; save your precious 
legs and lives; add house to house, and acre to acre ; pay com- 
mutation-money, and avoid drafts; wrangle over party poli- 
tics, and settle yourselves in fat offices. And be the hardships 
ours ; ours the wormy crackers and the rusty pork ; ours the 
marches, the hard blows, the wasting sicknesses; ours the 
longings for the dear loved ones at home, the wives and lit- 
tle ones, who are watching and waiting for our returning 
steps with unutterable anxiety : be it ours to fight all the 
longer because you refuse to help ; be it ours to come home 
all the fewer that you may stay at home the more and the 
merrier. Still will we not murmur at our share, nor willingly 
exchange it for yours. We will hold it a proud privilege to 
go home poor on our country's pay ; to carry on our persons 
the scars of our country's service ; to point to the marks of 
our blood on our country's torn but triumphant banner ; to 
have it written on our headstone, ' He was a soldier of the 
Union.'" 

On the 27th of November, Meade moved to turn Lee's 
right at Mine Run ; and arrangements were made for Sedg- 
wick to assault on the right, and Warren on the left, early 
on the morning of the 30th. But the tentative movements 
that accompanied the advance across the Eapidan had 
informed Lee of his adversary's intentions, and he had 
arrayed his forces accordingly. The morning of attack 
found his main army drawn up on the right behind impene- 
trable abatis, and defended by strong intrenchments. The 
Fourteenth was conspicuous in the line of battle. The brave 
rank and file felt that assault would result fatally. "Knowing 



5G4 CONNECTICUT DUIIING THE REBELLION. 

well that no man could count on escaping death, the soldiers, 
without sign of shrinking from the sacrifice, were seen quietly 
pinning on the breast of their blouses of blue slips of paper 
on which each had written his name ! " ' At this moment, the 
fearless Warren took the responsibility of disobeying the 
command of his superior, and sent word that the works 
could not be taken by a front assault. Meade relinquished 
the attempt, and withdrew his army that night across the 
Rapidan. 

The regiment went into winter-quarters' at Stony Moun- 
tain, near Stevensburg, just east of Culpeper. From this 
camp, Capt. Fiske wrote in December, — 

" Did you ever see a bijr camp unroof itself, and get into marching 
order in about five minutes' time? dofi^ its wliite canvas iu early morning, 
as 'twere a nightcap? take in its sail by magic, like a great ship fearing a 
gale? At two, this a.m., we were all roused i'rom our comfortable slum- 
bers with the pleasant order to get our breakfasts, pack up our traps, and 
be ready to march at break of day. ' To hear is to obey,' under the sway 
of military authority. So, though the rain came down in a steady, perse- 
vering, business-like way, as if its day's work were laid out before it, and 
couldn't be postponed or interrupted for all the armies on the planet, Avhen 
the time came, and the bugle sounded, down came the houses, and were 
soon folded up, all dripping and heavy, on the men^s backs. Grumbling, but, 
on the whole, good naturedly, as all things of late are done in the Army 
of the Potomac, th(^boys were getting into line, ready for a hard, slippery, 
soaking march, no tent in the regiment left standing, save that of your 
humble servant, as chance was ; when an aide came dashing up to the colo- 
nel, and informed him that the order to marcli was countermanded. 
With a rousing cheer all along our lines, off come the dripping pa(tks, and 
on go the roofs to the houses again : our Camp, like magic, spreads her sails 
again, and we remain. 

" The soldier, unlike the sailor, furls his canvas when he moves, and 
spreads it when he stops. Woe, this morning, to the improvident boys, 
who, in the thought of departure, have piled their cracker-box chairs and 
stools, and their sapling bedsteads, into the big fireplaces, and burned their 
pork-barrel chimneys, and, in many cases, the whole walls and frames of 
their houses, just to laugh at the bonfire ! The laugh was on the other side 
of their mouth when the word was ' Stay ! ' and they had to go to work 
again in the rain to rebuild their houses out of the ruins. 

" We build v/inter-quarters now immediately at every stopping-place, 
whether for three days or for months. It is surprising to see how ojiickly 
our boys will make themselves comfortable. In one day, six men with a 
hatchet or ax, and an hour's loan of the company spade, will build them- 
selves a handsome and comfortable first-class, brown-front, mud-log resi- 
dence, with all the modern soldier conveniences, turi-chimney included. 
Log-walls three or four feet high, plastered up with mud ; four pieces of 
shelter-tent buttoned together over a sapling ridge-pole seven feet high, ou 

1 Swinton's Army of the Potomac. 



DEATH OF LIEUT. EDWARD W. HART. 565 

two forked stakes, constitutiug the roof, and two more buttoning in to fill 
up the gable-ends, — this is the house, nine ieet by six, amply large for a 
half-dozen soldiers. The door and chimney are side by side on the same 
end, — the latter, built now usually of turf, laid up in a square or circular 
form, with two or three stakes driven in to keep it steady, and a pork- 
barrel set on the top to finish out the tiue ; the former (the door) not being 
built at all, but /e/?, and a rubber blanket hung over, perhaps, to keep out 
the air. Inside, across one end, two and one-half feet high, a bunk of 
cedar-poles or pine will be laid across, wide enough for three men to 
occupy for a couch ; and below on the ground, but kept from contact with 
the earth by saplings laid underneath, and covered over with cedar- 
boughs, is room for the other three. Thus, more than half of the front 
end of the room is left free to serve as a parlor and drawing-room ; and 
still the sleeping apartments (in both stories) are ample ; I'ifles, equip- 
ments, are slung under the ridge-poles, knapsacks chucked under the bunks. 
A cracker-box holds the crockery and loose provisions of the party. Two 
of them get the wood and water, one cooks, another washes the dishes, 
while the other two are most likely on guard or picket duty." 

Life ill winter-quarters here does not seem to. have been 
very irksome. The days went b}^ more peacefully and 
quietly than at any other time in the history of the Four- 
teenth. Here, for the first and last time, ladies, the wives 
and sisters of the officers, were allowed to visit camp. 
Pleasure-rides and balls were numerous ; and the battles of 
these months were mostly with Cupid's arrows. The regi- 
ment had some of its most interesting engagements at this 
point. The presence of the Lidies does not seem to have 
been demoralizing; for Capt. Fiske wrote, — 

" Our camps are wonderfully improved by the rival edifices that are 
being prepared for the reception of the fair ones. Logs are piled up in all 
manner of fanciful shapes. Bits of boards command fabulous prices. 
More queer inventions for hinges and door-latches are gotten up than 
would be registered in the patent-oiriee in a year. The streets are better 
policed than they were ; more care is taken in setting out trees, and orna- 
menting our camps ; and all our army cities and villages are neater and 
brighter in appearance, more free from nuisances, less noisy, and more 
civilized in all respects, for the presence of women in our midst. God 
bless them ! " 

During the winter, the Fourteenth lost one of its worthi- 
est men in Lieut. Edward W. Hart of Madison. He enlisted 
as a private from patriotic motives, went from the State as 
a corporal, and was made lieutenant in 1863. Capt. H. P. 
Goddard wrote of him, " He was ever brave, prompt, and 
faithful, doing his duty as a true soldier. Especially did I 
note his gallant conduct at Chancellorsville, where he ren- 



566 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

dered most efficient service. While his memory will remain 
green in our hearts for ever, we know that his soul is with 
the God to whom he clung amid all temptations." 

It seemed to be decreed that the Fourteenth should never 
go many weeks without a fight; and now Warren's corps 
was directed to make a diversion along the Rapidan, while 
the cavalry went on a Quixotic raid to Richmond. On 
Feb. 7, 1864, the corps marched down to the river; when 
Gen. Aleck Hayes (God rest the soul of the brave old 
fighter!) swore that his division "must cross, and tackle the 
rebels." Caldwell, commanding in the absence of Warren, 
consented. The bri.«:ade containino; the Fourteenth crossed 
the river at Morton's Ford at noon, with little opposition. 
The water was waist-deep and icy cold. 

Col. T. G. Ellis commanded the brigade, and Lieut.-Col. 
S. A. Moore led the Fourteenth. From Col. Moore's report, 
the followino; is extracted : — 

" As the regiment moved over the crest of the first hill, they opened a 
shell fire upon us ; but their aim was a little too high. About half a mile 
from the ford, the regiment took up its position with the rest of the brigade, 
under the slope of a hill, and in rear of a small white house. Here we 
remained in line of battle, being occasionally shelled by the enemy, until 
about five o'clock, p.m. At this time the rebels made an attack upon our 
position ; and this regiment was ordered out to the support of the skirmish- 
line, commanded by Col. Beard. The regiment advanced upon the enemy, 
deployed as skirmishers, and drove back their line of battle for upwards 
of half a mile, to a place where there were about a dozen small houses 
and out-buildings situated in a grove of trees. Here the enemy made a 
stand ; and the regiment fought them hand to hand, in some cases using 
the bayonet, until the 108th New-York Volunteers and the battalion of 
the 10th New-York coming to our aid, enabled us to drive them from the 
buildisgs. We lield this point for upwards of an hour, until ordered to 
"withdraw to our former position, which we did, leaving a strong picket to 
keep the enemy from advancing while we were carrying off our dead and 
wounded. We brought oiF all of the dead and wounded whom we could 
find. At about eleven o'clock, p.m., we recrossed the river." 

Capt. Fiske, writing of the fight at the buildings, said, 
" Our regiment, being at that time in the advance, and most 
gallantly pushed on by Lieut.-Col. Moore, who was constantly 
riding up and down the line in the hottest of the fire, direct- 
ing and cheering on his men, suffered a very heavy loss. 
Pitchy darkness came on. The only light to direct the 
firing was that which poured out of the muzzles of the mus- 



CELEBRATION OF ST. PATRICK'S DAY. 5Q7 

kets and of the cannon in the distance. Scarcely a sem- 
bLance of a Hne could be preserved on either side. Men 
called out to each other in the darkness, and recognized each 
other as friend or foe by the State or regiment answered. 
Men were captured and recaptured and captured over 
again. Friends were killed by friends' fire. Men fired at 
each other in rooms of houses not a musket-barrel's leng-th 
apart. The rebels were ejected, and driven to their intrench- 
ments. The loss of the division was about two hundred and 
twenty-five; that of our regiment, just one-half of the 
whole loss. 

"The conduct of all the officers, and of the men generally, 
is spoken of as being beyond all praise ; especially that of 
Col. Moore, who had returned from leave of absence only 
the night before, and showed not only the most perfect cool- 
ness, and contempt of danger, which was only what we 
expected of him, but also great judgment and skill in the 
handling of his troops, as to which qualities he had not 
before been so thoroughl}^ tested." 

The regiment lost ten killed, eighty-six wounded, and 
nineteen prisoners. Among the killed were* Color-Sergeant 
Amory Allen of Hartford, shot through the breast while 
bravely holding up the colors, Francis M. Norton of Guil- 
ford, Robert A. Chad wick of East Lyme, and Henry W. 
Orciitt of Vernon. Major James B. Coit of Norwich was 
wounded in the leg. Capt. F. B. Doten of Bridgeport, while 
trying to capture a party of rebels in one of the houses, 
was himself taken prisoner. 

St. Patrick's Day w^as made a holiday in the camp of 
the Fourteenth, and a literary entertainment was provided 
in the structure erected as a lecture-room. There were 
tableaux, ballad - singing, dialogues, excellent music by 
the band under the leadership of Louis Senglaube, and 
theatricals ; " Jeff Davis's dream " being performed by 
George H. Lillibridge, D. and F. Sprenkle, 0. K. Tomlinson, 
W. \V. Westover, and others having dramatic genius. 

The First Connecticut Cavalry, under Major E. Blakeslee, 
remained at Annapolis Junction, Md., until March 15, when 



568 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

they left for Brandy Station, Va. Here they reported to 
Gen. Pleasanton, and were assigned to the cavahy brigade 
of Gen. Davies, under Kilpatrick. They joined the army 
near Stevensburg, and went into camp. About April 1, 
Sergeant George A. Fish of Groton, by direction of Capt. 
John 13. Morehouse, proceeded with fifteen men to patrol 
the road towards Fredericksburg. They were suddenly 
ambushed and surrounded by a large party of guerrillas, 
who ordered Sergeant Fish to surrender, which he did, see- 
ing no chance of escape. . But the rebels fired, wounding 
Sergeant Fish, Corporal Samuel E. Ilurlbut, and Privates 
William Brown and Joseph McCormick, and killing the 
horses of two others, whom they took prisoners. Hurlbut 
and Brown escaped. Fish and McCormick were left on 
the ground almost dead. The rebels robbed them of every 
thing of value, and shot Sergeant Fish three or four times 
in the abdomen with his own revolver, which they had 
taken from his belt as he lay upon the ground. Fish was 
wounded in twenty-one different j^laces with bullets and 
buck-shot, and yet, with a wonderful tenacity of life, he lived 
several da>'S. His body was afterwards embalmed, and 
brought to Connecticut. 

The regular picket detail of the regiment during this 
period amounted to about one-third its duty men, and was 
very severe ; the tours being of three days each. Capt. 
Ell)ridi>;e Colburn of Ansouia went on detached service to 
Ohio, and, on returning, died very suddenly of malignant 
erysipelas. He had been with the command since its first 
organization as a battalion, and had perhaps done as much 
hard service as any officer in the regiment. He was greatly 
lamented. 

The regiment, since its growth from a battalion, was for- 
tunate in having a chaplain, and doubly fortunate in the 
fact that the chaplain was Rev. Theodore J. Holmes. Mr. 
Holmes had left a thriving parish, — the church of East 
Hartford, where he was much esteemed, — and enlisted in 
the army as a private soldier. He was appointed chaplain 
of the First Cavalry. His piety was of a cheerful, hopeftd, 
sunny sort; and he went with the regiment in its most 



l\iTiKi:Tie.d by Le+Tard Bill 



668 



CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 



*Ii/ 



t fi f> 




I'uhhshed by L.'.*;aTd BiU- 



GENERAL GRANT IN COMMAND. 569 

perilous service, calling on the men to crush the Slave- 
holders' Rebellion, as he would have called them to do any 
godly work. He was always helpful, — one of those chap- 
lains, who, like Jacob Eaton, Hiram Eddy, and Henry Clay 
Trumbull, were never •• in the way." 

About June 1, Lieut. Edward W. Whitaker was trans- 
ferred from the Connecticut squadron in the New- York 
Harris Light Cavalry,"- and made captain in the First Con- 
necticut. He had borne an honorable part in the three- 
months'- service as a corporal in Hawley's company, and then, 
enlisting in the Connecticut squadron, had served with his 
company in all the prominent cavalry raids of 1862 and 
1863. In June, 1863, he was made first lieutenant for 
gallantry at Brandy Station, wdiere his brother, Lieut. Daniel 
Whitaker, was killed leadins; a charo-e. He was detailed as 
an aide on Kilpatriclv's staff, and went on the great raid in 
April, 1864, into the very fortifications of Richmond. 

As the weeks wore away, and the graves of the dead grew 
green with grass and fragrant with flowers under tlie vernal 
sun. Grant took his stand at the side of Meade, in command 
of the unfortunate, but always strong and ahvays eager, 
Army of the Potomac. By May 3, the great leader w\as 
ready to launch his blow against the Confederate right. At 
twelve o'clock that night, Wilson's cavalry division was sad- 
dled, and at sunrise of the 4th crossed the Rapidan at Ger- 
mania Ford. Warren's corps followed closely during the 
forenoon. The cavalry pushed on, around the Confederate 
rit»-ht; and the First Connecticut bivouacked at Parker's 
Store, south of the Wilderness. Next morning, near Craig's 
Church, the enemy appeared, and engaged them spiritedly ; 

- After the squadron joined the Harris Lipht Cavalry, it was no longer recojinizcd by 
the War Department as a ("onneeticut organization. The officers were thereafter com- 
missioned by the Executive of the State of New York. The retiinient won honorable 
tame when the cavalry force was weak. Davies and Kilpatrick botli won tlieir tirst dis- 
tinction as its officers. It was often and hotly engaged, — at Catlett's Station, Brandy- 
Station, IMartinsbnrjr, FrcdericksbnrL:-, Chanccllorsville, Gettysburi;'; ahvays doin,::' effective 
and honorable service, (.'apt. William M. Mallory of Hartforil, who raised the squadron, 
became major of the regiment, a position which he tilled with much credit. The follow- 
ins: officers and men were also promoted, — Lieut. L. II. Southard of Hartford to be caj)- 
tain ; Lieut. Marcus Coon of W aterbury to be captain; Second Lieut. J. N. Decker of 
Hartford to be tirst lieutenant ; Sergeants Philo L. Ives of Hartford, Daniel Whitaker of 
Ashibrd, Frederick C. Lord of Naugatuek, and Augustus Martinson of Plymouth, and 
Corporal George Castle of Wateriown, to be lieutenants. Lieut. Decker was killed in the 
advance to Falmouth in the s])ring of 1862, and Lieut. Whitaker fell at Brandy Station, 
Both were bold and skillful soldiers. 

72 



570 CONKECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Lee pushing his whole array towards the Wilderness, to give 
battle before Grant could deploy on open ground. Major 
Blakeslee, in his report, says, " Major George 0. Marcy of 
my regim'ent was sent with Companies C, L, I, and H, to 
reconnoiter on the enemy's right, on the Pamunkey Road. 
Capt. Leonard P. Goodwin, with Companies F and B, was 
sent in the same direction by another road. They after- 
wards effected a junction, and returned only to find that the 
division had been driven back, and that a large body of the 
enemy had got in between them and the rest of the brigade. 
As the only chance of escape. Major Marcy ordered sabres 
drawn and a charge through the enemy, which feat was 
most gallantly accomplished. For a few moments, friend 
and foe were mingled in one confused mass, when Major 
Marcy and his command emerged, with a loss of six wounded 
and thirty-seven prisoners, including Lieuts. John Bristol and 
Levi E. Tyler of Company L. During this time, the remain- 
der of the regiment was supporting a battery, being exposed 
to the enemy's shell, which fell thickly about us." 

The brigade was withdrawn to Todd's Tavern, where it 
repulsed the enemy's charge, and held them in check until 
relieved by the Union inflmtry, now coming up. 

The battle began in all its fury, and raged through this 
tangled forest. Col. Ellis of the Fourteenth was in command 
of a large brigade of nine regiments, which he was destined 
to lead durino^ the coming; struo:<»;les ; leavinii: the resi-iment 
to Lieut.-Col. S. A. Moore. The regimental report says, — 

" We turned northward, and marched to the cross-roads, about five miles 
west from ChancellorsviUe, formed by the junction of the plank road from 
Chancellorsville to Orange Court House, and the road upon which we 
marched. The fii'ing was quite heavy when our brigade reached the scene 
of action. We were formed in line of battle immediately north of the 
cross-roads, and advanced into the woods, where Ave at once became en- 
gaged with the enemy. The Fourteenth Avas in the first line of battle, and 
behaved nobly ; at one time executing a change of front under fire to repel 
an attack on our left. Before going into action, our force was twenty com- 
missioned officers and three hundred and twentv-five enlisted men. 

" The battle was resumed at daylight on the Gth. Our brigade ad- 
vanced to the attack, and moved forward about half a mile through the 
woods, changing front towai'ds the north-west, and crossing the plank road 
running westward from tlie cross-roads. Here the enemy was found in 
force. After being engaged in the front line until our ammunition was 
exhausted, the regiment was withdrawn to the second line until again sup- 
plied. 



THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS. 571 

" In the early part of the afternoon, the enemy made a fierce and des- 
perate assault upon our left flank, which was for some time resisted ; but, 
our brigade being unsupported on the left, it was obliged to fall back be- 
yond the north and south road before mentioned. During the rest of the 
afternoon, the regiment was placed in reserve near the road ; being occa- 
sionally moved, as different points were threatened. 

" In the evening, we were moved a short distance up the road, and were 
engaged most of the night in constructing breastworks along the west side 
of the road. Our force in this day's engagement was eighteen officers and 
three hundred enlisted men." 

It is unnecessary to give here a full account of this un- 
paralleled combat of the Wilderness. It was not a battle in 
the ordinary sense, but a mere desperate trial of strength. 
It admitted of no combinations or tactical movements : it 
was a deadly struggle, in which every regiment attacked 
straight in its front, with little thought of support or relief 
from any other. The fight was in " a dense undergrowth of 
low-limbed and scraggy pines, stiff and bristling chincapins, 
scrub-oaks, and hazel. It was a region of gloom and the 
shadow of death. Maneuvering here was necessarily out of 
the question, and only Indian tactics told. The troops could 
only receive direction by a point of the compass; for not 
only were the lines of battle entirely hidden from the sight 
of the commander, but no officer could see ten files on each 
side of him. Artillery was wholly ruled out of use : the 
massive concentration of three hundred guns stood silent; 
and only an occasional piece could be brought into play in 
the roadsides. Cavalry was still more useless. But in that 
horrid thicket there lurked two hundred thousand men, and 
through it lurid fires played ; and, though no array of battle 
could be seen, there came out of its depths the crackle and 
roll of musketry, like the noisy boiling of some hell cal- 
dron, that told the dread story of death. There is something 
horrible yet fiiscinating in the mystery shrouding this 
strangest of battles ever fought, — a battle which no man 
could see, and whose progress could only be followed b}' the 
ear, as the sharp and crackling volleys of musketry and 
the alternate Union cheer and Confederate yell told how the 
fight surged and swelled. The battle lasted two days ; yet 
such was the mettle of each combatant, that it decided 
nothing." ^ 

8 Swinton's Army of the Potomac. 



572 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

But the result was such that Grant, with his eye ever on 
Piichmond, moved off by tlie left on the night of May 7, and 
began his march to Spottsylvania. 

The cavalry skirmished in the advance ; and, on the morn- 
ino- of May 8, Company C of the First Connecticut opened 
the battle of Spottsylvania, — Lee having hastily withdrawn 
his army and flung it again in the path of his adversary, to 
exact a heavy toll in blood. Chaplain Holmes, who remained 
constantly watli his regiment, wrote, — 

" No opposition met us till within a mile of the place, when 
the rebel pickets were driven in, and a gun opened upon us, 
wliich was speedily silenced by one of our batteries. The 
town was then cleared out by a charge led b}^ our regiment ; 
after vvdiich, a considerable force dismounted and went into 
the woods, — the First Connecticut being in the advance. 
An hour's sharp skirmishing resulted in the rout of the ene- 
my ; but they soon returned re-inforced by inflmtry, when, 
the object of the reconnoisance being accomplished, the 
division retired. We were glad when the day closed, and 
there was promise of rest; but our blankets had hardly been 
spread upon the ground, after a meager evening meal, before 
orders came to prepare at once for a long and trying inarch, 
— whither no one knew, but every one guessed ; instructions 
being given to leave behind every horse and every man unfit 
for the toughest of cavalry experience. The night was 
mostly spent in preparation, — the night whose rest we had 
so longed for ; and by daylight we were off for Richmond, 
the whole cavalry corps being now together under Gen. 
Phil. Sheridan." 

Again the tv/o armies faced each other resolutely : one 
lying like a lion in the way; the other, undaunted, determined 
to pass on. 

The official report of the Fourteenth Regimept contin- 
ues, — 

" Oa the 7th, 8th, aud 9th, we were formod in line of battle at various 
})oiuts, changiu^ our position more to the south-west. About dark on the 
eveuiuuj of the 9th, we crossed the River Po near Mr. Giles Graves's house, 
and encamped for the night. 

"The next morning our division recrossed the river, and went to the 
support of the 5th Corps. We marched by a circuitous route to the left, 



THE SECOND ARTILLERY AS INFANTRY. 5/3 

where we lay for some time exposed to a heavy shell-fire in rear of part of. 
the 5th Corps. Soon our briirade was in line of battle. We advanced 
over the line of breastworks behind which lay part of the corps we were 
supporting, and cliarged forward against tlie enemy. 

" Our advance was througli a tangled road, difficult to pass in order, 
dispersing our men, and obliging us to halt occasionally to re-form our line. 
To add to the ditliculty, the woods were on fire for some distance over 
which we had to pass. At times the heat of the fire was suffocating. Our 
men, however, moved bravely forward, under cover of the woods, to within 
about fifty paces of the enemy's works, which opened upon us a galling fire. 
Unable to advance farther, Ave opened fire upon such of the enemy as could 
he seen, and maintained our position for about six hours, when, our ammu- 
nition being exhausted, we were relieved, and lay in the second line, still iu 
front of the breastworks, all that night and the next day. Our force in this 
engagement was eleven officers and two hundred and twenty enlisted men. 

" About midnight we marched eastward, with our corps, to the right of 
the rebel position ; when, about daylight on the 12th. an assault was made 
upon the enemy's works. "VVe were iu the second line, and passed over the 
rebel intrenchments directly after a portion of the 1st Division, which pre- 
ceded us. We captured a great number of prisoners, which we sent to the 
rear in charge of Capt. James R. Nichols. We pursued the flying enemy 
for about a quarter of a mile, when I found our men becoming scattered, 
our colors in advance of any other troops, and the fire from the enemy's 
second line of works becoming serious. The rebels had also rallied, and 
were advancing a line of battle in our front. I therefore ordered our men 
to fall back to the first line of works. In this first line were the enemy's 
cannon, which were all captured. Many of these gims were turned on the 
enemy. Two of them were worked by the men of the Foin-teenth, under 
the direction of Lieut. -Col. Moore and Lieut. J. Frank Morgan. These 
guns were drawn off" by our men. Our force in this engagement was 
eight commissioned officers and two hundred enlisted men. 

" The regiment was afterwards moved to the left during the day, and 
lay in the rebel intrenchments all night. 

" The 13th and 11th were passed in the same vic:nit\', with slight changes 
of position. About dark on the evening of the 14th, our brigade was 
marched westward to another line of rifle-pits, to resist an expected attack. 
The Fourteenth remained in the works in line of battle. On the night 
of (he ITtli, the regiment being on picket, it was formed into a skii-mish- 
linc, witli some two or three other regiments, and advanced upon the ene- 
my's position. The wliole of the 18th was passed upon the skirmish- 
line, the regiment being at times under a shell-fire, but meeting with no 
casualties. We were relieved at night." 

On May 17, the Second Connecticut Heavj^ Artillery, under 
Col. Elisha S. Kellogg, under orders to join Meade's army as 
infantry, moved out from the forts opposite Washington, and 
bivouacked that evening just outside of Alexandria. Next 
morning, they embarked on transports to Belle Plaine, arriv- 
ing towards nightfall, and bivouacking among the bushes in 
a lieav}" rain. The regiment marched to Fredericksburg, 
met the wounded from the Wilderness, and hurried for- 
ward to the front. 



574 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

When near Spottsjlvania, the regiment, now about sixteen 
hundred strong, and probably larger than any other regi- 
ment under Meade at the time, was assigned to the 2d 
(Upton's) Brigade, 1st Division, of the 6th Corps, under 
the gallant Major-Gen. Sedgwick. On the 21st, they were 
placed in breastworks before the enemy for the first time. 

Gen. Robert 0. Tyler, formerly of the First Connecticut, 
commanded an' independent division of foot-artillerists on 
the extreme right, and was posted on an important position. 
" Ewell crossed the Ny River above the right flank, and, 
moving down, seized the Fredericksburg Road, and laid hands 
on the ammunition-train coming up. Tyler promptly met 
this attack, and succeeded in driving the enemy from the 
road and into the woods beyond. The foot-artillerists had 
not been before in battle ; but it was found, that, once under 
fire, they displayed an audacity surpassing even the old 
troops. In these murderous wood-fights, the veterans had 
learned to employ all the Indian devices that offered shelter 
to the person ; but these green battalions, unused to this 
kind of craft, pushed boldly on, firing furiously. Their loss 
was heavy; but the honor of the enemy's repulse belongs to 
them."^ 

" Carleton," of the Boston Journal, wrote of this fight, in 
which the Union troops were so completely surprised, — 

" Gen. Tyler, who commanded the division of heavy artillery, called 
upon his men to move against the enemy. The troops never had been 
under fire. They had arrived, some of them, only the day before. They 
hesitated. Gen. Tyler rode to Tannatt's brigade, composed of the 1st 
Massachusetts and 1st Maine. 

" ' The sons of Maine and Massachusetts are not cowards ! ' shouted the 
general. ' No ! no ! ' was the response. ' Follow me, then ! ' 

" Away they went with a cheer. They came, within musket-range, and 
the contest began, — Ewell's old veterans on the one hand, and the troops 
who till last week had not handled a musket, on the other. The heavy 
artillery knew little about infantry tactics, of handling muskets, of loading 
and firing ; but they poured in their volleys — no, not volleys ; but each man 
loaded a piece, irrespective of all orders. It was a continuous roll, 

" Meanwhile the rest of Tyler's division — four regiments ; one from 
New York, one from Pennsylvania, one from Wisconsin, and one from Rhode 
Island — joined, and the contest became more furious. 

" The 2d Corps, which was near at hand, was swung round to form 
a second line ; but, before it could be brought into action, the heavy 

* Swinton's Army of the Potomac. 



CAVALRY RAID OF SHERIDAN. 575 

artillery had repulsed the rebels. It was a short, sharp, decisive engage- 
ment. It was particularly marked by the stubbornness of our men. Gen. 
Hunt, commanding the artillery, was early on the ground, and brought eight 
guns iuto position, four of them of Hart's regular battery. The rebel loss 
was quite severe, as was our own. We took several hundred prisoners, 
probably six hundred. 

" Tlie result has had a great effect on the army, raising its spirits to the 
highest pitch. Gen. Meade issued a congratulatory order this morning to 
the heavy artillery, which was received with cheers by the troops." 

For two weeks, Grant, persistent, and contemptuous of ma- 
neuvering, had stoutly hammered away at the intrenchments 
of Lee upon the Spottsylvania crest. Hancock had made a 
breach, and captured Johnson's whole rebel division of four 
thousand men, with twenty guns and thirty colors, after one 
of the most terrific and deadly struggles in the history of 
warfare. In this, as has been seen, the Fourteenth took a 
gallant part. Yet the success was not a victory, for Lee still 
maintained a stubborn front. The cost had been frightful. 
Not less than forty thousand of Grant's army had been 
placed hors de combat. 

In the midst of the battle, fell Major-Gen. John Sedgwick 
of Connecticut, the beloved chief of the 6th Corps, one of 
the most tried and trusted leaders in the army. 

In the mean time, wdiile Grant was pounding away at 
the rebel front, Sheridan was charging gallantly around the 
rebel rear, doing infinite mischief The First Connecticut 
had already been partially armed with Spencer rifles and 
Sharp's carbines, in place of the old Smith's, and was now 
called upon to use them almost every day. On the night 
of the 9th, the column bivouacked on the North Anna; 
next night, on the South Anna; and, on the 11th, met 
Stuart's cavalry at Yellow Tavern. The First Connecticut 
was drawn up as a support, but was not called to the front. 
The enemy was routed by Custer's Michigan brigade ; ^ and 
the celebrated rebel leader, J. E. B. Stuart, was killed. 
Chaplain Holmes wrote, — 

" After this, we marched along without interruption, on the main pike 
to Richmond ; and when within three miles of the city, our division being 
in the advance, took a road for Meadow Bridge, en route for the Peninsula. 

^ In this famous brigade was a regiment led by Col. Edward M. Lee, a native of 
Giiiltbrd, Conn. He was brevetted brigadier-general for gallantry. — See Appendix. 



576 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

About daylight, we were proceeding quietly, — the wliole command nearly 
exhausted from want of food and rest; many sleeping in the saddle, — 
when a shot, so heavy we knew it must have come from the fortifications 
by the city, revealed to us that we were in a decidedly perilous locality. 
A severe fi'>'Iit ensued with the rebel cavalry, in Avhich the First Connecticut 
was heavilv engaged, resulting in a rebel defeat ; when we retired out of 
reach of the lieavy guns of their intrencliineuts. One of our men, killed 
by a 24-pounder as tlie regiment was drawn up in line of battle in an 
open field, we buried under a wide-spreading tree, and during the brief 
service a shell burst very near us. From our position upon an eminence, 
we could witness a fierce struggle in the plains below.'' 

At Meadow Bridge there was a spirited fight, in which 
Custer's brigade again made a magnificent charge, and took 
the bridge. The force crossed and bivouacked. Chaplain 
Hohnes says, ''We had a soft bed that nii»:ht, — our reo-i- 
ment, at least, — the ploughed ground where we halted 
being well soaked with the rain, which fell steadily till 
morning; but though we lay in the mud, with no shelter 
but such as was afibrded by rubber blankets, our rest was 
as sweet as good friends at home were enjoying in their 
comfortable beds," 

Next day, they proceeded to the James, and communi- 
cated w^ith Butler. On the 17th, they started to return, 
crossed the Chickahominy, marched to Baltimore Cross- 
roads, and thence on the 22d to White Hou>;e, to order up 
supplies. From this point they returned, and renewed con- 
nections with the main army. 

Grant had now four corps, — the 2d, under Hancock ; the 
5th, under Warren ; the 6th, in command of which Major- 
Gen. H. G. Wright*"' succeeded Sedgwick; and the 9th, under 
Burnside. Finding the '-hammering" policy too expensive 
and too slow, he now ~ swung his army again to the left, in 
what the rebels derisively called " the crab movement " and 
flanked the impregnable position. Lee evacuated his works 
simultaneously, and swept southward ; and another race 
began on parallel roads to Richmond. 

Hancock first marched out on the extreme left, moving 
towards Fredericksburg, and then turning south along the 
railroad. On the 21st, he reached Milford Station, seventeen 
miles from the point of starting, 

^ A native of Orange, Conn. — See Appendix. ' June 20. 



GENEEAL JOHN SEDGWICK. 577 

Col. Ellis of the Fourteenth Connecticut Volunteers says 
in his official report, — 

" Oa Sunday the 22tl, we were aguia engaged in skirmishing with the 
enemy's cavah-y, near Milford Station. About eleven, a.m., on the 24th, 
we moved across the North Anna River, and were engaged most of the 
day in a severe skirmish with the enemy. Our line advanced, and drove 
the I'ebel skirmishers about half a mile, across a wheat-field on the left, 
and through the woods on the right. "We wei*e relieved at night, with our 
ammunition entirely expended. Our force this day was seven commis- 
sioned offic'ers and a hundred and eighty-five enlisted men. 

The next morning, the regiment was again moved to the front, and was 
engaged all day in throwing up intrenchments. On the 2Gth, about seven, 
P.M., the Fourteenth, with two other regiments, was ordered to advance, 
and drive the enemy from their advanced works on the left of our position ; 
which they did in gallant style, after a terrific struggle which lasted until 
dark. The strength of the regiment engaged in this encounter was eight 
ofiicers and a hundred and sixty-five enlisted men." 

The Second Artillery had also made a forced and severe 
march with the 6th Corps, and arrived at the North Anna 
on the 23d, greatly exhausted. One hundred and twenty 
men were, however, detailed for picket, and sent across the 
river. Next morning, the regiment crossed with the corps, 
and the advance was occupied in skirmishing. Near here, 
Henry Colby of Goshen was killed. The 6th Corps was 
not heavily engaged. On the 25th, the Second Artillery 
destroyed several miles of the railroad, while Hancock's 
corps at Hanover Junction was attempting to push the 
rebels from the river. 

On the 25th, the whole army was compelled by the admi- 
rable position taken by Lee, and the tenacity with which he 
held it at his center, to recross the North Anna, and march 
down the Pamunkey, by a flank movement, agajn to the 
left towards Cold Harbor. The 6th Corps was in the 
advance ; Sheridan clearing the way with cavalry. 



Gen. John Sedgwick was born in Cornwall Hollow, Litch- 
field County, Sept. 13, 1813. His lineage was illustrious. 
A remote ancestor, Robert Sedgwick, — removed six genera- 
tions, — was one of the noble Puritans who struck such sturdy 
blows for the rights of the people, while marching under 
the banner of Oliver Cromwell. In that band of heroes, he 
attained the rank of major-general. John Sedgwick, grand- 

73 



578 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

father of the subject of this sketch, was a major in the Rev- 
olutionary army, and was one of those who stood firm at 
Valley Forge. On returning at the close of the war, he was 
made major-general of the militia ; and his patriotic neigh- 
bors assembled, and built him a house upon the ashes of 
the homestead which the " peace-men " had burned as soon 
as he left for the war. He afterwards often represented the 
town in the General Assembly. 

John Sedgwick was a generous, manly, vigorous boy, born 
to command. At the age of twenty, he entered the mili- 
tary academy at West Point, graduating in 1837. As lieuten- 
ant of artillery, he served through the inglorious Seminole 
War; then upon the northern frontier during the Canadian 
troubles ; and, when slaveholders plunged us in the war 
with Mexico, he was ordered to the more active service. 
Here his native intrepidity and military genius began to 
develop themselves. In many a hot fight, his gallantry was 
conspicuous. At Contreras and Churubusco and Chapulte- 
pec, he obtained the reputation of the bravest of the brave. 
Promotion rapidly followed merit. In 1855, he obtained 
the rank of major in the 1st United-States Cavalry. 

In 1860, Major Sedgwick was engaged in the construction 
of Fort Wise in the vicinity of Pike's Peak. He was a 
Democrat in politics ; but he loved his country far better 
than party ; and, when war broke out, he threw himself into 
the struggle for the Union with all the earnestness of his 
nature. He was appointed to succeed Robert E. Lee as 
colonel of the 4th Regular Cavalry. Henceforth, his fixme 
was national ; for he was found wherever blows fell heaviest 
and fastest, and where danger was most imminent. Accord- 
ino; to the statement of the Prince de Joinville and of Gen. 
Richardson, the skill, energy, and bravery of Sedgwick, 
then brigadier-general, was mainly instrumental in rescuing 
victoriously our army imperiled by a false position at Fair 
Oaks. Gen. Richardson says, — 

"■ In half an hour more, our cohimn would have been cut in two, which 
would have secured the defeat of our army. The danger was imminent. 
But the division of Gen. Sedgwick, advancing at quick time, came up at 
the critical moment, and formed in line of battle in the edge of the wood, 
at the skirt of a large, open field. At this point, commencing a fire of 



GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK. 579 

canister-shot upon the head of the column from his twenty-four pieces, 
he staggered it ; and the division, then moving down in line of battle, 
swept the field, recovering much of our lost ground." 

At the bloody battle of Antietam, Gen. Sedgwick was in 
the thickest of the fight. Twice he was wounded while 
attempting to rally his troops and hold them firm where 
bullets and grape swept their ranks like hail-stones. Faint 
Iroiu loss of blood, he was at length borne in an almost sense- 
less condition from the field. His wounds were scarcely 
healed, ere he was again in the saddle and on the field. The 
shouts of his troops welcomed their beloved commander 
back to the campaign of Chancellorsville. 

Gen. Hooker knew well whom to trust for any adventure 
which required the bravery of desperation, and the pru- 
dence of the coolest brain. To him and his renowned com- 
mand — the 6th Corps — was assigned the part to storm 
and hold the bights of Fredericksburg. Heroically the gal- 
lant exploit was achieved. 

As Sedgwick entered upon this, one of the most thrill- 
ing adventures of the war, he said to his men, "Soldiers, 
the occasion demands that each regiment should perform 
the work of a brigade." 

His men were worthy of their leader. They knew how 
to appreciate their general, who was every inch a soldier. 
His courage, his quick eye, his prompt judgment, his ener- 
getic action, his sympathy for his men, and the self-sacrifice 
with which he shared their toils and hardships, won for him 
that strongest of almost all earthly love, — a soldier's heart. 

Sedgwick was never married; but he was as affectionate 
and tender as a woman. His fondness for his home, and his 
love for his ancestral acres, were with him almost a passion. 
One day, standing upon his doorstep, he looked around upon 
the pleasing landscape before him, hallowed by all the as- 
sociations of childhood, and exclaimed, " Is there another 
spot on earth so beautiful as Cornwall Hollow ? " 

As a soldier, he was a man of few words, but of great 
deeds. Quiet, unobtrusive, unambitious, he excited little 
envy ; while all were ready to do homage to his virtues and 
his genius. Twice he was offered the command of the Army 
of the Potomac, and twice he refused it. 



580 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

In the battles of the Wilderness, Sedgwick took a promi- 
nent part. On Monday, May 9, at Spottsylvania, he was 
surveying the ground to find a good position to post his 
troo})s. The bullet of a rebel sharpshooter whizzed over 
his head. He quietly remarked, " They can not hit us at 
such a distance," and went on with his reconnoissance. The 
next shot was fatal. The bullet struck him just beneath the 
left eye, and passed through his head. He fell dead without 
a struggle or a pang, 

Swinton, in the Army of the Potomac, says, " Sedg- 
wick was the exemplar of steadfast, soldierly obedience to 
duty: singularly gentle and childlike iu character, he was 
scarcely more beloved in his own command than throughout 
the army. The loss of this lion-hearted soldier caused the 
profoundest grief among his comrades. The army felt it 
could better have afforded to sacrifice the best division." 

The remains of the hero were conveyed tenderly to his 
friends in Cornwall, escorted by Gov. Buckingham, our del- 
egation in Congress, and other public ofiSccrs. The legisla- 
ture proposed a public funeral ; but it did not accord with 
the feelings of the family that one whose life was so simple 
should be buried in any other way than quietly from the 
home ho loved. 

The funeral ceremonies were solemnized in Cornwall, 
May 15. Thousands attended from all the surrounding 
towns; and his pall-bearers were near neighbors, who had 
known him from a boy. Rev. Charles Wetherby of the vil- 
lage church preached an appropriate sermon. The body was 
enshrouded in the American flag. No military salute was 
fired above his grave ; but, as the body was loAvered to its 
last resting-place, a peal of thunder like the roar of distant 
artillery reverberated along the heavens, sounding the re- 
quiem. And the tired soldier rested. 




CHAPTER XXXV. 

The First Connecticut Cavalry. — Severe Service. — Battle of Ashland. — Brilliant Per- 
sonal Encounter. — Bravery and Losses. — Battle of Cold Harbor. — Charge of the 
Second Connecticut Artillery. — Terrible Losses. — Death of Col. E. S. Kellogg. — 
Casualties of the Fourteenth. — The Charge of June 3. — Losses of the Eighth, Elev- 
enth, and Twenty-first Connecticut. — Death of Col. Burpee and Major Converse. — 
Organization of the Thirtieth Connecticut. 

sooner had Grant moved his array south-east- 
ward, down the Pamunkey, than Lee withdrew 
south-eastward along the front of its right flank. 
The Union cavahy corps was sent to the right 
to delay the movement of the rebels. During 
the day and night of the 31st, the First Connecticut was for 
eiditeen hours on the dismounted skirmish-line, near Han- 
over Court House. About dark, as they were exchanging 
occasional shots, a general advance was ordered. " We had 
the left of the brigade-line," said Major Blakeslee, " and 
charged rapidly up hill, under a heavy fire. We pushed the 
enemy at every point, and stood on the line all night, with- 
out relief." The fatigue and hunger of the men were hardly 
diminished by the compliment of Gen. Mcintosh, command- 
ins: the brig-ade, " I must have a resjiment on the left that I 
can trust : the First Connecticut must stay all night." 

At dawn next morning, the regiment advanced again 
towards Ashland. It was out of ammunition ; and Major 
Blakeslee sent a detail to obtain a supply. They returned 
in two hours, having been unable to find the ammunition- 
train. Another was sent out, returning about noon with 
the same report. The major then sent Lieut. Henry T. 
Phillips, with instructions not to return without ammunition. 
That energetic officer obtained forty rounds to a man. The 

581 



582 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

regiment, having been in front the day before, was now- 
guarding the trains, and did not expect a fight. But the 
troops behind were diverted to another road, without warn- 
ing Major Blakeslee to put out a rear guard. 

The rebels fell back rapidly in front, and the column ad- 
vanced ; the First having been ordered simply to " support 
and protect the battery," which was pushing along ahead of 
the regiment. Suddenly the enemy charged upon the rear 
of the regiment, among the servants and pack-animals. A 
terrible panic ensued ; the led horses plunging through the 
ranks, and making great confusion. A wild rush followed ; 
and instantly the whole road was jammed full of a struggling 
mass of terrified horses and mules (many of them loose), and 
mounted servants and soldiers, surging forward away from 
the furiously firing and yelling rebels in the rear. All regi- 
mental and company order was lost. Brave, cool men were 
driven along in the rush with panic-stricken ones ; and the 
only impulse seemed to be to get away. Major Blakeslee, 
by the aid of his powerful horse, forced a passage towards 
the rear, and shouted, " Open right and left, and let the train 
through ! Form line in the woods, on both sides ! " Most of 
the men struggled to obey, and quickly the road was cleared. 
An irregular line was formed on both sides. A rapid, well- 
directed volley checked the enemy ; and a spirited counter- 
charge, by a few men, drove them back upon their reserves, 
— a brigade of rebel cavalry, under Fitzhugh Lee, now 
concentrated there. In this charge, Major Blakeslee had a 
personal encounter with one of the rebel horsemen. He 
wrote in a private letter, — 

" I was somewhat in advance of my men. The sudden dash of the 
horses had somehow — I have no distinct idea how — brought this rebel 
and myself side by side. He was a little in advance of his men, and we 
met about midway between the opposing troops. He was so near, that I 
could have laid my hand on his shoulder, when he thrust the muzzle of his 
pistol thi'ee or four inches from my right side, and snapped the cap. It 
missed. As quick as thought, I raised my pistol to his left side, and fired. 
He fell from his horse, and died instantly. I saw his pistol drop from his 
grasp to the ground ; and I did what, in a cooler moment, I should not 
have done, — in the midst of bullets, I leaped from my horse, snatched 
the pistol, sprang on again, and led his horse to my men. I gave the ani- 
mal to Sergeant Stephen N. Hinman of Woodstock, who, fighting near me, 
had had his horse shot under him ; but I kept the revolver as a trophy. 



GALLANT BEHAVIOR OF THE FIRST CAVALRY. 583 

The whole occupied but a few seconds. How narrow an escape I liad may- 
best be realized from the fact, that, before I was wounded, I fired every 
chamber of that revolver ; and the last one, the same that had been 
snapped at me, I fired at the man who wounded me, and that, too, with- 
out changing the cap." 

Capt. Leonard P. Goodwin, commanding the rear squad- 
ron, fought bravel3% ever foremost in the charge, and effi- 
cient in rallying the men. He was placed in command at 
this point, while Major Blakeslee galloped forward to the 
cross-roads to rally for another stand. Capt. Addison G. 
Warner now returned at full speed with the absent squad- 
ron, having been attracted by the firing. They had barely 
time to form in line, when back rushed Capt. Goodwin's 
men, swept like chaff before an overwhelming number. The 
rebels charged down two of the roads on Warner's position ; 
but the Spencer carbine did the work. The squadron stood 
splendidly, and resisted the onset, and turned it back. Many 
saddles were emptied, and the horsemen took to the woods 
discomfited. Down the road, in another minute, charged 
another rushing, yelling mass; but their fury was caught 
on the trusty carbine, and a score of yells ended with the 
death-rattle. Lieut. Charles E. Briggs was struck by a ball 
on the temple, and knocked from his horse, — a wound from 
which he has never fully recovered. Lieuts. W. E. Phillips, 
E. M. Neville, and E. B. Dyer were wounded. Capt. Warner 
was shot through the ho^y. Though mortally wounded, he 
kept his saddle, and continued to rally and cheer on his men 
with determined and extraordinary courage. He soon re- 
ceived another wound, when, faint from loss of blood, he fell 
from his horse, and died gloriously. Major Marcy now took 
command of this line, to resist another bod}^ of rebel cavalry 
rushing down; while Major Blakeslee stationed Color-Ser- 
geant Samuel Whipple, with the regimental colors, still far- 
ther back, and there rallied another line of battle ; when 
Marcy v/as shortly driven again. 

In this rapid and fierce way of fighting on a run, the regi- 
ment formed eight or ten distinct lines, breaking each char- 
ging rebel squadron, which, as it became disorganized by the 
volleys, scattered to the woods, and swarmed upon the flanks. 
So, as long as the woods continued, it was impossible to 



584 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

charge in return, or to stand long in a place, for fear of being 
surrounded. By this time, the favorite battery and the trains 
were out of the way, saved by the persistent courage of a 
hundred men. 

As pursued and pursuers came out into the open fields, 
the First Cavalry formed to charge, under a scattering fire 
in front and flank. At this juncture. Major Blakeslee was 
severely wounded in the arm and side, and was unable to 
join. With a shout, the troops dashed away, headed by 
Capt. Joseph Backus. The little handful pressed forward 
into the very midst of the enemy, driving them some dis- 
tance. Lieut. Uriah N. Parmelee of Guilford resolved to 
capture a rebel battle-flag flaunting in front. He rode far 
in advance of any of his men, and got so near the flag, that 
he reached out his hand to grasp it, when a rebel soldier 
snatched it from the color-bearer, and held it beyond Parme- 
lee's reach. Parmelee wheeled his horse, and escaped un- 
hurt. For his bravery in this action, he was promoted to 
be captain. 

The regiment was soon driven back, or forward, upon the 
brigade-line, when the rebels charged again in force ; and it 
took the united exertions of all the cavalry and the gun- 
ners, with guns double-shotted with canister, to drive them 
permanently back. 

Major Blakeslee remounted as soon as his wound was 
dressed, and remained in the saddle until two o'clock the next 
morning, but so weak the latter part of the time as to need 
the support of his orderly's arm. He had eaten nothing 
for sixty hours. On coming to a halt, he was placed in an 
ambulance, where he was next day mustered in as lieuten- 
ant-colonel. A few days afterwards, his colonel's commis- 
sion came. In the mean time, the regiment was commanded 
by Major Marcy, who had behaved most gallantly in the 
Ashland fight. 

Capt. Addison G. Warner enlisted as a private in the 
three-months' service, and, on returning, taught a private 
school in Putnam, where he married. He attained much 
popularity and success as a teacher ; exhibiting tact, enthu- 
siasm, and patience combined. But the call to the field was 



DEATH OF CAPT. WARNER AND SERGT. WHIPPLE. 585 

irresistible ; and, having recruited more than one hundred 
men for the First Cavalry, he was commissioned captain 
in January, 1864. He was constitutionally and from prin- 
ciple a brave man. Sergeant Alexander McDonald of Nor- 
folk, who assisted him on the field after he was wounded, 
writes the followins; thrillinsr account : — 

" I was only a few feet from him when the rebels came charging upon 
us, and could hear his calm, bold tone of command, ' Stand fast, boys ! 
Give it to them ! ' When numbers forced us to retire, and brave Major 
Blakeslee rallied us again, I saw Capt. "Warner standing about a dozen 
yards in front of the regiment. I rode up, and asked him what he Avas 
doing there. He said, ' Mac, I'm wounded in the shoulder.' I urged him 
to go to the rear. Pie refused. There was no time for words ; for the 
regiment swept forward again^and we with them. The captain, regard- 
less of his wound, was again foremost in the fight, and held his ground 
when it became a hand-to-hand contest. We were for a moment separated ; 
when Sergeant Wheeler called out, ' Mac, captain's wounded.' In a moment, 
I was at his side. His first wound was through his body, close under his 
shoulder : that he did not seem to mind. The next broke his leg below the 
knee, and he was unsteady in the saddle. Wheeler caught him as we 
turned him around, — almost by force ; for he insisted on facing the enemy. 
We had gone but a few steps, when another ball struck him in his thigh, 
severing an artery. Pie was in possession of all his faculties ; but he did 
not betray pain. A moment more, and a ball passed through his head, 
coming out at the left temple ; but even this did not cause instant death. 
He was now very weak ; and I had my arm around him, trying to guide 
the horses with the other. We struck a tree, which separated us ; and he 
fell. His foot caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged some distance, 
until the horse, by kicking, disengaged him. We rallied, drove the rebels 
back, and brought the captain off. I took his head on my lap, and asked 
him if he knew me. ' Yes, — Mac,' said he. ' Oh, my poor wife and child ! ' 
And then his face would change, and he would cry, ' Rally, boys ! — rally for 
the old flag ! ' . . . When we dug the grave to bury our heroic command- 
er, the bullets flew like hail." 

Capt. Warner, says Col. Blakeslee, was " brave to a fault, 
active, energetic, and faithful : he was also in a peculiar man- 
ner the friend of his men. He spared no labor for them, 
and secured a remarkably strong hold upon their con- 
fidence and esteem. His loss was sincerely mourned in the 
regiment." 

Color-bearer Samuel S. AYhipple of Preston was shot 
through the body, and instantly killed, while he was stand- 
insc in- the middle of the road in the hottest of the fio-ht. 
Wrote the colonel, " He was a brave, faithful man, and 
carried his colors as proudly and coolly in the heat of battle 
as on parade. Let his name be remembered with honor!" 

74 



586 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Private Walter Pierpont of New Haven was also particu- 
larly cool and brave, and fell mortally wounded in the fury 
of a charge. 

Chaplain Theodore J. Holmes won a distinguished name 
by his bravery that day, — a reputation which he always 
afterwards maintained. He assisted in rallying the men, 
and holding them to the fight ; and while, with his hand 
uplifted, he was exhorting the men to " stand for the honor 
of Connecticut," he was shot through the wrist by a pistol- 
ball. 

Capt. Edward W. Whitaker was at this time upon the 
staff of Major-Gen. Wilson ; and he wrote home, "This Ash- 
land fight has become the crowning one in establishing 
the reputation of the First Connecticut. In the camp-talk, 
the greatest compliments are paid to the gallantry of both 
of&cers and men. The chaplain's coolness and bravery are 
noted as remarkable." 

Gen. Wilson afterwards wrote to Col. Blakeslee, " Your 
regiment first attracted my attention by its gallantry and 
steadiness at Ashland Station. Upon this occasion, it ex- 
hibited the highest qualities of courage and efficiency, and 
succeeded in holding the enemy in check until the rest of 
the brigade could get into position." 

As Lee fell back along shorter lines, he was enabled still 
to keep in front of Grant, and cover Richmond. The Con- 
federate army was soon drawn up on the north bank of 
the Chickahominy stream, having its front obstructed by 
thickets, and cut up by marshes. Grant's depot of supplies 
had been changed from Fredericksburg to White House 
on the Pamunkey. Gen. W. F. Smith, with his 18th Corps 
and a division of the 10th, — in all sixteen thousand men, 
— had re-inforced the Union army from the Army of the 
James. 

At eight, P.M., of the 26th, commenced the hardest march 
the Second Artillery ever had before or afterwards, con- 
tinuing through the entire night, with occasional ten- 
minute rests, crossing the Pamunkey near Hanover Town, 
and halting, at noon of the 27th, within fifteen miles of 
Richmond. Sergeant Henry P. Milford of Cornwall was 



CHARGE OF THE SECOND ARTILLERY. 587 

sent out in charge of the pickets. The 5th Corps and the 
9th under Barnside,. which had joined the army at Spott- 
sylvania, followed the 6th closely ; and Hancock's 2d brought 
up the rear. The Fourteenth Connecticut Volunteers 
crossed the Pamunkey at four, p.m., of the 28th, and re- 
mained for two days near the river with slight changes of 
position. 

On the night of the 31st, ^Yright's 6tli Corps was detached 
from the extreme right of the army, and directed on Cold 
Harbor, which had now become a point of strategic value. 
Lee, detecting the movement, and divining its purpose, sent 
Longstreet from his own left to seize the roads in front of 
Cold Harbor. The movement and dispositions were rapidly 
made ; so that when Wright and Smith arrived, on June 1. 
the rebels were behind earthworks in the edge of a thick 
wood, approachable only across an open plain several hun- 
dred yards in width. 

The Second Connecticut Artillery, fighting as infantry, was 
disposed in three lines as follows : Companies A, B, E, and K. 
forming the first battalion, under Major James Hubbard; Com- 
panies D, F, I, and M, the second, under Major James Q. 
Rice ; and Companies C, H, G, and L, the third, under Major 
William B. Ells ; the Avhole under Col. Kellogg. The regiment 
lay in mass under shelter of a hastily-constructed breastwork, 
about four hundred yards distant from the front line of the 
enemy, whose sharpshooters and artillery kept up a constaiit 
fire from the direct and oblique points. The Second, though 
never in battle, was assigned to lead the brigade of veterans. 

At five o'clock, the order to charge is heard ; and the regi- 
ment, fourteen hundred strong, springs into line. Bayonets 
are fixed ; but no caps are on the muskets, which are at port. 
Out into the open space, and steadily forward on the quick 
step, press the men, towards a re-entering angle of the 
frowning fortification, where a battery is blazing. From the 
moment the charge commences, they are under an irregular 
fire. They dash across an open field into a growth of pines, 
emerging again into a partial opening. The rebel fire in- 
creases here ; men fall at the right and left ; cannon-shot 
roar, and bullets whistle : yet on sweep the battalions un- 



588 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

flinchino-ly as if composed of the veterans of a hundred fights, 
Lieut.-Col. James Hubbard says in his official report, " The 
rebel fire brought men to the ground in every part of the 
line, and in all the battalions. The ranks, however, were 
instantly closed. The enemy vacated his first line on our 
approach, and retired to his second. The first battalion came 
up to that wath a momentum which would have carried it 
over, had not its progress been arrested by a strong abatis 
of pine-boughs, A terrific musketry-fight ensued, lasting for 
half an hour," 

The abatis completely stopped for a time the advance of 
the regiment ; and, when it was reached, the rebels opened a 
terribly destructive fire from their intrenchments not more 
than five rods distant. Two hundred rebel prisoners were 
captured by the first battalion, and sent to the rear. 

The second battalion, about thirty rods behind the first, 
and the third just behind the second, lay down, and sought 
whatever protection the irregularities of the ground afford- 
ed. The rebels plied the position with musketry, and swept it 
with grape and canister. Major Ells was wounded, almost 
by the first fire. Col, Kellogg, proud of liis men, but fearful 
lest they might shrink in their first encounter, was in ad- 
vance of the foremost line, his towering and conspicuous 
form making him a target for the bolts of the enemy ; and 
he, too, fell in the very beginning of the fight, pierced with 
a dozen bullets. He was a model soldier, whose equal the 
res:iment never before or afterwards saw. 

There were no Union troops upon the left ; and the Coiifed- 
erates in that direction and in front poured a concentrated 
cross-fire upon the wood where this regiment lay. Every 
foot of ground seemed to be in the precise range of musket 
or cannon ; and within the first ten minutes a hundred of the 
first battalion were killed or wounded, Capt, Luman Wad- 
hams was killed. The companies in front became disorgan- 
ized and broken by the horrible fire which they could neither 
resist nor endure ; and the shattered fragments crept back to 
cover, near where the other battalions were lying. Only 
half of them returned, how^ever ; for they left nearly two 
hundred bleedino; on the ground. 



SECOND ARTILLjilRY AND FOUETEENTH INFANTRY. 589 

This position, within forty rods of the rebel parapet, was 
firmly held by the regiment, and quietly intrenched. The 
front was strewn thickly with the dead ; and the wounded 
lay all night calling for help and for water, — calls which could 
be heeded only at the imminent risk of adding to their num- 
ber. Next morning, the Unionists strengthened their ad- 
vance position, and made another charge ; when the rebels 
retreated to intrenchments twenty rods still farther south. 
The Second advanced, and occupied the vacated line, remain- 
ing in possession until a new movement was ordered. 

The sufferings and exposures of the Second Connecticut 
Artillery and the Fourteenth had been very severe. Col. 
Ellis reported on June 7, " The strength of the regiment 
is at present seven commissioned officers and one hundred 
and sixty enlisted men. The present campaign has thus far 
been a severe one. Since its commencement to the present 
time, the regiment has been in line of battle, and under fire, 
almost every day. At night, we have almost invariably 
bivouacked in line, prepared for an attack. The fatigues 
and exposure of the night-marches, and continual encounters 
with the enemy, have been extraordinary ; bnt the officers 
and men of this regiment have met them nobly and. uncom- 
plainingly, cheerfully bearing all the hardships they have 
been called upon to endure. Among the officers especially 
noticed for their gallantry in the various actions in which 
they have been engaged, I would mention the names of 
Lieut.-Col. S. A. Moore and Adjutant William B. Hincks." 

Adjutant Hincks was especially marked for his bravery, 
capturing personally two battle-flags by riding in advance 
of the regiment. He was soon promoted to be major, vice 
Major J. B. Coit, who, having received a severe wound, 
resigned. 

Since leaving winter-quarters at Stony Mountain, six weeks 
before, with barely three hundred and forty-five officers and 
men, the Fourteenth had lost one hundred and sixty-five in 
killed and wounded, — more than forty-five per cent. Of 
these, three officers (Capt. Fiske and Lieuts. Wadhams and/ 
Schalk) and twenty-three enlisted men were dead. Among! 
the wounded were Lieut.-Col. S. A. Moore, Major J. B. CoitJ 



590 CONNECTICUT DURING THE I EBELLION. 

and Lieuts. William Murdock, Robert Eussell, Newell P. Rock- 
wood, L. F. Norton, Samuel H. Seward, and George H. Lilli- 
bridge. 

Capt. Samuel Fiske of Madison was one of the most brilliant 
of the sons of Connecticut killed in the war. He was born 
at Shelburne, Mass., in 1828. He was early taught self-reli- 
ance ; and maintained himself through Amherst College (the 
youngest and smallest student), graduating with the second 
honors of his class. He held the post of tutor for three years, 
studying meanwhile for the ministry, and then went abroad. 
On his return, his letters to the Springfield Republican 
were collected, and published in a volume entitled Experi- 
ences in Foreign Parts. By Dunn Browne. It was the 
most witty, genial, and sparkling volume of the }ear. Pro- 
fessor Tyler of Amherst, in a memorial address, said of Fiske 
when he first began to preach, " His sermons were full of 
thought, full of illustration, suggestive, and impulsive to a rare 
degree. They were also inwardly charged, nigh unto burst- 
ing, with wit and humor. He could not always keep his wit 
and genius out of his prayers. His prayers were not like any 
other man's prayers : his sermons were not like any other per- 
son's sermons. He was a manifest and marked original." 
He was afterwards settled in Madison, near New Haven, 
where he was much beloved for his ingenuousness, his great 
ability, and his consecration to his Avork. When the second 
call for troops came, he felt that it was for him ; left his 
pulpit, and enlisted as a private in the Fourteenth. He was 
soou chosen lieutenant, and promoted to be captain. He 
insisted that the care of his men was the first duty of an 
officer, and he honored the theory in practice. Never 
shrinking from service in camp or field, he yet found time 
to be an historian, as well as a hero of tlie campaigns, and 
photographed the most striking scenes in a series of letters 
to the Springfield Republican, which, for truth and faithful- 
ness, wit and humor, burlesque and pathos, strangely inter- 
mingled, have no superior in all the journalistic literature 
of the war.^ 

Capt. Fiske fell at the head of his company, shot through 

j 1 These are republished in a piquant volume entitled Dunn Browne in the Army, 
remarkable for its graphic pictures of soldier- life. 



CAPTAIN FISKE AND LIEUTENANT WADHAMS. 591 

the collar-bone and top of the right lung. He rode on 
horseback to the hospital, — a mile to the rear, — and thence 
was borne to Fredericksburg. Those who loved him best 
were summoned to his side ; and, amid the tears of his friends 
and associates, he gently breathed his last, just at the close 
of the holy Sabbath, when stiMness reigned, and Nature 
seemed to be paying him a last tribute of respect. 

When a chill came over him, which he took to be the last, 
he said to his brother, "Asa, do you think heaven comes 
right off? I shall soon know all about it." On the morn- 
ing of his death, he greeted his sister with the salutation, 
" To-day I shall get my marching orders : well, I am ready." 

Lieut. Frederick E. Schalk of Norwich died in the hospital 
at Fredericksburg, of wounds received at Spottsylvania. He 
was in the three-months' service, and afterwards rose from 
the ranks to first lieutenant in the Fourteenth. He was \ag- 
orous and energetic, yet buoyant in his disposition, always at 
his post, smiling at hardship, and meeting peril with defiant 
courage. 

Lieut. Henry W. Wadhams was one of three stalwart, 
manly brothers, sons of Edwin Wadhams of Litchfield, all 
of whom enlisted in the service, and were killed in battle. 
Henry volunteered as a private, and was promoted for faith- 
ful performance of duty. He had passed through many 
dangers unharmed, and advanced with alacrity to the charge 
with four small companies, on an angle of the enemy's 
works, on the North Anna. He led on his men, stimulating 
them by his gallant example, — on, over the rebel parapet, 
and fell within the enemy's works, pierced by a bullet. At 
dark he wf\.s borne off, at much peril, by Sergeant Junius E. 
Goodwin a id Thomas Hannah. He suffered intensely, yet 
murmuredj not. Love in him overcame excruciating pain ; 
for, forget' ing his suffering, he kept saying, " my poor 
wife and child!" He lived a few hours, and died, murmuring 
still of the gentle and patriotic woman who had not opposed 
his going to the war. 

" I have known him long and well," wrote Capt. William 
H. Hawley, " and can truly say that he was always faithful 
in the discharge of his duties ; always brave and trust- 



592 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

worthy ; always careful of his men, and mindful of their 
wants." And one of the faithful soldiers who helped, at 
great risk, to bear him from the field, says, '■ Sacred be his 
memory, because he was as good as he was brave." 

The Fourteenth had lost more than twenty brave enlisted 
men, whom the regiment could ill afford to spare. The gal- 
lant color-bearer, Henry Lyon of New Haven, had fallen ; 
and Sergeant Charles M. Scoville of New Britain, and Wil- 
liam Glossinger, and the fearless Edwin Stroud of Middle- 
town. During the fight at Bristoe Station, Stroud, single- 
handed, captured and brought in five armed rebels in one 
squad. 

The losses of the Second Connecticut Artillery at Cold 
Harbor had been heavier in killed and wounded than those 
of any other regiment from this State in any battle. Sev- 
enty-five killed and a hundred and eighty-four wounded was 
the total footing ; and among the killed were Col. Kellogg 
and Capt. Luman Wadhams ; and among the wounded. 
Major WiUiam B. Ells, Capt. James Deane, and Lieuts. B. 
H. Camp, H. E. Tuttle, and Calvin B. Hatch. 

Col. Elisha S. Kellogg was born in Glastenbury, Conn., in 
1824. A boyish love of adventure led him to choose the 
life of a sailor. For many years he was buffeted by waves, 
and disciplined by hardship, until he grew in stature robust 
and vigorous ; in mind honest, sincere, and kind, with a 
certain brusque roughness which pertains to the hardy sail- 
or. He went out to California in search of a fortune; came 
back, and settled in the pretty and enterprising village of 
Birmingham. 

Those who are familiar with the history of our State 
militia will remember Lieut., Capt., Major, and Lieut.-Col. 
Kellogg : this is the order in which he rose from rank to 
rank, until he was acknowledged one of the best-drilled sol- 
diers in the State. 

At the first gun, he sprang to arms, called his company 
about him, and they were mustered for three years into the 
Fourth Regiment. He was the best officer in the regiment, 
until Col. Robert 0. Tyler came and saved it. After serving 
gallantly in the battles on the Peninsula, Major Kellogg was 



DEATH OF COLONEL KELLOGG. 593 

transferred to be lieiitenant-eolonel of the Nineteenth, and 
ultimately, as has been seen, succeeded to the command. He 
made the regiment what it afterwards became as the Second 
Connecticut Artillery. On the 1st of June, he went boldly 
to the charge at Cold llarljor. Saj's a member of his 
staff, "He was fully impressed with a sense of what was 
before us; marked out on the ground the shape of the 
works to be taken ; told the officers what disposition to 
make of the different battalions, how the charge would be 
made ; spoke of our reputation as ' a band-box regiment.' 
Now we were called on to show what we could do at fi'dit- 
ing. He felt confident we vrould in this our first fight estab- 
lish, and ever afterwards maintain, a glorious reputation as a 
fight'ing regiment. 

" We were soon ordered to the charo-e. Col. Kelloo-o; led us 
in bravelj^, coolh^, and steadily; taking the first line of 
w^orks, near which he was wounded, he pushed steadilj^ on 
to the second line, and called on the 'boys' to capture the 
fleeing rebels. ... I went to the left of the battalion, and 
on the way passed Col. Kellogg: his face was covered with 
blood from a wound in the cheek ; he Avas cheering on the 
men. On reaching the main works, wdiich were protecte-'l 
by a mass of felled trees and limbs piled up in front, our 
boys could not get over them ; and there they halted, firing 
over the obstructions. The galling fire of the enemy at 
last forced our line to a:ive wav. I went over where the 
center had rested, and there my worst fears were realized. 
On the top of the abatis the colonel lay dead ; and near him 
a score of our brave boys had fallen. He was shot through 
the head just above the ear, — two shots near together : he 
was also shot^ in the arm and face. He fell in advance of 
his command, leading them on ; forgetting his own safety, and 
thinking only of victory over the traitors to his countr3^ 
and his country's flag." 

Gen. Upton, commanding the brigade, said, "That he 
exposed his own life but too freely is well known to all. A 
brave and patriotic officer has fallen in the defense of his 
country : he has done much for the honor and reputation of 
his native State." 

75 



594 CONNECTICUT DURING THE IIEBELLION. 

Notwithstanding the vicissitudes of a checkered life, the 
"immediate jewel of his soul" had been preserved untar- 
nished. He was a man of good conscience. What is ordi- 
narily termed " manhood " was his distinguishing trait of 
character. This was the one thing never to be sacrificed. 
Truth, honor, bravery, sincerity, were, in his esteem, car- 
dinal virtues : these were his idols. Hypocrisy, pretense, 
cant, quackery, were his abhorrence. His patriotism was 
unbounded : it was sublime in its massive strength and 
grandeur. 

Exteriorly, he was a man of rough mold, yet moved by 
gentle emotions and kindly impulses. He possessed a quick, 
ardent temperament ; was not slow to anger ; not choice in 
expletives nor careful of consequences when roused. He 
cherished no malice. 

He was a man of excellent judgment ; knew how to 
command and control without exciting opposition or tard}'' 
compliance. He always manifested a paternal care, which 
endeared him to his men, and a capability which inspired 
confidence. No commander ever exacted more of his com- 
mand, or held their hearts in a firmer bond of affection. 

Col. Kellogg was a most unselfish man : the story of his 
life is replete with tender charities and kindly ministrations. 
The stern warrior who could tread with unfaltering steps 
and unblanched cheek along the fiery front of battle could 
also bend with tearful sympathy over the victims. And so 
he was loved ; and, when his mortal remains were laid in 
the pleasant valley at Winsted, a thousand hearts turned 
tenderly towards the grave. 

The colonelcy of the Second was now offered to Lieut.-Col. 
James Hubbard- of Salisbury; but he declined the position. 
The officers nominated Capt. Ranald S. Mackenzie, a regu- 
lar army officer serving on the staff of Gen. Wright ; and he 
was accordingly commissioned colonel. 

Capt. Luman Wadhams of the Second Artillery was killed 
a week after his brother Henry fell at the North Anna. He 
went through the three-months' service ; was afterwards a 
lieutenant for seven months in the Eighth ; and, when the 

^ Lieut.-Col. Nathaniel Smith had resigned on May 6, on account of disability. 



CASUALTIES AT COLD HARBOE. 595 

Nineteenth was called for, he raised a company, and led it to 
the field. Capt. Wadhams loved his men, and did all he 
could to help them. When on duty, he was their officer ; at 
other times, their friend. He seldom punished his men ; yet 
they were seldom in the guard-house. If a man was disor- 
derly, he called him aside, pointed out the offense, and tried 
to inculcate the duties of a soldier. He governed mainly by 
strengthening self-respect in his men. They, in turn, felt for 
him the most enthusiastic affection, and found many ways 
by which to testify their high appreciation. On one occa- 
sion, they presented to him a valuable sword. In speaking 
of the gift, Capt. Wadhams said, " That was given me when 
I had been with the boys a year and a half; when they knew 
me and I knew them well. For that reason, I prize it." None 
were braver than he at Cold Harbor. " I can never," writes 
Capt. E. W. Marsh, " forget his bearing as he led us to the 
charge. His commanding figure, his determined step, and 
electric glance, told that he was nerved to his responsible 
work ; and his men emulated his example." 

In the moment of success he fell, pierced through the 
body. His devoted men sprang to his assistance, and bore 
him to the rear, where he soon expired. His body was 
buried at Litchfield with Masonic honors, sixteen weeks after 
his wedding-da3\ And one soldier expressed the feelings of 
all as he wrote, " When I heard that our dear captain was 
dead, I could not keep from crying." Precious ointment for 
the brow of a dying officer are the tears of his men. 

In this bloody struggle had fldlen many noble men who 
held no commissions. Here, in the Second Regiment, fell 
Joseph P. Parke, A. C. Morse, Benjamin Meeker, G. W. Pot- 
ter, Walter C. Sparks, David J. Thorpe, F. W. Daniels, Wil- 
laid Hart, Alonzo J. Hull, George L. Beach, Henry A. Rex- 
ford, Samuel E. Gibbs, Joseph B. Payne, George H. McBarney, 
Charles Adams, jr., and half a hundred others as worthy and 
as brave. Nathan H. Geer of Bristol lost his leg in this 
fight, and suffered three amputations. He lived, was dis- 
charged, graduated with honor at the Hartford Commercial 
College, and was on the point of marriage, when ab- ' 
cesses formed ; and he died two years after the battle. Two 



596 CONNECTICUT DUIIING THE KEBELLION. 

brothers, Sergeant James A. Greene and Stephen S. Greene 
of Colebrook, were mortally wounded here, and died ; one on 
the following Tuesday, and the other on Wednesday. They 
were brave and manly young soldiers, earnest and upright 
in their lives;^ 

When partial success had crowned this fight for the pos- 
session of Cold Harbor on the left, Grant and Lee rapidly 
disposed their armies for the coming grapple. The Union 
force was drawn op on the night of June 2 : Hancock on the 
left, then Wright, then Smith, with Warren and Burnside on 
the right. Gen. Robert 0. Tjler commanded the reserve ar- 
tiller}'. The plan of battle was simple, and similar to that 
of Spottsylvania, — a general assault with the bayonet along 
the whole front of six miles, to be made in column by divis- 
ion, at half-past four next morning. All caps were removed 
from the muskets. " It was not later than forty-five minutes 
past four when the whole line was in motion, and the dark 
hollows between the armies were lighted up with the fires 
of death. It took hardly more than ten minutes of the fig- 
ment men call time to decide the battle. There was along 
the whole line a rush, the spectacle of impregnable works, a 
bloody loss, then a sullen falling-back ; and the action was 
decided." * 

In this charge, Brig.-Gen. R. 0. Tyler, while gallantly lead- 
ing his command, was severely wounded in the leg, and car- 
ried off the field.^ Three of his regimental commanders 
were killed. 

' A third brother, George, had died in the naval service a year before. 

* Swinton's Army of the Potomac. 

*Gen. Tyler received a furlough ; and, while detained in Connecticut by his wound, 
he was presented by his friends with a handsome sword costing a thousand dollars, and 
before returning to the army was brevetted major-general " for great gallantry at Cold 
Harbor." The following is an extract from tlie letter accompanying the sword : " Of 
the daring and steady endurance of tiie division which followed you, with courage ufidis- 
mayed, to triumph at Spottsylvania, your commanding general has already assured the 
country ; and the wound which still detains you from active service attests your personal 
gallantry during the brilliant charges at Cold Harbor. While you are again at your home, 
we, a few of your friends, have united in presenting to you the sword and equipments which 
accompany this letter as a testimonial of our high admiration for the honorable distinc- 
tion you have won in the many engagements of this protracted contest. 

" M. M. Merriman ; Roland Mather ; Edmund G. Howe ; N. Shipman ; H. A. Per- 
kins; James L. Howard & Co. ; J. U. Trnmhull ; Albert Day, Sons, & Co. ; W. H. D. 
, Callender ; J. C. Coleman ; R. Swift ; Watson Beach ; Charles M. Beach ; James Dixon ; 
H. L. Porter; J. M. Niles ; A. G. Hammond; Thomas Smith ; J. G. Rathbun ; Charles 
H. Prentice ; J. C. Parsons ; W. T. Lee; E. Flower; J. A. Butler; Lucius Barbour; 
William H. Post ; N. Kingsbury & Co. ; Collins Brothei-s & Co. ; Griswold, Seymour, 



' MAJOR JOSEPH H. CONVERSE. 597 

The Eighth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first Connecticut were 
in the charge with Smith's corps ; and their losses had been 
heavy within those few minutes. 

The Eighth was least exposed, being held as a reserve, 
Capt. Charles M. Coit in command. Its losses were eight 
killed and thirty wounded. Sergeant Albion D. Brooks was 
among the dead". He was a thoroughly exemplary man, 
and was studying for the ministry when the war broke out. 
He promptly enlisted as a private, and re-enlisted as a vet- 
eran; reading the Greek testament and studying Hebrew in 
the leisure of his service. He was widely lamented. 

Col. Stedman had led his brigade bravelj' in the terrible 
onset. In a private letter written at the time, he said, " We 
formed in the woods in solid columns. I gave the command, 
' Forward ! ' We started with unloaded muskets and fixed 
bayonets. I was the first to enter the open field and see the 
enemy's lines, — a curve. I bade farewell to all I loved. It 
seemed impossible to survive that fire ; but I was spared, 
while the officers of my staff, who followed me closely, were 
struck down. We reached a point w^ithin thirty yards of the 
enemy's main works ; but the fire was too murderous, and 
my men were repulsed. We left the woods with two thou- 
sand men ; in Jive minutes we returned, six hundred less !" 

The Eleventh had lost nine killed and seventy-five wound- 
ed. The colonel escaped with several bullet-holes through 
his coat. Major Converse, Capt. Amos S. Allen, and Adju- 
tant Samuel C. Barnum, were mortally wounded, and soon 
died. 

Major Joseph H. Converse of Windsor Locks was born at 
Stafford, of vigorous and enterprising New-England ancestry. 
He prepared for college, but did not enter. When the first 
call came, he enlisted in the first company from the State, 
and served fiiithfully as orderly sergeant of Company A. He 
then prepared himself for an efficient officer, and went out 
as a second lieutenant in the Eleventh. From rank to rank 
he rose gradually by his own merits. He was a good 

& Co. ; E. Fessenden ; E. S. Cleveland ; Moore & Johnson ; E. N. Kellogg & Co. ; 
R. Burkett ; Samuel S. Ward ; T. M. Allyn ; H. & W. Keeney ; Tudor Browncll ; 
Bolles, Sexton, & Co ; Gurdon Trumbull ; E. K. Root ; Cheeney Brothers ; Owen, 
Day, & Root ; Richard S. Ely ; J. G. Batterson ; W. C. Alden ; H. t. Sperry ; Marshall 
Jewell; E. P. Allen. 



598 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. ♦ 

scholar, and of refined literary tastes ; and his letters to the 
Hartford Press, descriptive of the battles of Newberne, An- 
tietam, Fredericksburg, &c., are among the best war-sketches 
published in the State. He was adjutant to Col. Kingsbury 
at Antietam, and was within a month promoted to be major, 
for skill and conspicuous valor on that occasion. He wished 
to remain with his regiment, but was frequently detailed to 
service requiring scholarly attainments. At Cold Harbor 
he was serving as aide on the staff of Gen. Martindale. Col. 
Stedman (shortly afterwards to flill as suddenly) wrote to 
the father of Major Converse, after the battle, — 

" I was waiting in the edge of the woods, my brigade hav- 
ing the advance. Major Converse rode up, and, shaking 
hands, said, ' Colonel, the general sends his compliments, and 
says all is ready.' We parted, — he to rejoin the general, I 
into the open field. As we appeared to the enemy, a volley 
met us, and in it the major fell. I was not aware of his fate 
until my return. I had then seen all my own staff killed or 
wounded, and five hundred of the gallant brigade fallen. I 
was told by the general that Converse had gone too. It 
was a sad blow to me ; for, through three years of hard ser- 
vice, we had been comrades and intimate friends." 

When told that his wound was fatal, he only said, " I am 
ready to go." Dr. N. Mayer, who knew him well, has- thus 
written, "Allow me a few words on his character. He- 
was a good representative of his age and nation. Without 
agreeing with any school of transcendentalists, he was essen- 
tially a protestant, a protester against established systems 
and customs. He fully realized the state of transition which 
the present age and our nation is in ; and his satire flashed 
up broad and indignant against the fetters that yet are tim- 
idly thrown around us, because the clear aim and result of 
our progress can not now be foreseen. He had infinite 
humor, yet, under the comic mask, wore a strong, feeling 
heart. He loved well, and hated strongly. It was easy for 
him to enter on the views and feelings of any person, and 
from that person's standpoint contemplate subjects, yet not 
lose his individuality. He was a prompt officer, very abso- 
lute and strict ; not familiarly popular, but always trusted 



SCENES AFTER THE BATTLE. 599 

and well obeyed. His character was fast rooted in resolute 
firmness and incorruptible integrity, and adorned with na- 
tive courtesy and an exquisite sense of honor." 

One year before, learning that Capt. Samuel Hayden, a 
high-minded and gallant friend, had fallen at the battle of 
Irish Bend, La., he uttered from his heart this touching; 
tribute, "His devotion to the cause which he deemed 
sacred, and his bravery, have been most sadly attested by 
his death. The character that he maintained as a citizen 
needs no eulogium ; but on the grave of that Christian spirit, 
far away on the bank of the Teche, a younger soldier would 
f\iin lay his laurel-wreath, and carve on the tombstone of the 
gallant, Dulce et decorum est pro patrla mori I " Thus 
unconsciously did he pen words most appropriate for his 
own epitaph. 

Of Lieut. Barnum, Chaplain H. C. De Forest wrote, — 
'' He was Col. Stedman.'s adjutant-general, always at his 
side, and therefore always in danger if duty became dan- 
gerous. We thought it would prove not a permanent injury, 
nor lead to amputation. His patient endurance deceived us; 
for his fortitude in enduring was not surpassed by his brav- 
ery in receiving the wound. But we now mourn him also. 
He died among his friends, who attended him in those last 
days ; but he always had friends wherever he had acquaint- 
ances." Of the hospital, next day, he continues, — 

" There Major Converse was djing. By his side was the adjutant, smil- 
ing, Avithout a groan or murmur, but pale. Not far away, but on the open 
hillside, where the morning sun was striking, lay brave Capt. Allen, his 
wound for hours undressed. Near him was Lieut. Horn, wounded in the 
shoulder ; and, on the same rubber blanket, Lieut. Pray, hit by a ball that 
had become weary in its mission of death. That noble, manly sergeant 
was George B. Covell of Kiilingly ; and in his death, which soon followed, 
we lost one of the best and truest and firmest patriots. For him the chap- 
lain mourns. If there was a sabbath service, or a meeting for prayer and 
song. Sergeant Covell was there. With him would be Sergeant James 
Souter, his friend and ours, who fell so heroically, and was left on the field. 
... In the woi'k of the night, Lieut. -Col. W. C. Moegling's belt and pis- 
tol, following the strategy of the campaign, had slid to the left. In the gray 
of the morning, a rebel sharpshooter had spied him as he stood at our 
advance-line recounoitering with his glass. He aimed well. The ball 
struck the misplaced pistol, and though it tore the pistol, cleaving wood- 
work from iron, and left its mark on coat and person, yet, by this displace- 
ment, a mortal blow was turned away." 



600 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The Tweuty-first, Col. Thomas F. BuriDee commanding, 
went gallantly to the charge, leading a brigade in the second 
line. The regiments of Gen. Marston, in advance, were soon 
broken by the terrible fire ; but the Twenty-first held the 
ground with great steadiness, and a new line, a little in the 
rear, was formed and maintained under a heavy fire. The 
regiment sufiered a loss of nine killed and forty wounded. 
Col. Burpee was mortally wounded at daybreak, on June 9, 
while going the rounds as brigade officer of the day. Lieut. 
Luther N. Curtis was wounded dangerously in the neck ; 
and Color-Bearer J. F. Cowles, severely in the side. 

Col. Burpee was a native of Tolland County, and before 
the war was a quiet and unpretending citizen of Rockwell. 
He enlisted a company for the Fifteenth Regiment, and was 
chosen captain. He was soon transferred to be major of the 
Twenty-first, and then promoted to be lieutenant-colonel. 
He followed the fortunes of the regiment fiiithfully ; and, on 
the death of Col. Button, was promoted to be colonel. His 
letters tell of his character. He wrote, " Tell Louise " (a sis- 
ter whose eldest son had enlisted in the Fourteenth) '-not to 
be over-anxious about William. I should rather see him sac- 
rificed for a holy principle than to see him remain in inglo- 
rious waiting at a time like this. The Lord has said, 'Who- 
soever will save his life shall lose it;' and this has often been 
the case in this accursed Rebellion. The lofty inspiration of 
this cause is worth living a lifetime to feel ; and, if I had a 
thousand lives, I would not withhold one of them. Should I 
be laid in the grave, remember our heavenly Father doeth 
all things well. Look on the bright side, and the bright side 
only. God bless you and the children ! " 

To the sister above mentioned, whose son, William Good- 
ell, had fallen bravely fighting at Gettysburg, he wrote, 
'' Nothing can be untimely which is ordered by an all-wise 
God. The blow which laid him low welded our hearts to 
our country's cause. The sacrifice of suffering and blood 
which he poured out sanctified to us its soil." 

Col. Burpee's last letter was written in the trenches, at 
that period, about the 5th of June, when portions of the hos- 
tile lines lay within a few yards of each other ; and it breathes 



ANOTHER REGIMENT OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 601 

the same spirit. He said, '' It is appointed unto men once to 
die ; and it matters little when or where if we are prepared, 
and engaged in duty." 

The Second Connecticut stubbornly held the place it had 
won. The Fourteenth was not heavily eng-ao-ed in the change, 
being in reserve. Col. Ellis was at this time detailed to 
command the camp at Annapolis, Md., which important posi- 
tion he held daring the summer; fortifying the place when it 
was menaced by Early's raid. 

On the morning of the 4th, regular siege-approaches were 
begun, running zig-zag towards the rebel works, nearer and 
nearer day by day. During the following week, the army 
saw little rest. Again we quote from a letter of Col. Sted- 
man, written in the trenches : — 

" Our life in the trenches is like this : first, the trench is a 
long passage, as its name indicates, running in a direction 
with reference to the enemy's works. The earth is thrown 
towards the enemy ; and this, with the trench or ditch, forms 
a protection some eight feet high. The trench is eight or ten 
feet wide : in this the troops remain, unable to leave it on 
account of the enemy's sharpshooters. The officers dig holes 
in rear of the trench, in which our spare time is passed. 
Like a rabbit, the soldier burrows deeper and deeper as dan- 
ger increases. At least one-third of the troops are constantly 
on duty ; and at night we are all on the alert." 

On the 12th, this work was abandoned ; and Grant again 
swung off to the left to join the Army of the James. 



During the preceding fall, another regiment of colored sol- 
diers was called for in Connecticut; and the organization soon 
began, under the designation of the Thirtieth. They gathered 
slowly at the United-States rendezvous at Fair Haven during 
the Vvinter of 1803-64, Capt. Henry C. Ward, who had served 
most efficiently as adjutant of the Twenty-fifth during its 
term of service, was appointed to be colonel of the Thirtieth. 
Among its other officers from Connecticut were Capt. George 
Greenman of Norwich, Capt. Charles F. Ulrich of Hartford, 
Capt. R. Cecil Barrett of Somers, Capt. William C. WiUiams 



76 



602 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

of Rocky Hill, and Cupt. Ira S. Smith of New Haven. In Feb- 
ruary, 1864, the battalion was addressed by Frederick Doug- 
lass, the colored orator from Rochester, N.Y. It finally left 
New Haven without its minimum complement of men ; and in 
June, near Cold Harbor, it was consolidated with another bat- 
talion as the United-States 31st. During the next week, they 
were detailed as a guard for two or three thousand prisoners, 
to whom the situation was very trying. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

After Cold Harbor. — The First Cavalry. — To Petersburg. — Exploit of the Eighth. — 
Charge of the Eleventh. — The Second, Fourteenth, and Twenty-first. — The Sixth, 
Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth at Bermuda Hundred. — Wilson's Raid. — The First 
Cavalry. — Bold Ride of Capt. Whitaker. — Incidents. —First Connecticut Artil- 
lery. — Siege- Work of the Summer. — Battle of Strawberry Plains. — The Thirtieth 
Connecticut at the Mine. — Death of Col. Stedman and Lieut.-Col. Moegling. 




EEP to the left" was Grant's constant formula 
of command ; and every swing brought him 
nearer to Richmond. A change pf base, which 
Napoleon called " the ablest maneuver taught by 
military art," was achieved by Grant and Meade, 
after Cold Harbor, with masterly skill and complete success. 
One by one the corps were withdrawn from the right, and 
sent to the rear and left. The right was thus gradually and 
cautiously refused, and the line developed towards the lower 
crossings of the Chickahominy. In the mean time, Wilson's 
division of cavalry, which included the First Connecticut, 
was sent around the rebel right, straight on Ricfmiond. By 
this ruse, Lee was deceived, and withdrew his army rapidly 
towards the capital to intercept what he supposed to be 
Grant's direct advance by the left. Wilson's cavalry, after 
seizing and holding Long Bridge, on the Chickahominy, 
dashed towards Richmond, and drove the rebel cavalry and 
infantry across White-oak Swamp. Here the First Connec- 
ticut was in a spirited engagement. Hard and continuous 
skirmishing followed for several days, while the infantry 
corps marched rapidly across the Peninsula to the James. 

On the morning of June 10, while the First was on picket, 
the rebel cavalry made a dash upon the line of the 18th Penn- 
sylvania, and penetrated to the post held by Capt. Joseph 

603 



604 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Backus. Major Marcy, in his official report, says, "Capt. Jo- 
seph Backus made a gallant defense with his little band ; but 
he was overpowered by superior numbers, and would not re- 
treat, and was shot down ; the ball passing through his body, 
and killing him instantly. Then his squadron, having lost 
their leader, retired to the protection of the infantry. The 
brigade was immediately called out, and drove the rebel 
cavalry back behind their intrenchments. The body of 
Capt. Backus was found lying in the road, where he fell, 
stripped of every thing but his shirt. I willingly bear testi- 
inony to his soldierly and manly qualities. He was a brave 
and hio'h-toned i»;entleman ; and, in losino- him, the reo;iment 

O O 7 7 O -^ O 

was deprived of a superior officer, and the State of a noble 
ornament. He was truly loyal, having enlisted in the regi- 
ment as a private soldier, and by his own merit won his 
position as captain commanding a squadron." 

Joseph Backus was a resident of Hebron, and at the time 
of his death he had re-enlisted for three years. While he 
was a sergeant, he was asked if he did not regret having 
enlisted ; and his prompt reply was, that he should never 
regret it if he lost all his limbs in the service. After the 
battle of Ashland, he wrote, " My horse was shot from 
under me ; but, mounting another that came in from the 
rebel lines, I was again ready for the fight. I just escaped 
capture, as a rebel officer ordered me to halt and surrender; 
but I turned, and fired at him. It is a wonder that I did not 
get hit ; but, fortunately, I did not receive that compliment, 
or get the honor of the slightest wound. But my turn may 
come. I do not wish you to worry about me. If it is my 
lot to fall in battle, so let it be. I shall be content. I am 
determined to do my whole duty. I shall never be taken 
prisoner. I shall sell life as dearly as possible." 

He went with Kilpatrick on his celebrated raid into Rich- 
mond ; and, in the battle near that city, two bullets passed 
through his clothing. He sent home a flower "picked within 
two miles of Richmond, and inside the outer intrenchments." 
He started from the Rapidan with ninety men in his com- 
pany, and, after thirty-six days almost continuous fighting, 
he fell ; leaving but fifteen survivors on duty. Lieut. H. J. 0. 



ADVANCE TOWARDS PETERSBURG. 605 

Walker of Mystic wrote of him, " A nobler, truer, more 
generous friend could not be found. He was beloved and 
respected by every one in the regiment for his gentlemanly 
bearing and manliness, and for his superior soldierly qualities. 
The men of his company loved him, and placed the utmost 
confidence in him ; and he gave promise of soon attaining a 
much higher position in the regiment. Brave to a fault, 
always ready and willing to perform any duty assigned to 
him, no matter how tedious or dangerous, he was constantly 
eliciting praises from all, and had made a reputation that 
any might be proud to win." 

Smith's (18th) corps took transports at White House, and 
arrived at Bermuda Hundred in advance of the rest of the 
army, on June 14. Being here joined by Kautz's cavalry divi- 
sion. Smith advanced directly towards Petersburg via Point 
of Rocks. Hinks's colored division rushed on, and carried the 
first line of works in a spirited manner; capturing one gun 
and several hundred prisoners. On reconnoitering, the main 
position was found to be defended by a strong line of redans, 
partially covered by formidable rifle-pits. The artillery of 
the works svv^ept the broad, low valley. Smith determined 
to charge with a heavy line of skirmishers; which, at seven, 
P.M., of the 15th, w^ere thrown forward from his three divisions. 
Under a sharp infantry-fire, they carried the lino. Hinks's 
colored troops took four redoubts on the left, while Brooks's 
and Martindale's divisions captured the important works on 
the salient. The rebels held their fortifications on the riirht, 
and farther to the left. 

The Eighth Connecticut was again conspicuous in this 
advance. Col. John E. Ward had not yet been able to re- 
turn ; Lieut.-Col. M. B. Smith was in hospital; there was no 
major; and the senior captain, H. M. Hoyt, was on the staff 
of the brigade commander: so Capt. Charles M. Coit com- 
manded the regiment, now in Brooks's division. In his 
report of the movements of these days, Capt. Coit says, — 

" The lino, advancing, drove the enemy a quarter of a mile, through the 
woods, at wliich point their strong fortifications were discovered. The men, 
covering themselves as much as possible by the trees on the left, and a 
thick jungle on the right, advanced as close to the works as these afforded 
shelter, and kept up a deliberate fire on the enemy's works ; and our ri"ht 



606 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

were euabled to almost entirely silence the artillery in the strong fort in 
their front. About noon, the enemy charged upon the center of our line, 
but Avere repulsed with considerable loss. At six o'clock, p.m., the two 
companies (G and K), armed with Sharpe's rifles, occupying the center of 
our line, having during the day expended their sixty rounds of ammunition, 
and being unable to procure an additional supply of that caliber, were re- 
lieved by two companies of the 118th New- York Volunteers. At seven 
o'clock, P.M., in accordance with orders from Gen. Burnham, command- 
inf brigade, the skirmish-line — the IStli New-Hampshire on the left, and 
the eight companies of the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers, with the detach- 
ment of the 118th New-York, on the right — advanced, and, charging 
upon the enemy's works, captured them, with two hundred and fifty 
prisoners and five field-pieces." 

Chaplain Moses Smith wrote of this : — 

" To cross the open ground, descend into the ravine in 
front of the works, and then attempt to enter a well-built, 
and, as was supposed, a well-manned fort, seemed certain 
death. But, strange to tell, as the line advanced, few men 
fell ; and the skirmishers alone charged up the embankment, 
leaped over the parapet, and captured guns, colors, men, and 
all, before the line of battle could come up. We are told 
that Gen. Smith, as he saw the result from an eminence 
near by, leaped and shouted for joy ; adding that he felt like 
giving a commission to the whole regiment that had done 
that gallant deed." 

In the middle of Smith's line, also in Brooks's division, was 
the Twenty-first Connecticut, commanded by Capt. James F. 
Brown, in the absence, in hospital, of Lieut.-Col. Hiram B. 
Crosby and Major Charles F. Stanton. The regiment was 
held closely in reserve, ready to participate in the fighting, 
if it became severe. 

The Eleventh Connecticut was in Martindale's division, in 
a brigade led by Col. Griffin A. Stedman, and composed of 
six large regiments. The division advanced along the Appo- 
mattox, on the extreme right of the corps ; and the Eleventh 
Connecticut occupied the left of the brigade-line, and was 
under command of Lieut.-Col. William A. Moegling. The 
regiment rushed forward across the plain, over a creek and 
numerous ditches, steadily driving back the rebels until 
within thirty yards of the rifle-pits. Here a stand was made ; 
but, after a short engagement, the rebels were driven to their 
main intrenchments. Just as Col. Stedman was about to 



ADVANCE TOWARDS PETERSBURG. 007 

storm the works under a heavy fire, the brigade was relieved, 
and sent to the left to assist the colored troops to hold the 
position they had taken. 

Every consideration urged a prompt renewal of the assault 
at early dawn. This was Smith's intention ; but, not beino- 
properly supported by Hancock, he felt compelled to wait, 
while Lee hurried forward his army, and threw a large force 
into Petersburg. It subsequently appeared that Smith might 
have captured the city with his own corps, had he advanced 
promptly and resolutely. 

In the mean time, Sted man's brigade was again relieved, 
and returned to the right ; Stedman sending a scouting-party 
along the river-bank. During the day (the 16th), being in- 
formed that Hancock would attack at six, p.m., on the ex- 
treme left, Martindale moved forward as a feint on the rio-ht. 
Col. Stedman advanced his brigade, and, after hard skirmish- 
ing, took possession of infantry-parapets and a bastion on the 
left of the road. The Eleventh was again on the skirmish- 
line. After a while, it having become evident that the attack 
had failed, the division was withdrawn to the position of the 
morning. 

Col. Ellis says, in his official report of the service of the 
Fourteenth, "Early on the morning of June 16, the skirm- 
ishers of our brigade advanced upon the enem}^, driving their 
skirmishers back for upwards of a quarter of a mile, and ob- 
taining a much better position, besides capturing about fifty 
prisoners. Our loss was very small. Private John Geatley 
of Bridgeport, in this advance, captured with an unloaded 
gun three armed rebels, and brought them in as prisoners. 
In the afternoon, upon the skirmish-line, the same man 
wounded two rebels, one of them apparently fatally. 

"Upon the 17th, our brigade was moved to the left with 
instructions to support Gen. Barlow's division. At night, 
we were instructed to advance our line nearer to the enemy's 
position. The regiment did this in good style, moving for- 
ward through a dense and thickly-wooded swamp, driving in 
the enemy's skirmishers, and taking up a position about fifty 
yards in front of their line, and opening upon them an effect- 
ive fire. We held this position for two or three hours, when, 



G08 COXXECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

owing to the failure of troops upon the left to connect, we 
were ordered to withdraw." 

At five, P.M., on the 17th, the Twenty-first was ordered, with 
other troops, to the left, to support a charge on the inner 
line of defenses before the city. The next day, Brooks's 
division, containing the Eighth and Twenty-first, was relieved, 
and held in reserve. 

It was now resolved to make a more vio-orous assault next 
morning, the 18th, though by this time Beauregard had re- 
ceived heavy re-inforcements. The Union line ran thus from 
right to left : Martindale's and Hincks's division of Smith's 
corps, Wright's corps, Hancock's, Burnside's, and Warren's. 
There were in line of battle the Second Connecticut, the 
Eleventh, and the Fourteenth. 

The rio;ht of Col. Stedman's brig;ade in the mornino- 
reached to the Appomattox, and the left extended nearly to 
the Cit3^-Point Railroad. The Eleventh, Lieut.-Col. Moegling 
commanding, was deployed as skirmishers to cover the front 
of the entire brigade. Stannard's brigade followed as a re- 
serve. The 6th Corps joined on the left. The men ad- 
vanced through the open oat and corn fields, continually ex- 
posed to the enemy's artillery, across a most difficult ravine, 
beyond which a long line of the rebel intrenchments were 
brought to view. White pufis of smoke, and the sharp crack 
of rifles, showed that the advance was to be contested. The 
Eleventh steadily advanced without firing, a considerable 
number of wounded falling to the rear ; and in a few mo- 
ments more the skirmishers rushed into the rebel works 
as the occupants fled to their second line, 

A brisk fire was opened on the retreating rebels, which 
was returned with spirit and severity. Soon the skirmishers 
were ordered to charge, and advanced with a cheer ; broke 
the enemy's line, captured a rebel major and thirty men, and 
dislodged the rest, who retreated in great confusion. The 
regiment was now far ahead of the 6th Corps, and its left 
flank was exposed and without support ; yet so earnest was 
the purpose of Col. Stedman to capture Petersburg that day, 
that he ordered the advance resumed. The spires of the 
coveted " Cockade City" were now in full view, and the men 
dashed on with another shout. 



THE ATTACK EEPULSED. 609 

They were shortly confronted by a stubborn Hne of battle. 
The skirmishers halted under a withering fire, and awaited 
support. The sixty rounds brought in the morning had lono- 
been exhausted, and the want was supplied by ammunition 
captured at the rebel defenses. 

Stannard's brigade came up, and the advance was resumed ; 
the enemy's line firing rapidly, and falling back within the 
strong defenses. Here a charge was made upon the breast- 
works at a double-quick, along the whole line ; but it failed 
utterly. Night coming on, Stedman's men made a line of 
rifle-pits, using as intrenching tools their bayonets, cups, and 
plates. They constructed a line, which covered them from 
the enemy's fire ; and all through the darkness of that night 
of weariness, but not of sleep, the rebels could be heard 
busily at work strengthening their intrenchments. Firing 
was kept up at intervals all night. Hungry, and worn with 
fatigue, the Eleventh kept its place in the advance until ten 
o'clock next morning ; when it was relieved and fell back. 

The Second Connecticut, nearer the center of the line, as 
soon as it was dark enough to cover the movement, was 
taken into the front line, near the enemy, — only a single 
w^heatfield intervening. Here they lay all night and the 
next day, scooping up the dirt into earthworks ; and everj' 
man who raised his head made it a target for a rebel sharp- 
shooter. Several men were killed and wounded here. When 
night again came, they were recalled to a line a few rods in 
the rear, where they were hardly less exposed ; for the rebels 
had artillery and musketry range in front and flank. At 
dark they were relieved. 

The Fourteenth Connecticut was in the second line, and 
its losses were only one killed and four wounded. 

In the fighting of the three days, ending with the repulse 
of the 18th, the Eleventh had lost five killed and fifty-four 
wounded. Among the severely wounded were Capt. Ran- 
dall H. Piice, Lieuts. David A, Hoag and Smith S. Gilbert, 
and Sergeants David B. Mansfield, John B. Butler, and Mar- 
shall Kenyon. 

Among the killed was Capt. William H. Sackett of Hart- 
ford. He had served faithfully in the three-months' service, 

77 



610 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

and was appointed to a second lieutenancy in the Eleventh. 
He was promoted after the battle of Newberne, and again 
for gallantry at Aiitietam. For several months, he was de- 
tailed to Connecticut in charge of recruits, but rejoined the 
reo-iment before Petersburg. In the fight of Friday, June 
17, he received a wound in his right arm ; " and though " (as 
he says in a letter to a friend) " suffering much from it, I shall 
not allow it to keep me from the command of my company." 
Chaplain De Forest, in a letter, said, " In Capt. Sackett's 
death we have lost a most heroic, devoted, and efficient offi- 
cer. He did not expect to survive this terrible campaign. 
He seemed to have a presentiment of death. He gave di- 
rections for the disposal of his effects, and the embalming of 
his body. This foreboding, which proved too true, did not 
diminish his noble courage. He fell in the thickest of the 
fio-ht, — a heroic leader amono: heroic men. His death was 
easy : without a struggle, he fell into the arms of a brother 
officer, and expired." 

The Eif'-lith had lost two killed and seventeen wounded. 
" Of the dead. Sergeant Fitz G. HoUister was as worthy a 
man as ever graced the ranks of the Eighth. He was diffi- 
dent, but intelligent ; retiring, but influential, and faithful 
even unto death, both to God and his country. He is em- 
balmed in the hearts of all who really knew him. Dead, he 
yet lives." ^ 

Col. William C. Moegling, in a report at this time, said, 
" Since the 9th of May, the Eleventh has been under fire 
twenty-three times, and has lost four hundred men in action, 
and over one-half of its officers : it has marched many miles, 
with but very few stragglers, and has always done its duty 
without flinching. The health of the command at present is 
excellent, although the heat is intense, and the duty in the 
trenches very hard in consequence." 

The casualties of the Twenty-first had been light. The 
reg-iments were alternatelv in the front and rear lines. " We 
spend forty-eight hours in the trenches," wrote Col. Stedman, 
" then retire for rest to a deep ravine in rear of our works." 
On June 24, he .wrote, — 

1 Letter of Chaplain Moses Smith. 



PEISONEES TAKEN BY THE TENTH. QW 

^ " Last night, we came from the front line, and are now in the third ; 
giving the troops an opportunity to pitch their shelter-tents. I enjoy this 
wild, hard life. But one thing makes me sad, — the loss of so many- 
friends. Yesterday, I learned that Adjutant Barnum's leg had been ampu- 
tated ; and to-day, t!iat he is dead. I loved him very dearly. Always 
cheerful and happy, he was a most efficient officer, and a perfect o-entle- 
man. I do not think I ever heard him utter a word that he might not say 
to ladies ; and, as I once told him, I consider that the best rule for one's 
guidance is never to say or do among men what would be improper before 
a mother or sister," 

During the night of the 21st, the Second Connecticut was 
marched with Wright's corps off to the extreme left, to par- 
ticipnte in the attack next morning upon the line of the 
Weldon Railroad. After a rest, the regiment moved on into 
an open lot; immediately forming in line of battle. This 
was now the extreme left of the army, the 2d Corps joinino- 
upon the right. In a few minutes, the rebel pickets were 
encountered, and a lively skirmish ensued; the regiment 
losing six killed, seven wounded, and six missing. Col. 
Mackenzie lost two fingers. The men quickly improvised 
a breastwork of rails, and held the line, the rebels retirino^. 
Thick woods enveloped the place. The next day, the troops 
were maneuvered back and forth, feeling the ground and 
securing positions. The Second Regiment remained near 
here some weeks ; and the position was never abandoned. 

Butler, at Bermuda Hundred, had attempted to intercept 
and turn back the re-inforcements which Lee was hurrying 
forward for the rescue of Petersburg;. On the nig-ht of 
June 15, while the Tenth was picketing at the extreme 
right of the line, next the James, the enemy's line appeared 
very weak. Lieut.-Col. Greeley, commanding the regiment, 
pushed forward his vedettes, and re-inforced them with the 
pickets. His report says, — 

" We engaged the enemy, and drove him from his rifle-pits ; taking as 
prisoners three commissioned officers and twenty-six men, with thirty stands 
of small-arms. We then advanced, and took possession of the enemy's 
main works ; he having fallen back into a second line. I then brought 
up my reserves, and again advanced the skirmish-liue ; and, after a sharp 
en^a'Tement, drove the enemy from this line, and took possession of it also. 
Subsequently, Sergeant Sayers of Company K, with two men, while out as 
scouts, captured five prisoners. The regiment held this position until the 
return of the 1st Division, under Brig.-Gen. Terry, from the Petersburg 
Pike ; when it was withdrawn to a position near the Weir-bottom Church. 



612 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE KEBELLION. 

At about four, p.m., Pickett's division charged on our rifle-pits, but was 
easily repulsed." 

On June 17, simultaneously with Hancock's assault, Terry 
threw his division forward from the intrenchments to the 
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. The Sixth, Seventh, 
and Tenth were engaged in this expedition. By some mis- 
take, the rebels had withdrawn from the front; and one 
brif»"ade proceeded to destroy the track and communications, 
while the rest pressed on towards Richmond. These last 
soon met a heavy column under Longstreet ; and the divis- 
ion fell back to the intrenchments after heavy skirmishing. 
The Sixth lost in this affair fiv6 killed, sixteen wounded, and 
eio'hteen missing. Among the severely wounded were 
Lieuts. Clovis E. Hammond, Sylvester Davis, and William 
H. Reynolds. Capt. Charles H. Nichols was among the 
captured. 

On June 22, Gen. Wilson, with his own division of cavalry 
and half of Kautz's, cut loose from the left of the army in 
front of Petersburg, and started on his great raid, — to cut 
the rebel communications south and west of Richmond. In 
the absence of Col. E. Blakeslee, wounded at Ashland, the 
First Connecticut Cavalry was led during this expedition, 
gallantly and well, by Major George 0. Marcy. 

The force marched via Reams's Station, striking the Lynch- 
buro- Road at Ford Station, and proceeding westward towards 
Lynchburg. The road was completely destroyed ; and at 
Mehering, the command struck the Danville Road, the main 
reliance of the rebel army. Richmond was now nearly east. 
From this point, they continued down the Danville Road to 
Roanoke, destroying it thoroughly all the way. Here the 
enemy contested the passage. " Seventy-five men and two 
commissioned officers were called for from the First Connec- 
ticut Cavalry to take the railroad bridge spanning the river 
at this point. It was considered a forlorn hope, and this was 
the regiment honored by the selection of the men to com- 
pose it. Capt. J. B. Morehouse commanded this detach- 
ment ; and Lieuts. Alfred V. Burnham and Edwin M. Neville 
were selected to accompany him. That gallant body of men 
who started off" that night, knowing that they were going on 



THE FIEST CAVALEY IN GEX. WILSON'S RAID. 613 

a desperate errand the result of which might be fatal to each 
and all of them, can not be sufficiently- honored by their 
State. The accomplishment of the affair was considered 
such a desperate undertaking, that the order was counter- 
manded, and Capt. Morehouse with his men returned to the 
regiment the next morning."^ 

The force now turned their faces towards Petersburg 
again. There had been little rest thus far, and little food. 
All the sleep the men had was generally snatched while 
lying at their horses' heads. An immense amount of damage 
had been done. " On the night of the 25th, Gen. Wilson, 
finding himself in a precarious situation, from which there 
must be immediate escape, moved his whole command, at 
midnight, through a ravine within five or six hundred yards 
of the enemy's guns, planted upon bluffs on either side. 
The movement, from its very audacity, was not suspected 
nor discovered till our forces were well out of the emer- 
genc}", started in the direction of Black's-and-White's Sta- 
tion. On the morning of the 26th, the First Connecticut was 
ordered forward to hold the bridge over the Mehering River, 
which they did effectually till the main column came up 
early on the 27th ; when the march was resumed to Notto- 
way Eiver, and thence to Stony Creek." ^ 

Here a large force of rebel infantry showed itself, disputing 
the crossincr of the Petersburs; and Weldon Road. Gen. \Yil- 
son immediately engaged them, but was repulsed. Finding 
that it would be impossible to force his way through, he sent 
Kautz with the trains by a circuitous route to the left, to 
Reams's Station, supposed to be by this time in possession of 
the Union troops. " Wilson's division protected the passage, 
and brought on two fierce night-attacks of infantry, both of 
which the division repelled ; the men being dismounted, and 
protected by breastworks of rails thrown up at the moment 
by themselves. The First Connecticut held the center of 
this line ; and in the interval between the two attacks, most 
of the trains having passed by, one regiment after another 
was quietly withdrawn from behind these temporary barri- 
cades, so that when the last attack was made no regi- 

2 Official Keport by Major Marcy. ^ Narrative by Chaplain T. J. Holmes. 



614 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

ments were left to withstand it but the First Connecticut 
and 1st Vermont. Major Ives commanded the left of our 
line, and I commanded the right ; and it was not until after 
the fight was over, and we were retiring to mount our horses, 
that I knew of the twofold danger the regiment was in ; and 
I can not be too thankftd for its preservation, and the supe- 
rior conduct of officers and men."^ 

Gen. Wilson, anticipating trouble at Reams's Station, dis- 
patched Capt. E. W. Whitaker of the First Connecticut, 
serving on his staff, with forty men, directed to cut his way 
through to Gen. Meade, and bring relief Capt. Whitaker, 
who had already won an enviable reputation for gallantry, 
started at once upon his desperate mission. He found 
Reams's Station occupied by rebel infantry, and avoided the 
place after a slight skirmish. He came upon two infantry 
camps, but changed his course, and rode around them. 
Rebel cavalry and guerrillas harassed him all the way. 
He was repeatedly beset by a superior force, and obliged 
to escape across the fields and through the woods ; keeping 
due east. At last he charged through the enemy's pickets, 
and actually succeeded in taking two prisoners ; arriving at 
Meade's headquarters with fourteen out of the forty men 
who started with him. 

Meade moved an infantry corps instantly ; but it arrived 
too late for assistance. The Second Connecticut was in this 
movement. Kautz had fought his way through to our 
lines, after burning all the trains ; and Wilson had turned 
about, and escaped by a long detour to the south, with a loss 
of all his guns. Major Marcy says, " The order was given 
for men to throw off all superfluous baggage. The wagon- 
trains were parked and set on fire ; the ammunition was 
destroyed ; and the ambulances, with the wounded, were 
abandoned. The First Connecticut Cavalry was given its 
order of march ; and I was informed that the 5th New- York 
and the 2d Ohio were to follow us. Both of these regi- 
ments, however, being cut off, were unable to join the 
column ; and the responsible position of rear-guard devolved 
upon the First Connecticut. This position was kept by 
us all the night of the 29th of June ; and the story of that 

* Report of Major Marcy 



HAKDSIIIPS OF WILSON'S CAVALRY. 615 

day and niglit is told, when the report shows sixty-two en- 
listed men and two ofiicers killed, wounded, and missing. 
That night's march was the most exhausting and fearful 
of any of our marchings. The regiment destroyed bridges 
in rear of the column, and put every obstruction in the 
way of the enemy, and was especially thanked by Gen. 
Wilson for its services. The men themselves, worn and 
hungry as they were, were cheerful and cool ; and when 
twelve volunteers were called for to cross a bridge, and 
bring over a caisson belonging to Fitzhugh's battery, twelve 
men sprang from the ranks of the First Connecticut Cav- 
alry, crossed the bridge, and brought over the caisson, and 
reported with it to Gen. Wilson." 

The regiment lost seventy-two in killed, wounded, and 
missing. Chaplain Holmes wrote, — 

" Some of the time there was keen sufFering from hunger. Five days' 
rations, issued at the start, could not be comfortably stretched over ten days. 
Not more than once was permission formally given to unsaddle and make 
coftee, though it was possible to nibble at hard-tack and salt pork at odd 
moments of halting, or in the saddle. All suffered, too, very mucli, from 
want of rest. During the ten days, not more than two hours out of the 
twenty-four, on an average, could be afforded for uninterrupted sleep. 
One of the chief surgeons in the division told me he had not, at one time, slept 
at all in seventy-two hours ; and his whole nervous system by the fatigue 
and excitement was almost entirely prostrated. It Avas his opinion, that 
the greater portion of the missing had fallen out from exhaustion, and 
were captured. Very many of the horses became worn out ; having been 
almost constantly saddled, marching over three hundred miles, kept oq 
short forage, going sometimes for forty-eight hours Avithout a drop of water. 
Then, to appreciate these suff'erings of horses and men, it needs to be 
remembered that the ten days consumed by the expedition embraced the 
very hottest of the hot weather, for which this summer is becoming some- 
what marked : and during all the time there was but a single shower, — not 
enough to lay the dust. Some of the men who had been dismounted were 
fortunate enough, or sharp enough, to avoid Libby Prison. 

" Sergeant F. A. Lamb of Hartford, Peter Miller of Hartford, and John 
Cunningham of Greenwich, with perhaps others, were three or four days 
within the rebel lines, hid in the woods, living on berries, with an occa- 
sional bite of hoe-cake furnished by friendly negroes ; and, with the assist- 
ance of negro scouts, finally got safely back. It was several days before 
all came in. Major Marcy, on returning to camp, went North on furlough, 
leaving the regiment in command of Major Brayton Ives, whose soldierly 
skill and energy had an ample field in gathering the fragments, and re- 
organizing the command." 

A remarkable incident is related of Private William F. 
Clark, a Hartford boy only seventeen years old. Being ou 



616 CONNECTICUT DDBING THE REBELLION. 

a mule in the rear, he struck across lots, and came out 
ahead of the column. He had not gone far, when he was 
halted and captured by eight or ten guerrillas, disarmed, and 
"hurried into the woods. Clark thus relates his subsequent 
experience, " After the column had passed, they went into 
the rear, and picked up one of the 2d New-York Cavalry, 
and a colored servant belonging to some of the officers. 
When it was near night, we took up our line of march for 
prison, we supposed. They marched in the woods, for they 
said that was the nearest way ; but, when they got to the 
thickest part of the woods, they shot us' all, and left us for 
dead. The other two were killed immediately ; but I am 
alive and kicking yet, and inside the Union lines, in an 
officers' hospital. I have got something like ten bullet-holes 
in me, and my shoulder is broken. The wounds are flesh- 
wounds, and are not very painful : the shoulder is the worst. 
I hope you will excuse this writing ; for I am lying on my 
back, with only one hand to work with." 

Gen. Wilson drew from the First Connecticut not only 
the most enterprising mei^ber of his staff, but Lieut. W. 
C. Spellman of Hartford, and his entire escort of sixty men. 
In his report of the exjjedition, written before he had met 
Capt. Whitaker, or received any official report of his move- 
ment, he said, " 1 have since learned that he gallantly rode 
through the enemy's cavalry and infantry columns in motion, 
escaping with twenty men." 

In the fight at Reams's Station, the First Connecticut had 
lost three killed, seven wounded, and fifty prisoners. The 
killed were Sylvester Bugbee, Giles P. Lucrenia, and Michael 
Flynn. Lieuts. J. H. Kane and E. B, Dyer were wounded. 
Quartermaster-Sergeant John S. Jameson was captured in 
this eno;a2;ement. 

The rebels continued active and aggressive upon the 
Petersburg front, near the Appomattox, where Col. Sted- 
man's brigade was located. We quote from the report of 
Capt. J. F. Brown, commanding the Twenty-first: "Early on 
the morning of June 24, the enemy opened upon us a 
heavy artillery-fire, which was continued for an hour or 
more ; when he advanced a strong line to carry our works, 



REPORT OF COL. HENRY L. ABBOT. 617 

supposing, as we learned from prisoners, that our force had 
been mostly withdrawn. Our men kept well concealed till 
the enemy were close upon them, and then opened a most 
deadly fire, that threw the enemy's line into complete con- 
fusion. Most of those who escaped the first fire at once 
threw down their arms and surrendered. Several hundred 
prisoners, in addition to the killed and wounded, thus fell 
into our hands. The enemy never repeated this attempt 
upon that portion of our lines." 

On June 23, the regular siege-train of the First Connecti- 
cut Artillery arrived at Bermuda Hundred. Col. Henry L. 
Abbot was appointed by Gen. Grant to be the commanding 
officer of the siege-artillery, both of the Army of the Potomac 
and the Army of the James ; so that all the siege-artillery in 
front of Richmond and Petersburg was served under him, 
and chiefly by the First Connecticut. 

Lieut.-Col. Nelson L. \yhite was appointed by Gen. Butler 
acting inspector-general, and discharged the functions of 
that office in a thorough manner, and with excellent judg- 
ment. 

The regiment had a train of sixty artillery-wagons. Most 
of the ammunition was kept afloat, being landed only as 
required. We quote from the official report of Col. Abbot, 
made in March, 1865: — 

" Capt. S. P. Hatfield was placed in command of the depot, assisted by 
First Lieut. W. C. Faxon and First Lieut. C. Gillette, all of First Connecti- 
cut Artillery. Capt. Hatfield had commanded a siege-batteiy during a part" 
of the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, and had been ordnance officer of my 
brigade in the defenses of Washington for more than a year. To his high 
professional attainments and energetic character, and to the zeal and 
ability of his assistants, the excellent administration of his department 
during the campaign is to be attributed. Although some eleven hundred 
tons of ammunition, hauled an average distance of nearly seven miles by 
wagon, have already been fired during the campaign, in no single instance 
has a battery failed to be amply supplied for ordinary or even extraordi- 
nary demands ; and in no case has a useless accumulation of ammunition 
occurred. 

"■ Advantage has been taken of the comparative stability of the command 
to have all the regimental sick properly cared for by Surgeon S. W. Skin- 
ner, First Connecticut Artillery, who has organized one of the best field-hos- 
pitals I have ever seen. The patients have varied from thirty to seventy 
in number. By avoiding the sending of those lightly diseased to General 
Hospital, much has unquestionably been done to keep up the numbers of the 
78 



618 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

command. The comfort of the patients has been quite unusual for the 
field, owing to the attention of the surgeon in charge, and to the eiforts of 
ChapUiin S. F. Jarvis, Firjjt Connecticut Artillery, who has actively exerted 
himself in their behalf. 

" Assistant Surgeon J. S. Delavan has devoted himself to the sick of the 
regiment in the batteries in front of Petersburg ; and Assistant Surgeon N. 
Matsou, until broken down by his exertions, to those in the command on the 
lines of Bermuda Hundred. Although so much scattered, I believe few 
troops have enjoyed as good medical care during this campaign as mine. 

" For the prompt and accurate transaction of the various office-work of 
the command, I am indebted to Capt. B. P. Learned, First Connecticut 
Artillery, acting assistant adjutant-general." 

Considerable praise was also given to Lieut. G. P. Mason 
for the skill and energy with which he managed the com- 
missary department. 

Grant felt, by the first of July, that the hope to carry 
Petersburg by surprise was futile. A systematic line of 
intrenchments was begun ; and a few days' hard labor ren- 
dered these strong enough to be easily held, and to permit 
an extension of the line to the left. The Confederate line 
of defense also became so formidable, that direct assault was 
pronounced impracticable.^ Their new chain of redans, con- 
nected by powerftil infantry parapets, stretched from the 
Appomattox away to the south-west. 

In this attitude, a coui^ de mam was projected. Burnside's 
corps occupied commanding ground w^ithin a hundred and 
fifty yards of the enemy's line ; and in the direct front was a 
fort on a re-enterino; anole of the rebel works. Under this, 
a mine was dug, and a large amount of powder concealed. 
July 30 was at last fixed upon for the assault. 

The Eighth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first Regiments re- 
mained in the 18th Corps along the Petersburg front. 
Chaplain Moses Smith of the Eighth wrote on July 20, — 

" A month of siege-work ; lying in the trenches ; eyeing the rebels ; 
digging by moonlight ; broiling in the sun ; shooting through a knot-hole ; 
shot at if a head is lifted ; artillery compliments passing and repassing ; our 
lives endangered by shells from both sides ; officers falling ; comrades dying ; 
everybody wearied by the monotony, and exhausted by heat and watching ; 
dull hours enlivened and lonely hearts encouraged by kind words in the 

^ See Report of Major Duane, chief engineer. 



BUTLEK TEN MILES FEOM RICHMOND. 619 

mail-bag, and good fruits in the sanitary issues ; numbers growing less, but 
hope never dying, — such is an epitome of the month since I wrote you 
before. Here we have remained constantly under the enemy's fire. Occa- 
sionally, for one or two days, the regiment has been withdrawn from the pits, 
beyond bullet-range, but not from artillery-shots. Rebel sharpshooters and 
rebel mortars have been busy upon us, both while in the front and when 
relieved. In return, our men have played the sharpshooter, and burrowed 
under ground. 

" Twenty casualties have occurred in our regiment during these thirty 
days. Most of the wounds have been severe, and five of the men are dead. 
Among our losses we sorrowfully record three honored captains, — Roger 
M. Ford, commanding Company Gr, wounded in riglit leg ; Elam T. Good- 
rich, commanding Company II, wounded in the hip ; and Henry C. Hall, 
commanding Company F, instantly killed by a rifle-ball. It is said, ' Death 
loves a shining mai-k.' Surely he selected such a one among us, — Capt. 
Hall, young and vigorous, cool and resolute, faithful even unto death, whose 
words were never tarnished by an oath, nor his taste defiled by poison of 
drink or drug. The death of no other officer of the line would have caused 
wider or sadder disappointment than did his. We can not think of him as 
never to return to us attain. So anion"; the non-commissioned dead. No 
man in Company B can fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sergeant 
Joseph Glover. Youthful, tender-hearted, honoring religion, faithiul to 
every duty, true to his calling, and loved by all, he fell in a moment, and 
we mourn his loss." 

The experience of the Eleventh was smiilar, — constantly 
under fire. Lieut.-Col. William C. Moegling reports, as the 
casualties for July, six killed and nine wounded. 

Col. Stedman wrote in a private letter at this time, "I 
have won the silver star! After the fight of the 19th instant, 
Gen. Martiudale forwarded his report, in which I had the 
honor to-be the only officer mentioned. The general urged 
that I should be promoted, and that speedily. Every one 
of my four promotions has come to me unexpectedly. This 
is a surprise ; and, should the appointment not come, I should 
lose nothing of my gratification at receiving the unqualified 
approbation of my superiors — soldiers who know me." 

As early as June 20, Butler had secured a lodgment at 
Deep Bottom, north of the James, and ten miles from Rich- 
mond, by crossing Gen. Foster's command to maintain pos- 
session. The Tenth Connecticut was a part of this force. 
" The enemy occupied the position at that time ; and on Col. 
Otis devolved the delicate and difficult task of establishing, 
between midnight and morning, a safe picket-line, in a portion 
of country he had never visited before ; pressing back the 
rebel pickets as he posted his own."*' Weeks of picket-duty 

6 The Knightly Soldier, p. 249. 



620 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

followed ; the regiment being under occasional artillery-fire. 
Adjutant 11. W. Camp wrote at this time, "The regiment has 
stacked arms where the shaded path winds pleasantly up 
from the river-bank. Headquarters are under a large tree, 
just in rear of the line. Henry and I, who always carry 
writing materials in a little haversack which we keep by us, 
are writing our letters in the intervals of rest. The gun- 
boats are firing over our heads at the rebels in frOnt ; and 
each explosion, so near are we to the muzzles of the guns, 
makes one feel as if both ears were being boxed with sledge- 
hammers, and the top of his head flattened with a pile- 
driver," 

Here, for several weeks of summer, the Tenth, with the 
other regiments of the brigade, was busy in erecting long 
lines of earthworks in the intense heat of a Southern mid- 
summer, and picketing before a vigilant and determined 
foe. Several companies, under Capt. E. D. S. Goodyear, were 
sent down the river on two occasions, to destroy large stores 
of grain gathered by the rebels ; and fully accomplished their 
work. On another occasion, on the 11th of July, fifty men 
of the Tenth, under Lieuts. James H. Lindsley and Albert F. 
Sharpe, volunteered, on the request of Major-Gen. Butler, 
" for an arduous and difficult but serviceable expedition ; " 
and, with about an equal number of men from the 3d Penn- 
sylvania Heavy Artillery, moved up the river to Dutch Gap, 
and by night across the country to Cox's Wharf; making an 
attack, in the early morning, upon a strong rebel picket- 
force ; capturing a lieutenant and fourteen men ; securing a 
torpedo, with boxes of powder, galvanic battery, and floats, 
in a wagon just down from Richmond, designed for use 
against our navy ; and then setting fire to extensive steam 
saw and flouring mills, stores, and barns, — this destruction 
being the purpose of the movement. 

The Tenth was warmly engaged on July 26. Col. Otis, at 
seven, a.m., received orders to move his command to the east 
side of Four-mile Creek, to assist in forcing the enemy from 
a piece of woods, and retake, if possible, an important jDOsi- 
tion, covering the road from Richmond to Malvern Hill. 
Having to cross the James River twice before reaching the 



THE TENTH IN A PERILOUS POSITION. 621 

position, considerable time elapsed ; but, on their arrival, 
sharpshooters were sent out, under Lieut. James H. Lindsley, 
to re-inforce the skirmishers, with four companies of the line 
under Capt. B. L. Graves. Major Greeley, with four com- 
panies more, supported the First Connecticut Battery, and 
another battery in the redan. Heavy skirmishing continued 
all the afternoon. 

Lieut. Lindsley was wounded early in the engagement, and 
Lieut. Henry A. Peck was placed in command of the sharp- 
shooters. The enemy's skirmishers, having the advantage 
of position, and being several times re-inforced, contested the 
ground obstinately ; but were steadily forced back, until 
they reached a strong rifle-pit, from which they had driven 
a regiment of the 18th Corps the day previous. Here they 
made a determined stand ; but were driven out by the skir- 
mishers of the two regiments, at the point of the bayonet. 

The enemy was still forced back, and the Tenth alone 
held the picket-line during the night. Capt. E. D. S. Good- 
3^ear and Capt. J. S. Engles counted four guns that were 
placed in the opposite battery before morning. 

Chaplain Trumbull, in the Knightly Soldier, adds, " The 
pickets of the Tenth lay concealed in the low underbrush. 
If they discovered themselves by the crackling of a twig, 
they were liable to be silenced by a shot just in their front; 
and the preparations for the morning, which they could hear 
the enemy making, were any thing but encouraging. Artil- 
lery was brought down, and so planted that they could 
almost have looked into the gun-muzzles ; while a single dis- 
charge of grape from the battery could sweep them away 
like chaff from the enfiladed picket-line. They could hear 
the brao-o-art threats of annihilation of the venturesome Yan- 
kees when the daylight came, and they realized their dan- 
ger ; yet all who were unwounded remained firm and true. 
. . . There was not much sleeping that night among officers 
or men of the Tenth, — only an anxious waiting for the 
morning, whose sun must rise in blood." 

Lee had already sent several divisions across the James, 
and these now environed the little brigade of Foster ; but, 
next morning, Hancock, with his 2d Corps, brought welcome 



622 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

relief, and the whole force prepared to move forward to 
menace Richmond from the east, and to destroy the rebel 
pontoon-bridges swung across at Chapin's Bluff. The move- 
ment was also a cover for the explosion of the mine. The 
Fourteenth had marched from the extreme left in front of 
Petersburg, and now engaged in the demonstration on the 
rebel works at this point. The Ninth, under Col. T. W. 
Cahill, had arrived at Bermuda Hundred on the 20th from 
Connecticut, and now participated in this movement with its 
usual alacrity. In an immediate advance the rebel works 
were taken, and several guns captured. 

Col. Otis of the Tenth says, " A portion of my ov/n line 
became engaged, and assisted materially in driving the ene- 
my from his works, and capturing his guns ; our position 
being such as to cover the Richmond Road, and effectually 
prevent the enemy from taking away the guns after with- 
drawing them from battery. The action being over, at 
eight, A.M., I was ordered to march my command back to the 
west side of the creek. Our entire loss was one commissioned 
officer and eight men." 

On the night of July 29, the 2d Corps returned to the 
works before Petersburg, to support the assault which was 
to follow the explosion. The Fourteenth marched twenty 
miles, and arrived at daylight. 

At five o'clock on the morning of the 30th, the mine was 
exploded ; and was followed by a feeble assault, a mournful 
slaughter, and an utter, terrible failure. 

The 31st United-States (including the colored battalion 
from Connecticut) had moved to the vicinity the night be- 
fore, marched silently to within a hundred yards of our outer 
rifle-pits, and lay down to a fitful sleep on their muskets, 
with bayonets fixed. The division of negro troops lay all 
about them, waiting for the explosion. When the great 
shock came, Ledlie's inefficient division of white troops sprang 
forward to the assault, followed by the blacks. Up to the 
crater they went in the impetuous charge. Here many 
sought refuge, and were killed ; while thousands pressed 
forward more than a mile, the Confederates having left the 
ground clear. Now came the fearful recoil. The rebels 



CHARGE OF THE COLORED TROOPS AT THE MINE. 623 

Tallied, and replied in a counter-cliarge ; the Union troops 
were not supported; and blacks and whites rushed pell-mell 
into the vast bowl of crumbling earth where the fort had 
been. Then the helplessness ; then the butchery ! Burnside 
was on another part of the line. 

Our little battalion of four companies of the 31st United- 
States had lost more than a hundred men. Lieut.-Col. W. E. 
W. Ross and Major T. Wright were wounded ; leaving the 
command to Capt. Charles Robinson, who was soon after- 
wards made prisoner. Capt, Richard K. Woodruff was killed. 
Lieuts. W. H. Ayres, J. B, Mason, and H. A. Downing, were 
among the wounded. Major Wright reported, " I can not 
speak too highly of both officers and men in this engagement. 
More bravery and enthusiasm I never witnessed. Besides 
their patriotic ardor, they went into that action with a de- 
termination to command the respect of white troops ; which 
we knew could only be obtained by hard fighting." 

Caj)t. Richard Kirtland Woodruff was son of Rev. Richard 
Woodruff of Westbrook. He entered Yale in 1859, and the 
service of his country in 1862; was promoted to be captain, 
and was mortally wounded at the " mine." 

x\mong the colored martyrs who sealed their devotion 
with their blood this day was Orderly-Sergeant Tilghman 
S. Wood, of Capt. Woodruff's company, — a quiet, faithful, 
and fearless man, killed at the moment when he called to 
his comrades, " Come on, boys ! " Sergeant Thomas B. 
Daley fell by his side, while pressing up the hill. A score 
of others were dead; but they had proved their valor, and 
earned the gratitude of all Americans. 

The Twenty-first Connecticut was stationed well forward 
among the supports. Their work was to keep up a constant 
fire of musketry, and divert the attention of the enemy from 
the assaulting party. Nobly did they perform the task, 
though one of the enemy's batteries enfiladed the line ; and 
his shot frequently swept down inside the rifle-pit, through 
its whole length. The sun, too, poured down with such in- 
tensit}^, as it rose higher, as to render it almost impossible to 
keep the works manned. Many received severe sunstrokes. 
So rapid was the firing, also, that the gun-barrels became so 



624 



CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 



heated as to scorch the hands of the men. Yet they stood 
nobly to their work while required. The regiment there lost 
three men killed and twelve wounded. One of its bravest 
officers there fell, — Capt. Francis S. Long of Willimantic. 
Beino" in connnand of a corps of sharpshooters, he was on 
the extreme front, directing their movements, entirely neg- 
lectful of self, when a piece of shell pierced his neck, killing 
him instantly. He was just in the prime of life, and full of 
bright promise. 

The point in front of the explosion was covered by the 
First Connecticut Artillery. The following table exhibits the 
amount of siege-artillery put into position preparatory to 
the explosion of the mine, commanded by members of this 
regiment : — 



Commanding officer. 

Capt. John H. Burton, 
Capt. Charles O. Brighara, 
Lieut. L. W Jackson, 

Lieut. William A. Lincoln, 1 
Lieut. George M. Williams, f 

Capt. Edwin C. Dow, 



Major Thomas S. Trumbull, 

Capt. Albert F. Brooker, 

Capt. Albert F. Brooker, 

Capt. Edw.ard A. Gillette, 
Lieut. George D. Sargent, 
Lieut. Benjamin Andrews, 
Capt. Wilbur F. Osborne. 
Capt. Franklin A. Pratt, 
Capt. Henry H. Pierce, 
Lieut. Henry D. Patterson, 

Total, 



Armament. 



3 30-pdr. Parrotts, 

4 " 

4 8-inch Mortars, 

5 Coehorns, 



( 3 30-pdr. Parrotts "> 
( 4 8-inch Mortars, J 



6 4^-inch Guns, 



4 8-inch Mortars, 
2 8-inch Mortars, 

5 Coehorns, 

1 13-inch Mortars, 

6 4^-inch Guns, 
10 10-inch Mortars, 

6 8-inch Mortars, 



63 Pieces. 



Locality. 



Battery 4. 
Battery 1. 
Battery 10. 

!3 to Battery 9. 
2 to Battery near 
Fort McGilvray. 

Battery .5. 

( To assume command 
■ of Batteries on Line 
( of 18th Corps. 
Battery 17 

!To assume command 
of Batteries on line 
of 9th and .5th Corps. 
In front of Battery 14 
Near Battery 1 1 . 
Near Battery 12. 
On K. R. near Battery 3. 
Fort Morton. 
Near Fort Rice. 
Near Battery 20. 



Col. Abbot, in his report, says, " On July 30, the mine was 
sprung ; and a heavy cannonade was instantly opened, and 
continued until about ten hours, thirty minutes, a.m., when 
it gradually ceased ; tbe assault of the infantry having failed, 
and the attack being discontinued. The part assigned to the 
artillery — to keep down the fire of the enemy upon the 
flanks of the column of attack, and to keep back his re-inforce- 
ments — was successfully executed." 



DEATH OF LIEUT. -COL. MOEGLING. 625 

Immediately in front of the mine supporting the First 
Connecticut Artillery lay Burnside's 9tli Corps (now the 
weakest and poorest corps in the army), with Smith's 18th 
directly up as a reserve. The Eighth and Eleventh lay all 
night upon the ground, ready to spring into the gap after 
Burnside's men. 

After the disgraceful recoil, — more disgraceful to ofl&cers 
than men, — Gen. Stedman wrote, "Then we asked why we, 
were not sent in ? Why is the 18th Corps kept back? We 
can carry the position, let us go ! But it was not permitted. 
... I do not like to write or talk much of our failures. 
I feel less a soldier when I do so ; for there is much to make 
one say unpatriotic things. ... I see to-day a notice of the 
death of Capt. Reynolds, my adjutant-general, wounded in 
both arms at Cold Harbor. Poor fellows ! — they all die ! " 

These were, probably, the last words den. Stedman ever 
wrote ; for shortly after he was under a fatal fire. Aug. 5 
was a dark day for the Eleventh ; for the missiles of that day 
swept down Gen. Griffin A. Stedman, still commanding the 
brigade, and Lieut.-Col. Moegling, commanding the regiment. 
Both were hit by random shots ; and the wound of Gen. Sted- 
man was mortal. 

Lieut.-Col. Moegling was wounded slightly in the foot. 
Chaplain Henry S. DeForest wrote of him, " He was at the 
time indisposed. Ill health followed, and, after a partial re- 
covery, he grew worse again. His sickness finally became 
a typhoid ; and it was thought advisable that he should visit 
his home, and try a northern climate. But he went home 
to Danbury to die. Exposure and hardship during four 
campaigns had been doing this work. The vital powers 
were overborne. No care of friends or home-attentions 
could avail. He had been thrice wounded, and had been in 
frequent battles and desperate charges, yet had escaped 
them all, only to meet death in another form. To this land 
of his adoption, to constitutional government and to uni- 
versal liberty, which is the same in every land, he gave the 
blossom of his manhood and his life. He had the real Ger- 
manic love of liberty, and its opposite, — a keen hate to 
slavery. He was one of the first to join the first regiment 

79 



626 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

from the State. He served faithfully, fought fearlessly, and, 
havmg before spilled his blood, finally offered his life in 
the national cause." 

The chaplain also tells of the death of Gen. Stedman, " He 
lay in his own tent, within sound of the enemy's guns, with 
his face turned towards their lines, but his eyes turned 
heavenward. His staff were about him, and others from 
the Eleventh. The tide of life ebbed away gently at the 
last. The soul was free, and the body at rest ; but the soil 
which drank that blood is ours, and shall never be aban- 
doned. 

" His culture, his refinement, his urbanity, his taste, his 
delicacy, and purity of sentiment, fitted him well for 
social concourse and the evening assembly. But he had 
royal and martial qualities to which a drawing-room could 
give no scope. Hi's promotion in military life only followed 
acknowledged merit, and that at a long interval. While act- 
ing brigadier-general in this terrible campaign, he had been 
recommended for that rank by all his superior officers, — 
by Gen. Martindale of the division. Gen. Baldy Smith of 
the corps, and twice, and in most flattering terms, by Gen. 
Butler of the department ; and yet, as if to mock all earthly 
honor, his brevet as brigadier only came after he had 
received his mortal wound. . . . But more than of his 
valor, do I love to think of his virtues. His voice was not 
the loud trumpet of war, but those silver tones which the 
ear of friendship could gather in, and which come back 
from the grave in still sweeter echoes. These virtues were 
his crowning excellences while living ; they make his 
memory sacred when dead. The vices of the camp did not 
tarnish him. The leprosy was all around him ; but it spared 
him. His integrity was rooted fast. It stood like the mon- 
arch of the forest, while the weaker fibre of other growth 
yielded to the tempest, and fell." 

Dr. Nathan Mayer, surgeon of the Eleventh, in a bio- 
graphical sketch of his friend, wrote, " He was an aristocrat 
in the noblest acceptance of the term, when aristocrats 
were the representatives of mental power and culture, of 
moral strength and purity, of grand aims and lofty deeds, 



TRIBUTES TO GEN. STEDMAX. • 627 

and of the most exquisite sentiments perpetuated in the 
pages of romance. Conceive Tennyson's Sir Galahad, or 
any of King Arthur's mail-clad champions ; imagine Kings- 
ley's Francis Leigh, or any of Queen Elizabeth's pure and 
chivalrous courtiers ; conjure up, in short, a nature with the 
purity, delicacy, and innocence of a maiden, bound to the 
valor, firmness, and power of a hero, a hundred charming 
weaknesses blended with adamantine strength of principle, 
an elegance of thought that did not impair the mind's in- 
exorable firmness, an affectionate disposition that lessened 
not the strength of character, a number of iron qualities 
bound together with garlands of roses, — and you have an 
idea with what eyes I viewed him to whom I bowed in the 
fullness of my hero worship." . . . 

The doctor gives the following reminiscence of the days 
under Col. Kingsbury: — 

" There sat, mostly at Col. Kingsbury's side, upon a tiger- 
skin blanket, the subject of this sketch. A large, heavy 
brow, with ponderous developments, and very short light 
hair, overshadowed features lovely and mirthful as a school- 
boy's. Only the jaw's powerful sweep, and the long blonde 
mustache, relieved the lower part of his face from that gay 
and roguish look, that boyish smile, that always lingered 
there. There was Major Moegling, with his straightforward 
face and brilliant color, and Adjutant Converse, pale, quick, 
and spiritual. Furthermore, there was the old surgeon (Dr. 
J. B. Whitcomb), stout as a live-oak, with kindness and 
good sense beaming from his eyes, and his ruddy cheeks 
always ready to smooth out their thousand wrinkles in a 
good laugh. How late we used to sit talking of the world 
and its manners, of the brilliant actions of renowned men ; 
recapitulating the wittiest sayings, the rarest thoughts, and 
the queerest stories ! How we tried to discuss that exquisite 
politeness, that delicate chivalry, which graced the last 
days of Francis' old rfgime, and that wonderful spirit of 
devotion and consistent purity which characterized the 
daj^s of knighthood ! These were favorite themes with Col. 
Stedman. 

" While the force of strict rules, and splendid external 



528 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

management, at first controlled the regiment, Col. Stedman 
slowly substituted for these a chivalric feeling, a corps 
cT esprit, that made every private as anxious to uphold the 
reputation of the regiment as the commander himself The 
thige of patriotism which made every man individually 
adore himself as a hero and martyr of liberty was brushed 
away ; and they felt themselves soldiers, links of a chain, 
pieces of machinery, but pieces that were conscious of the 
glory which was earned by the whole, and that strove for 
it unitedly, and each in his place. ... It only remains for 
me to lay the friend's wreath of immortelles upon the 
grave on which they have written, Brig.-Gen. Griffin A. 
Stedman. 

Happy their end 
Who vanish down Life's evening stream 
Placid as swans that drift in dream 

Round the next river-bend ! 
Happy long life, with honor at the close, 
Friends' painless tears, the softened thought of foes ! 

And yet, like him, to spend 
All at a gush, keeping our first faith sure 
From mid-life's doubt and eld's contentment poor : 

What more could Fortune send? 

I write of one. 
While with dim eyes I think of three : 
Who weeps not others fair and brave as he? 

Ah ! when the fight is won, 
Dear Laud, whom triflers now make bold to scorn, 
(Thee from whose forehead Earth awaits her mora !) 

How nobler shall the sun 
Flame in thy sky, how braver breathe thy air. 
That thou bred'st children who for thee could dare 

And die as thine have done ! 




CHAPTER XXXVII. 

General Assembly. — Adjourned Session in January, 1864. — Spring Session. — Govern- 
or's Message. — The Ballot given to Soldiers in the Field. — Calls for Troops. — 
Recruiting. — The Quotas filled. — How it was done. — Presidential Election. — The 
Twenty-ninth (colored) in South Carolina. — The Eighteenth Regiment. — Home 
on Furlough. — Advance with Sigel. — Defeat at New Market. — Victory at Pied- 
mont. — Loss of Brave Men. — Pushing South. — Across the James. — Advance on 
Lynchburg. — Repulse and Retreat. — Early attacks Washington. — Affair at Snick- 
er's Ferry. 

VERY succe.ss or reverse of the soldiers at the 
front was met by patriotic effort at home. 
The adjourned session of the General Assem- 
bly of 1863 was held at Hartford on Jan. 12, 
1864. Volunteering was progressing rapidly; 
and the payment of the three-hundred-dollar bounty was 
continued b}- special enactment. 

This session lasted only four days ; and most of the time 
was spent in debate ilpon the proposed amendment of the 
State Constitution, allowing all electors of the State in the 
volunteer military service of the United States to vote in 
the field during the Rebellion. At the special session of the 
previous winter, the Democratic members had opposed giv- 
ing the ballot to the soldiers, on the ground that it was 
unconstitutional : now they resisted it on other grounds. 

During the debate, some of the opponents of the amend- 
ment alluded to the soldiers as '• the armed cohort of 
despotism ; " and the effect of their voting for State officers 
and president was comjoared to the disgraceful sale of the 
imperial purple by the prastorian guard in the latter days of 
the Roman Empire. The amendment was adopted by the 
House on the last morning of the session by a party vote of 
a hundred and seventeen yeas to seventy-seven nays. As it 

629 



G30 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

was the first year it was acted .upon, the Senate was not 
required to vote ; and it went over for further action. 



The spring election of 1864 was yqyj quiet, and resulted 
in the re-election of Gov. Buckingham. Only 73,982 votes 
were cast; and William A. Buckingham had a majority over 
Origen S. Seymour, of 5,658. The Republicans elected more 
than two-thirds of the Lower House, and eighteen out of 
twenty-one senators. 

The General Assembly met at New Haven on the fourth 
day of May. But little interest was felt in its proceedings ; 
for the legislative machinery to supply the sinews of war 
was in full operation, and public attention was entirely 
wrapped up in the tremendous preparations being made by 
Grant and Sherman for those two wonderful campaigns 
which crushed the life out of the Rebellion. 

The Senate was organized by the election of John T. 
Adams president j^ro tern., and H. Lynde Harrison clerk. 

The House of Representatives elected John T. Rice 
speaker, and William T. Elmer and John R. Buck clerks. 

0. H. Piatt of Meriden was appointed chairman of the 
judiciary committee, thus making him by courtesy the 
leader of the majorit}' party in the House ; and Col. Dwight 
Morris of Bridgeport was placed at the head of the military 
committee. The messa^-e of Gov. Buckinuham exhibited 
the same calm dignity, clear statements, and intense loyalty, 
that had characterized his previous official communications. 
He thus tersely stated the argument for the amendment 
giving soldiers the ballot : — 

"Freemen who sustain and protect a government by baring their bosoms 
to the deadly shafts of its enemies should have an opportunity to express 
an opinion in respect to its policy and the character and qualifications of its 
officers." ^ 

He closed the message by urging national legislative 
action abolishing slavery, and said, — 

1 A newspaper at this time thus put the matter : " Perhaps we are prejudiced ; but it 
seems to us that a man who does nothing worse than slied his blood for the old flag ought 
not, for so small an offense as that, to be disfranchised like a common thief." 



SOLDIERS IN THE FIELD ALLOWED TO VOTE. 631 

" Slavery is not dead. Its life is in the custody of its friends ; and while 
it shall so remain there will be no peace. The events of the past urge us 
to adopt some measure which shall terminate in favor of freedom that con- 
troversy which must ever exist so long as a part of the nation remains free 
and a part enslaved. . . . Let us embrace this opportunity, and perform 
these duties [establish justice and form a more perfect union] with humble 
confidence, that, under the guidance of the King of kings, this revolution will 
carry the nation onward in the path of prosperity, intelligence, and inda- 
ence, and upward to a higher level of freedom, civilization, and Christianity, 
until every man, whether high or low, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, of 
whatever tribe or race or nation, shall be protected in all the inalienable 
rights which God has given him under our national emblem of liberty, 
union, and power." 

More than four million dollars had been expended during 
the year, and the total indebtedness of the State was about 
seven millions. 

Gen. Stephen W. Kellogg of Waterbury was very active 
and efficient at this session in procuring important modifi- 
cations of the militia law, by which the annual encampment 
was extended to four days, two spring parades were pro- 
vided for, and a commutation of five dollars annually was 
authorized to be paid to each member of the militia force 
who should provide himself with a complete uniform. This 
law proved to be an exceUent one. 

The constitutional amendment providing for the exten- 
sion of the elective franchise to the soldiers in the field was 
passed in the Senate by a party vote of eighteen to three. 
In the House, the amendment received a hundred and fifty- 
three votes (all Republicans) against seventy-one votes of the 
Democrats. The affirmative vote lacked five of beino- two- 
thirds of the whole number of members elected ; viz., two 
hundred and thirty-seven. It was immediately claimed by 
the Democrats that the amendment had failed for want of a 
two-thirds vote of the whole house ; and the speaker, guided 
by a precedent in his favor, decided that the amendment 
was not carried. Mr. Piatt of Me rid en immediately appealed 
from this decision ; and a long debate ensued, which was con- 
tinued through two daily sessions. The yeas and na3^s were 
called upon the appeal, which was sustained by the party 
vote of a hundred and thirty-two yeas to fifty-four nays ; and 
the speaker thereupon declared that the amendment had 
passed by the requisite constitutional majority. 



632 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

This amendment was submitted to the people on the third 
Monday of August, and was then ratified by a large majori- 
ty ; only a few of the strongly Democratic towns giving 
majorities against it. The popular verdict was as. follows : 
Hartford County, yes, 4,783 ; no, 3,520. New-Haven County, 
yes, 4,761 ; no, 3,028. New-London County,, yes, 2,808 ; no, 
1,108. Fairfield County, yes, 3,578 ; no, 2,088. Windham 
County, yes, 1,980 ; no, 668. Litchfield County, yes, 3,102 ; 
no, 1,923. Middlesex County, yes, 1,795 ; no, 1,029. Tol- 
land County, yes, 1,523; no, 873. Total, yes, 24,280 ; total, 
no, 14,231. Majority for the amendment, 10,049. The 
governor then declared the amendment to be made, by vote 
of the people, a part of the Constitution of the State of Con- 
necticut. 

A statute was passed at the same session for the purpose 
of carrying the amendment into effect, by which commission- 
ers were authorized to be sent into the field, camp, and hos- 
pital to receive the votes of all the electors of the State. 
Under its operations, the soldiers renewed their rights as citi- 
zens, and with remarkable unanimity voted the Republican 
ticket in November, 1864, and April, 1865. 

Hon. Charles Chapman of Hartford was the Democratic 
leader in the House ; while Messrs. 0. H. Piatt, H. K. W. 

Welch, Watrous, Charles Ives, D wight Morris, David 

Gallup, and many others, were prominent upon the Repub- 
lican side. 

The Assembly adjourned sine die on the ninth day of 
July. 

At the beginning of the year 1864, Connecticut had the 
proud honor of being the only State east of the prairies 
whose quota was full. 

During the year, there were two calls for troops ; requir- 
ing an aggregate of eight hundred, thousand men. The 
first was issued on Jul}^ 18, for five hundred thousand men ; 
and the quota of Connecticut was declared to be ten thou- 
sand one hundred and twenty-one. This number being 
largely in excess of any quota theretofore assigned under a 
call for the same number of men, and the reason being 



FAREWELL OF PHOVOST-MAESHAL BKOMLEY. 633 

apparent, AdjutantrGen. Horace J. Morse ascertained how 
many not subject to draft were enrolled in the various sub- 
districts ; and Gov. Buckingham made a representation of 
the facts to the War Department, which secured a diminu- 
tion and re-assignment of the quota at' 8,408. 

By a law passed at the May session, the paymaster-gen- 
eral of the State was authorized to offer a bounty of three 
hundred dollars to every enrolled person who should fur- 
nish a substitute upon the quota of the State for the term 
of three years ; and the provisions of the family-bounty act 
were extended to the families of all such substitutes. The 
three-hundred-dollar bounty was also made payable to all 
recruits for the navy ; and many young men in the coast 
towns volunteered under its j^rovisions. The recruiting 
agents whom the governor sent into the Southern States 
obtained about one thousand men, who were credited on 
the quota. 

Much fraud was practiced ; and " bounty-jumping " had 
become an occupation with a large class of vagrants who 
went from town to town, and from State to State, enlisting 
under various names and disguises ; taking the large bounty, 
and deserting at the first opportunity. 

Capt. Isaac H. Bromley resigned his ofiice of provost- 
marshal of the Third District ; and Capt. Theodore C. Kibbe 
was appointed his successor. In taking leave of the office, 
Capt. Bromley hinted at the perplexities of the position in 
the following farewell to the many characters he had dealt 
with, — 

" The retiring officer has had the satisfaction of knowing, that, in the 
discharge of duties eminently calculated to ' make everybody hate you,' 
he has met with the most cheering success. Without a pang of regret, he 
bids an official but affectionate adieu to the gentlemanly substitute-brokers 
who always have ' two or three first-rate men of good moral character ' 
they want to get in ; to the patriotic selectmen and town agents who would 
' like to look over the lists to see if James Henry Alexander's name is 
down ; ' to the short-haired substitutes, with a complication of diseases, 
who swear they are ' tough enough to stand marching and fighting ; ' 
to the timid young gentlemen from the rui-al districts who *• have the 
rheumatism very bad in wet weather,' and ' have never been very well ' 
since the war broke out ; to the anxious parties who have for the past 
three or four weeks waylaid him in the streets, and opened their attacks 
with a dreadful series of ' s'posens ; ' to the aliens from Ireland and the 
£0 



634 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

aliens from Gei-many. the aliens who were willing to swear they wei-e 
aliens, and the aliens who would ' be d — d if they'd do any thing of the 
sort;' to the mild-mannered men who 'couldn't understand it,' and to 
those rough-spoken people who 'know all about it,' — to those and to all 
of them he bids a fond and affectionate farewell. We presume they are 
all pleased with the change. He certainly is." 

A draft was ordered for the fifth day of September. The 
energy of the State was given unreservedly to the work 
of recruiting. " Before the time for the draft, the quota of 
the State was considerably more than filled ; but a few 
of the sub-districts had failed to fiu^nish the required num- 
ber. In these a draft was made ; but in most cases, before 
the date at which the drafted men were ordered to report, 
the towns filled the quota by volunteers ; and the drafted 
men were not held to service." ^ 

The inducements held out to all persons who were liable 
to be drafted, to obtain substitutes in advance, at once 
created a large demand for substitutes; and very many 
of the recruits were of this class. During the year, three 
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine (3,849) substitutes 
for enrolled men were mustered, and paid their bounty. 
More than one-half deserted before reachiiio; the front. 

Of this, the adjutant-general says in his report for 1865, — 

" I here allude to this fact for the purpose of showing that the disgrace 
of this should not be charged upon Connecticut. These were not Connecticut 
men. I have before referred to the demand for substitutes which sprang 
up immediately upon the passage of the act' paj'ing a bounty of three 
hundred dollars to eacli man who would furnish a substitute before being 
drafted. During the greater part of this time, no bounties were being 
paid by the neighboring large cities ; and as a consequence of this, and 
to meet the demand for substitutes here, large numbers of worthless char- 
acters and professional bounty-jumpers, who only entered the service to 
desert and enlist again, found their way into the State from these cities, 
from Canada and elsewhere, were presented at the otRces of provost- 
marshals, mustered into service, and sent to the rendezvous. Either 
there, or after leaving for the field, they deserted, receiving assistance 
from confederates outside, who furnished them with citizens' clothing, 
and facilitated their escape. 

" After a thorough investigation, I am satisfied, that, of the substitutes 
who have enlisted and thus deserted, not one in a hundred was a citizen of 
Connecticut." 

On Dec. 19, the President issued another call for three 
hundred thousand, to fill the deficiency caused by deserters 

^ Adjutant-General's Report for 1865. 



ENLISTMENT OF VAGABONDS. 635 

under the previous requisition. The quota of Connecticut 
under this call was not announced from Washington, for 
the reason indicated in the following communication, after- 
wards received : — 

War Depart:mi:nt, Provost-Marshal-Geneual's Bureaxj, 
Washington, D.C, March 1, 1866. 

Gen. Horace J. Morse, Adjutant-General, Hartford, State of Connecticut. 

General, — In reply to your communication of the 27tli ultimo, re- 
questing to be informed the quota ap.si2:ned to the State of Connecticut 
imder the call of Dec. 19, 1864, without any additions or deductions on 
previous calls, I am directed by the' provost-marshal-general to inform 
you that there was no quota assigned to the State of Connecticut, from 
the fact that there was no deficiency. . . . 

I am, general, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

George E. Scott, 

3Iajor Vet. Res. Corps. 

The quota of Connecticut was fall, and more than full, 
at least on paper. She had gone into the fashionable compe- 
tition as to which State could soonest expunge its debt on 
the books of the provost-marshal-general's office ; and, enlist- 
ing all her enterprise and energy, had come out among the 
first. 

Yet the substitutes and recruits of this period, obtained 
at a high bid, were generally worthless vagabonds, who in- 
tended to desert at the first opportunity, and enlist again. 
A few unselfish patriots protested that the method was in- 
herently vicious, tending to bestow money on hundreds of 
thousands of scoundrels, without materially strengthening 
the army. Gen. Hawley, from the front, denounced the 
" reckless, cowardly, quota-filling madness ; " and wrote, " The 
very best men are needed in soldiering, as in any other 
serious, great, and dangerous work. The idea tlitit material 
of the sort now sent us, though inexpressiblj^ vile and pi- 
ratical, is the best timber for soldiers, I often hear intimated 
or sutrsrested ; and nothino; but the knowledtre that it is not 
so intended prevents me receiving and resenting it as a 
stinging personal insult. This is the most trying period of 
the war by all odds ; j^et the men you send now do not 
intend to go into battle ! " 



G36 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Chaplain H. C. Trumbull wrote with equal earnestness 
in August, 1864, — 

" Do you knoAV what it is that to-day tends more to dishearten New- 
En"-laud sokliers in the field than all other causes combined? It is not the 
situation at the front, but the public sentiment at home. ... I can not 
keep silence if I would. I see a perishing army the sole safeguard of a 
totterin"- nation ; and I must cry out in the hour of that army's and that 
nation's need against the ruinous theory, that an able-bodied citizen has 
performed his whole duty to his government and to himself, when he has 
"■jven to a substitute-broker a check, large or small, while refusing the 
help of his own right arm to the brother who dies for him. What ! Is a 
]irofessed Christian to receive commendation for hiring a proxy to keep 
llie sabbath for him, while he goes on a squirrel-hunt? . . . Out on such a 
standard ! This season of the war is the nation's sacred holy day. Our 
"•overnment, of more than parental claim and preciousness, is struggling in 
agony for life this hour. None are exempt from the duty of doing their 
utmost while there is still such peril to all." 

Capt. Samuel Fiske, scarcely more given to ambiguity of 
speech than the two other soldiers above quoted, exclaimed, 
" Shades of the Greeks and Romans ! I suppose Quintus 
Curtius, if he had lived in these times, instead of plun- 
ging with his gallant steed into the yawning gulf, would 
have pitched in a bag of brazen asses, and — avoided the 
draft." These fierce remonstrances, doubtless, reflected the 
sentiment of the soldiers. The writers were charged with 
'' rashness " and " indiscretion " by their friends at home ; 
but the sequel amply justified the protests. The whole of 
this extravagant bounty-system tended to ruin. It dis- 
couraored and diso;usted the veterans in the field, stimulated 
desertions, degraded patriotism, and filled the quota without 
filling the army. A few of the substitutes were good and 
faithful men ; but nine-tenths of them were never under fire, 
and a large majority deserted before they reached the 
front. But the Confederacy had begun to lose its spirit ; 
and even " filling the quota " seemed to give momentum to 
its downfall. 

The presidential canvass of 1864 was conducted vigor- 
ously by both parties in Connecticut. The Democrats again 
appealed for peace ; the Republicans insisted on a more 
vigorous prosecution of the war. The Democrats made con- 
spicuous the foct that the Union had not yet been restored 



THE TWENTY -NINTH IN CAMP AT BEAUFOET. 637 

by the armed hand ; the Republicans took notice of the 
specious claim only to show how much of the rebel territory 
had been overrun, and to resolve anew that the rest should 
be so reclaimed. The struggle brought forth all the " peace- 
men," — those who had opposed the war from the beginning, 
— more numerous in Connecticut than in any other North- 
ern State. The war-party was strengthened by its aggressive 
attitude ; and again the State was hotly contested and close. 
The official majority for Lincoln over McClellan was 2,406 : 
J. Hammond Trumbull, Secretary of State, declared the 
whole number of votes received by commissioners from sol- 
diers in the field to be 2,898. He estimated that the whole 
number that arrived in time to be deposited in the ballot- 
boxes did not exceed 2,400."^ 



On April 7, the Twenty-ninth (colored), under Col. Wil- 
liam B. Wooster, was armed with tlie best Springfield rifles 
at Annapolis, and next day received orders to proceed to 
South Carolina. The regiment disembarked at Hilton 
Head after a comfortable voyage, and went thence to Beau- 
fort, where it arrived on the 13th. A fine camp was laid 
out ; and the work of converting the raw material of the 
regiment into good soldiers was vigorously and systemati- 
cally commenced. The men learned rapidly, and were 
faithful in the performance of their duties. While here, 
although the utmost attention was paid to all that pertained 
to the health of the regiment, much sickness prevailed ; the 
change of climate telling severely upon the untried soldiers. 
In less than two months, a decided improvement in drill and 
discipline had been effected; and the dress-parades began 
to attract marked attention. Here, and in these duties, the 
regiment remained through the spring and early summer, 
until the stress in Virginia required its transfer to that 
point. 



3 The New-Haven Register, commenting on these figures, said, " So that by official 
figures it is seen, that, on the home vote, the voice of Connecticut was for McClellan." 
In this conclusion, it is conceded that the soldiers voted unanimously for Lincoln, which 
is not quite true. 



Q3S CONNECTICUT DUKIXU THE KEBELLION. 

After a pleasant winter in M.'.rtinsburg-. Va., the Eight- 
eenth Regiment was ordered on March 7 (1864) to proceed 
to Harper's Ferry. Here it was encamped for a time on 
Bolivar Heights ; detached companies doing provost-dnt}^ in 
Maryland. The weather was very disagreeable, and the sol- 
(Uers sighed for their cosy quarters at Martinsbnrg. Soldiers 
are a privileged class : they may grumble as much as they 
please if they continue to obey orders. 

On March 28, the regiment was given a furlough ; and the 
men started for Connecticut in high glee. The fact that 
the State election was on the tapis at this precise time, and 
that a majority of the members were voters, was suspected 
to have some influence in procuring the visit home. A few 
pleasant days in Norwich, almost a solid vote for Bucking- 
ham, another good-by, and back to Bolivnr Heights' on 
April 9. After a harmless scout up the Loudon Valley, they 
arrived at Martinsburii; on the 2Sth. 

Next day the regiment, now numbering ten officers and 
six hundred men, still under Major Henry Peale, started 
with a large force under Gen. Sigel. This officer had not 
been uniformly successful ; and the phrase, "' I fights mit Si- 
gel," had lost some of its talismanic power. The Eighteenth, 
too, remembered the Winchester of a year before ; but they 
turned their foces hopefully southward, and marched away, 
bandj'ing jokes suggestive of the past and future. Long 
before this time, many tender relationships had sprung up 
between the gallant fellows of the regiment and the ladies 
of the city ; and the repeated partings had grown more and 
more aflectionate. 

A rapid move to Bunker Hill and Winchester, and the 
regiment marched over the gi'ound where so many were 
captured a year before : there the gallant Porter fell ; there 
the charges were made ; there the surrender ; there the cap- 
tivity in the fort. They encamped two miles below town, 
and tarried nine days; while Sigel reviewed his troops, 
and the rebels counted them, and reported to Richmond. 
Before moving again, it was doubtless definitely known at 
the rebel capital about how man}- men and gims Sigel had, 
and how many would suffice to crush him. On May 9, they 



KETEEAT OF SIGEL'S TROOPS. G'39 

pushed forward towards New Market ; the Eighteenth being 
detached on the 14th, and sent to Edinburgh to support the 
28th Ohio, where they had a shght skirmish. At three 
o'clock, next morning, these regime:its were pushed for- 
ward to New Market, and arrived at ten, a.m., in a drenching 
rain. The Eighteenth w'as marched into a piece of woods 
north-west of the town; and, while partaking of a breakfost 
of coffee and hard-tack, the men were ordered into line of 
Ijattle to the support of a battery. The enemy was shelling 
the position from a wooded eminence. After an hour's can- 
nonading, the three regiments that had come up advanced a 
short distance in line, the Eighteenth on the right, and came 
to a halt. Companies A and B of the Eighteenth were 
deployed as skirmishers under Capt. William L. Spaulding. 
Firing began briskly. The skirmishers of the enemy ad- 
vanced rapidl}^, driving ours back to the lines. At this time, 
Capt. Spaulding was mortally wounded in the abdomen, and 
died an hour later in an ambulance at the rear. 

The rebels soon came down in three strong; lines of battle, 
with a reserve of seven thousand men. Siafel's main force 
wa^ still far behind. The enemy took advantage of this, rush- 
ing in with great vigor, and driving the regiments back to an 
eminence. , Here a stand was made. The official report of 
Major Peale says, — 

" The skirmishers of the enemy uow appeared on the brow of the hill, 
and rapid firing ensued, in which Capt. J. Matthewson, Company D, was 
wounded, as also several men of his company. As our skirmishers retired 
around our flank, the- line fired several volleys ; when, it being apparent that 
the line of the enemy greatly outnumbered our own, and that further stay 
in that position was Avorse than useless, the commanders of regiments on 
left of brigade gave the order, to retreat, which movement was followed by 
the Eighteenth. The regiment marching by the tiau'k at double-quick, on 
emergiag from the lane, found itself some distance in rear of the retreating 
line, and was thereby thrown into some confusion ; but, with some exceptions, 
the men were rallied and were re-formed with the rest of the first line in 
rear of the second line, which now awaited the shock. The cannonadiu"- 
was at this time extremely rapid, the rebels shelling our position with great 
accuracy; while the batteries of our first and second lines poured grape and 
canister into their infantry, which came on in splendid line. As they drew 
near, our second line fired and charged, partially checking their advance, 
but, having sufiered severely, was forced to retire. For the same reason, 
the enemy contented himself with sending forward strong lines of skir- 
mishers to harass our uow retreating force ; hiipself advancing very 
slowly. 



640 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

" Desultory fighting was continued for tliree liours by our firsi ana sec- 
ond lines alternately ; when, two fresh regiments arriving, the broken forces 
were assembled in rear of them, and marched on the pike to the north bank 
of the Shenandoah, from whence it continued to march until within two 
miles of Woodstock, where it halted at five, a.m. ; having marched nearly 
thirty-five miles in twenty-six hours, in addition to that incident to its par- 
ticipation in the action." 

The retreat was continued by Sigel until he reached the 
east side of Cedar Creek, Avhere the Eighteenth went into 
camp on May 17. 

The regiment had lost one killed, thirty-six wounded, and 
nineteen missing, as reported by Adjutant E. B. Culver 
from Strasburg ; but several of the missing were dead in 
the enemy's hands. In Capt. William L. Spaulding, East- 
ford had another martyr. He was a son of Reuben Spaul- 
dino- of that town. Early in life he resolved to obtain a 
liberal education ; and, wishing to be thoroughly prepared 
for college, he took a course of study at Wesleyan Academy, 
Wilbraham, Mass. He graduated at Middletown in 1860, 
beariu"^ off the hidiest honors of the institution.'* He studied 
law in the office of Judge Elisha Carpenter, who says, " 1 
never knew any young man who possessed such aptnes^ to 
learn with such quick perceptions and sound judgment. He 
had natural abilities of the very first order, and must have 
attained a high place at the bar." While the battle was 
raging, after expressing satisfaction and confidence in the 
future life, he asked Chaplain Walker, "Are they driving 
us ? " and soon after expired. 

At this point. Col. William G. Ely, after a long imprison- 
ment, returned to"the regiment, and resumed command. He 
was very warmly welcomed, and responded to the demon- 
strations of his men in a pleasant address. Capt. G. W. 
Warner, and Lieuts. M. B. V. Tiffliny, J. T. Maginnis, I. N. 
Kibbe, and others, returned at the same time. Lieut.-Col. 
Monroe Nichols, on being' released from his terrible captiv- 
ity, resigned on account of protracted ill health.^ 

* Wesleyan University maintained during the war its well-earned reputation for 
loyalty. One hundred and fifty-one students and alumni enlisted in the war, and served 
with great credit. Major-Gen. George W. Cole, and Brig.-Gens. A.J. Kdgerton and John 
B. Van Pelton, were graduates of this institution. A score of her officers and men died 
ID. service 

6 Lieut.-Col. Nichols died in January, 1868, at St. Paul, Minn., whither he had gone 



HUNTER ADVANCES UP THE SHENANDOAH. 641 

Sigel was now succeeded by Gen. Hunter, who put the 
army in snug fighting trim, cutting down baggage to the 
minimum, and sending the surpkis to the rear ; so that during 
the next month any officer who wished to indulge in the 
luxury of a clean shirt was obliged to sit in garments of the 
same texture as " the emj^eror's new clothes " while his single 
shift was S!;oino; throug-h the '' laundry." 

On May 27, the little army started again up the Shenan- 
doah, which a waggish soldier with the Virginia dialect now 
wrote of as " the back ' doah ' of the Union." They waded 
through Woodstock in the mud, ate supper in the mud, slept 
in the mud, rose and set out again in the mud ; remained in 
New Market four days, and advanced ; crossed the Shenan- 
doah at Port Republic on a pontoon-bridge, May 4 ; marched 
two miles towards Staunton in the evening, and bivouacked, 
the enemy making demonstrations in the front. Next morn- 
ing, the column was early on its march; but the rebels 
skirmished spiritedly, and on arrival at Piedmont they were 
found posted advantageously on elevations prepared to re- 
ceive battle. Hunter passed his regiments in rapid review, 
and said to the Eighteenth, that he "expected them to sustain 
the honor of Connecticut. Here was an opportunity to wipe 
out New Market." 

Stronsi: lines of skirmishers were thrown out from both 
armies. Our line advanced under a severe fire of shell and 
musketry, and drove back the rebel skirmishers towards their 
main force. It was all open ground ; and the rebels had the 
advantage of cover, and fired rapidly : but the Union skirm- 
ishers never wavered. Soon the order, "Forward, double 
quick, march ! " was given, and was followed by an impetuous 

to reside for the benefit of his health. He was materially strengthened in the exhilarating 
air of that beautiful young State ; but ovcr-cxertion indueed a fatal relapse. Col. Nichols- 
was born in Thompson, Conn. He graduated at Middletown in 1857, and after the battle 
of Bull Run raised a company, and was made lieutenant-colonel of the Eighteenth. After 
lic resifi-ncd, and returned to Connecticut, he was elected a member of the General Assem- 
))!v I f 1865, and served with distinction. The St. Paul Press says of him, " Col. Nichols, 
diiring a brief residence of two years in this city, had won for liimself by his brilliant talents, 
his fine attainments, and attmctive personal qualities, a higli position in the esteem of the 
community and in the regards of many admiring friends. To the graces of the scholar 
and tlie purity of the Christian gentleman, he added the generous enthusiasm and devotion 
of the Christian patriot. He was one of those knightly souls who went fortli from our 
colleijes and schools to do battle for freedom and the Union against the hosts of treason ; 
and he died, in fact, a martyr to the barbarity of the rebel jailers into whose hands by the 
fortunes of wai' he fell." 

81 



(342 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

charge by Hunter's whole force. The rebels stood a few 
moments, straggled, turned, and fled to theh principal breast- 
works just in the rear. The ground thus gained gave our 
men much encouragement. But repeated attempts to dis- 
lodge the enemy again were not so successful. Finally, a 
battery was ordered up, which fired rapidly and accurately ; 
driving the rebels from a portion of their works. 

The Eighteenth was on the right, fighting most gallantly 
under Col. Ely, giving and taking a severe fire. Lieut. Magin- 
nis had received a bullet in his brain, and fallen, his face to 
the foe. Adjutant Culver was dying. Enlisted men lay on 
every hand. About five, p.m., the regiment was ordered for- 
ward simultaneously with a charge by a flanking force at the 
left, and moved calmly up to a last furious attack. The rebels 
fought desperately for a few minutes, but finally broke in a 
total rout. Several pieces of artillery were captured, and 
fifteen hundred prisoners, exclusive of wounded. The Eigh- 
teenth had conducted itself splendidly this day, and was 
thanked by Gens. Hunter and Sullivan. The bearini? of Col. 
Ely and Major Peale was calculated to inspire the men with 
courage. Col. Ely, in his report, said, — 

" Our troops fought with undaunted bravery, and at five, 
P.M., routed the rebels, captured two thousand prisoners and 
five thousand stands of arms, and found a large number of 
severely wounded among the rebel dead. The Eighteenth 
Connecticut Volunteers was on the riu-ht of Gen. Hunter's 
line of battle : its colors took the lead in the first charire, 
and floated defiant till we triumphed. All of the color-guard 
were wounded except one. Our banner riddled by Minie- 
balls and cannon-shot, and a loss of one hundred and twenty- 
seven in killed and wounded, tell our story. Officers and 
all men behaved most gallantly; obeying orders with alacrity, 
even in the thickest of the fight." 

The regiment had lost nineteen killed and one hundred 
and fifteen wounded. Amono; the wounded were Lieuts. 
E. S. Hinckley, J. P. Rockwell, and John Lilley, — the last 
severely. Among the killed, were Lieuts. Culver and Magin- 
nis, and such men as Charles T. Fanning, W. H. Paine, 
W. L. Adams, Jerome B. Cahoone, J. T. Bradley, and John B, 
Scott. 



HUNTER DRIVING THE ENEMY UP THE VALLEY. 643 

Lieut. John T. Mao-mnis was a native of Stamford. He 
learned the trade of a printer, and was for some time foreman 
of the New- York Herald office, and afterwards proof-reader 
there. In 1849, he engaged in mercantile business. When 
the war broke out, he was dissuaded from enlisting; but he 
helped to raise a company for the Eighteenth, and with noble 
modesty declined to receive a commission until he should 
earn it. He was soon promoted, and was constantly with 
his regiment. Captured at Winchester, he was kept in prison 
for nine months. He suffered from cold, privation, and ex- 
posure, and contracted a cough from which he never recov- 
ered. He received a furlough on being released ; but he was 
restive at home, and insisted on going back to the front. 
His lungs were perceptibly affected ; but he could not be re- 
strained. " The boys are in the field," he said, " the country 
needs the help of every arm : of what account is my poor 
life, or a million such, if thereby our nation is saved?" He 
hurried back, and wrote from Woodstock in his last letter, 
"I regret that my health is not good enough to justify much 
exposure ; but, poor as it is, I shall not shirk my duty in the 
hour of trial. If I am to fall," said he, " let it be on a vic- 
torious battle-field, amid the cheers of the ' boys in blue ' ! " 
His prayer was answered. 

Lieut. E. Benjamin Culver of Norwich, adjutant, was severe- 
ly wounded in the head, and died next morning. Before 
going into the battle, he said, '• I am prepared to receive 
my death-wound to-day." He was an officer of great merit, 
brave to a fault, and a universal favorite. He fell in the 
thickest of the ii^Ait in the first charge. 

The Eighteenth, greatly reduced in numbers and much 
exhausted, made its bivouac in the rear of the rebel posi- 
tion ; and next morning, sad at thought of the losses, but 
elated by the victory, the column pushed on to Staunton. 
On the 10th, Hunter was re-inforced by the commands of 
Crook and Averill ; and, now pushing resolutely southward, 
he passed through Lexington next day, destroying much 
public property. The soldiers captured a Confederate flag 
over Stonewall Jackson's grave, and split up for trophies 
the black-walnut memorial slab at its head. Rations began 



644 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

to grow scarce ; and the army was two hundred miles from 
its base. The column arrived on the 14th at Buchanan, a 
town on the James River twenty miles west of Lynchburg, 
where for the first time the old flag was hailed by the cheers 
of the citizens; and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs 
from the windows. The army crossed the James in canal- 
boats and on the ruins of the old bridge. A wet night ; 
and the men slept with empty stomachs. 

June 15 was a tiresome, exciting day, marked by the 
ascent of the Blue Ridge near its highest point, — the peaks 
of Otter. Night was passed upon the mountain with 
little to eat. Next morning, the grand scenery was left be- 
hind ; the force descended, destroyed the railroad, and 
pushed towards Lynchburg. The Eighteenth lay on its arms 
all night, while the advance skirmished sharply • with the 
enemy within four miles of the city. It was evident that 
the rebels meant to contest fmlher advance. On the 18th, 
an artillery duel continued through the day ; and the enemy 
made two unsuccessful charges on our line. Col. Ely had a 
narrow escape here : he was wounded in the throat, and 
was temporarily disabled. Eight others in the regiment 
were wounded. 

Gen. Early had now re-inforced the rebels; and Hunter, 
his rations and ammunition nearly exhausted, after an in- 
decisive battle, fell back north of the James, and retired 
throuo;h West Viro-inia. 

Surf»:eon J. V. Harrinij^ton of Sterling; was left behind 
when the Eighteenth moved. His consumptive tendency 
had long been apparent, and crossing the mountains pro- 
duced a hemorrhage.^ His absence from his post at this 
time imposed great additional care upon Surgeon Lowell 
Holbrook, whose labors had been increasing every day. 

The next ten days brought the severest trials the regi- 
ment ever experienced, — tedious marches with little sleep 
and less food ; the whole army hurrying forward to escape 

•^ Dr. Harrington was taken as prisoner to Charleston, and held iintil October, when 
he was exchanged and went home, completely broken down in health. He died in 
December, — another on the long roll of martyrs. He had fought a good fight. When 
he was left at Lynchburg, Cliaplain W. C. Walker wrote, " He is sadly missed in the 
regiment. His kind and gentlemanly deportment and faithful attention to his duties 
render him very popular, and make his loss the gi'eater." 



THE SIXTH A2^D NIXETEENTH CORPS IN THE VALLEY. 645 

starvation in the mountains. " The scenes of that terrible 
march will never be recalled by any survivor without a 
shudder. The Eighteenth conducted themselves with sol- 
dierly manliness and propriety." " The retreat was from 
Liberty, back through Salem, across the Alleghanies, thence 
to Newcastle, Loui^burg, Meadow Bluff, Gauley Bridge, and 
Camp Piatt on the Kanawha ; arriving very much exhausted 
on Julv 3. Next morning;, the Eig-hteenth went to Parkers- 
burg, md the Kanawha and Ohio Elvers, and thence to 
Cumberland, Md., and marched back to Martinsburg ; arriv- 
ing there jaded, ragged, dispirited, and broken down, with 
a total of one hundred and fifty officers and men. Hunter 
had made a bold dash on Lynchburg, had gone far from his 
base of supplies, and had met with failure ; but the indi- 
vidual regiments are entitled to great credit. 

Lee eagerl}" took this opportunity to relieve his army 
from investment at Peter^^burg. The Shenandoah Valley 
was again open to the North ; and he flung through it his 
choice corps of twelve thousand men under Early, to sweep 
Hunter's shattered army out of Virginia, and swoop down 
on defenseless Washington. Hunter, Crook, and Sigel re- 
tired precipitately across the Potomac. 

Grant immediately met the movement, not by raising 
the siege, but by detaching Wright's 6th Corps, and sending 
it on transports to Washington. The Second Connecticut 
Artillery, still serving as infantry, was in this force. " We 
disembarked at Washington on the 12th," says Capt. 
Theodore F. Vaill of Litchfield in his diar}^, " and marched 
straight through the city on Seventh Street to Tenallytown, 
where the pickets were engaging the rebels, now in plain 
sight. At ten, a.m., we were marched out some two miles, 
and remained till morning." Early had hesitated too long, 
and lost his opportunity^; and, finding that the 6th and 19th 
Corps were up, he withdrew, and recrossed the Potomac, the 
6th Corps in hot pursuit. Capt. E. W. Whitaker was here 
in command of a squadron of cavalry. 

On July 14, the Eighteenth, in Crook's column, passed 
from Harper's Ferry down the left bank of the Potomac, and 

" Narrative of Chaplain William C Walker. 



646 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

next day recrossed, and pushed southward through the 
Loudon Valley ; Early crossing at the same time at Point 
of Rocks. The two corps were again in close proximity. 
Crook's cavalry made a successful raid upon the enemy's 
trains ; and the infantry pushed on towards Snicker's Gap, 
which was reached and passed on the 18th. In the after- 
noon, the enemy was found posted across the Shenandoah 
to hold the ferry, and resist the passage of the river. 
Crook posted a battery so as to command the position, and 
then began crossing by the ford, two miles below. The 
Confederates permitted one brigade (including the Eigh- 
teenth) to cross without molestation ; and then made a vigor- 
ous onset from the woods, rapidly driving the whole line 
towards the river. The order was given to retreat by the 
ford ; but great confusion prevailed. " The Eighteenth held 
its position on the right until flanked, and was the last regi- 
ment to recross ; suffering a loss of six killed and twenty- 
five wounded. . . . The regiment acquitted itself creditably. 
It was exposed to a cross-fire, but did not waver, nor retreat 
until ordered."^ Orderly-Sergeant Thomas. J. Aldrich of 
Thompson was drowned. Capt. Joseph Mathewson was 
wounded in the thigh. Lieuts. M. Y. B. Tiffany and F. G. 
Bixby were also wounded. 

After being thus disgracefully entrapped, Crook drew off, 
and awaited the arrival of the 6th and 19 th Corps, which 
came up next day. The Eighteenth Regiment, now num- 
bering less than a hundred rank and file, passed slowly west- 
ward to Winchester, and camped on the night of the 22d in 
familiar ground. Next morning, they moved out two miles 
on the Romney Road, and lay all day in line of battle ; the 
enemy being not far off. On the 24th, the Eighteenth was 
on the west side of the Strasburg Pike, and found the rebels 
advancing in force. They soon furiously attacked the left 
of our line, which gave way ; exposing the extreme right 
held by the Eighteenth, and compelling it to fall back. It 
retreated in good order over the ridge west of Winchester, 
halting twice, and forming in line of battle to check the pur- 
suing force. On the left, our cavalry had been driven back 

8 Diary of Chaplain W. C. Walker. 



THE EIGHTEENTH NEAR HAllPER'S FERRY. 647 

in confusion upon the infantry ; and the Eighteenth narrowly 
escaped capture within a short distance of the fatal disaster 
of the year previous. -The whole army was again in fall 
retreat ; and the Eighteenth reached Martinsburg early next 
morning with a loss of ten or twelve men, prisoners, and 
arrived at Williamsport, and forded the Potomac with the 
army at dawn of the 26th. For several days, the regi- 
ment remained along the Potomac in the vicinity of Har- 
per's Ferry, where a force now gathered to intercept the 
raid of Early in Pennsylvania, where he had already burned 
Chambersburg. 




CHAPTER XXXVIIL 



The Dead-Lock at Petersburg. — Flank Movement on the Right. — The Sixth, Seventh, 
Tenth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-ninth Connecticut, and the First Battery engaged. — 
Four-mile Run. — Battle of Deep Run. — Charge by Terry's Division. — Strawberry 
Plains. — Withdrawal. — Casualties. — The Fourteenth at Reams's Station. — Casu- 
alties. — Incidents along the Line. 



ICHMOND and Petersburg were still under the 
rebel Has;. The terrific stru2:Q:les of the sum- 
mer of 1864 had resulted in a dead-lock of the 
oppo.«ing armies. For thirty miles, the parallel 
lines of earthworks, batterieSj and forts, bristling 
with cannon, and well-manned by tried and veteran troops, 
.overlooked the hoi^tile camps but a few rods distant. Expe- 
rience had taught that the attempt to take the rebel lines 
by direct assault was too expensive for frequent repetition. 
Every shock seemed only to settle and strengthen the 
defenses. 

The mine ^a.sco had left no alternative but flanking; and 
the plan now was to strike the rebel army upon the extreme 
right and left simultaneously, and so confuse and bewilder 
the enemy as to cause him to leave some point exposed. 
Two corps, the 2d and lOth, were selected to operate against 
Richmond from Deep Bottom, under Hancock; while Warren 
struck for the possession of the Weldon Railroad on the left. 

Gen. Gilmore had been relieved from the command of the 
lOth Corps; and Gen. A. H. Terry succeeded him for a time, 
showing great ability in discharging the duties of the posi- 
tion. Major-Gen. Birney was soon appointed by the rule 
of seniority ; and Terry returned to his gallant division. 
The Twenty-ninth Connecticut (colored), under Col. William 
B. Wooster, was now ordered up from Beaufort, and joined 
Hinks's (colored) division. 

648 



THE TENTH BEISKLY ENGAGED. 649 

On Aug. 13, the movement on the right commenced ; the 
troops being embarked on transports, as a feint, and landed 
at Deep Bottom. The Connecticut regiments present at 
this point were the Sixth, Seventh, Tenth,^ Fourteenth, and 
Twenty-ninth, and the First Light Battery. 

Foster's brigade still occupied the little semicircle on the 
bluffs projected into rebel territory ; and Col. Wooster was 
put in command of a brigade to hold the ground, while the 
rest of the force attacked. A short distance below, a small 
tributary called Four-mile Run joins the James ; and up this 
(towards Richmond) the advance was made at daylight on 
the 14th, the 10th Corps on the north side, and the 2d Corps 
on the south side, of the creek. This was a movement 
against the rebel left. 

Foster's brigade made a successful charge on the enemy's 
line, maintaining its position until recalled. Of this advance 
of Sunday, Adjutant H. W. Camp of the Tenth wrote, " We 
formed line, threw out skirmishers, and advanced, connecting 
with other regiments on the right and left. A very few min- 
utes, and the fight was brisk. The main body of the regi- 
ment was halted, and the men lay down; while officers moved 
up and down the line, skirmishers dodged from tree to tree, 
and bullets pattered fast in all directions. Going down the 
line, I stopped to deliver an order to Lieut. A. F. Sharp. 
We stood for a moment talking ; and I had hardly turned 
away, when a bullet passed through his head just behind the 
eyes. Officers went down fast. Capt. H. F. Quinn had charge 
of the skirmishers. Two of his men, stepping in succession 
behind a large tree that seemed to offer excellent shelter, 
fell, — one dead, the other severely wounded. He moved to 

1 In accepting the resignation of Lieut. -Col. Leggett at this time, Gen. Butler issued 
the following well-merited order : — 

Headquarters Deft, of Virginia and North Carolina, 
In the Field, Virginia, Aug. 17, 1864. 

Special Orders, No. 225. . . . 15. — Lieut.-Col. Robert Leggett, Tenth Connecti- 
cut Volunteers, having tcndeited his resignation, it is accepted, with regrets that so gallant 
an officer, witli honorable wounds received in the service, is obliged to leave it. Col. Leg- 
gett's patriotic endeavors to remain in the service, notwithstanding his partial disabilitv 
in the loss of a limb, arc ap])reciated by the commanding general, who desires to thank 
him for the example of courage and endurance he has set to the officers and soldiers of 
his command. 

By order of Major-Gen. Butler, R. S. Davis, 

Assistattt Adjutant- Genercd. 
82 



650 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the same place, and was instantly shot dead, — all three within 
two minutes, Capt. W. M. Webb was wounded, and carried 
back ; and presently we saw two men helping Lieut. G. H. 
Brown to the rear, with a bullet through his leg. A moment 
after I left Sharp, I came upon one of our men lying on the 
ground with the blood pouring from a wound in the shoul- 
der. Asking his name of those who stood by, I was told it 
was Cornelius Dwyer of Sprague. He looked up as I in- 
quired. 'I am a dead man, adjutant' — 'I hope not/ said I; 
but he knew too well. He did not live to be carried from the 
field. 

" There was a yell from the rebels in front ; a louder crash 
of musketry. Our skirmishers stood fast, and drove back the 
advancing enemy. . . . This had lasted more than an hour, 
when the 24th Massachusetts, which had been held in re- 
serve, came marching up in double column : they were to 
charge through the dense wood, upon the rifle-pits beyond. 
We had orders to follow and support them. They moved for- 
ward splendidlj", with well-closed lines and steady step. They 
passed us a few rods, and the undergrowth hid them from 
sight. We came after in line of battle. Two or three minutes 
passed. The same irregular fire in front, and, with a long, tre- 
mendous cheer, the 24th made their rush. Our boys needed 
no orders : a shout burst from every throat, and the whole 
line dashed on. But, instead of the fierce volleys we ex- 
pected to meet, there, on reaching open ground, was the 
line of works deserted. The yell and the charge had been 
too much for the nerves of our friends in gray ; and almost 
without another shot they had turned, and made the best of 
their way to the rear." 

Col. J. P. Rockwell commanded the Sixth ; and Capt. John 
Thompson of Middletown, the Seventh. These regiments 
proceeded across the James with their brigade (Hawley's), 
and advanced against the rebel position simultaneously with 
the Tenth, but were less heavily engaged. Lieut. John B. 
Toung commanded companies B and G of the Seventh on 
the skirmish-line. The Confederates showed such a stub- 
born front, that it became evident that the attack was not 
far enough on the flank. With this conviction, the troops 



TERRY'S DIVISION IX THE BATTLE OF DEEP RUN. 651 

were withdrawn at nightfall ; ground gained in the partial 
success was abandoned ; and during the night and next 
morning the whole force moved four miles farther to the 
right. The report of Capt. Thompson says, " Directly in 
front of us was a corn-field, and beyond that a deep ravine 
and mill-pond, which separated us from the enemy's main 
works. The following officers were present, for duty at this 
time ; viz., Assistant Surgeon E. C. Hine ; Lieut. J. I. Hutch- 
inson, acting adjutant ; Lieuts. C. E. Barker, H. B. Lee, and 
M. A. Taintor. Capt. E. S. Perry, and Lieuts. T. C. Wild- 
man, John B. Young, and Byron Bradford, were sick and 
unfit for duty ; and Lieut. Henry B. Gill had received a 
slight wound two days previous, from which he had not re- 
covered. Surgeon George C. Jarvis was detached from the 
regiment, being senior medical officer of the brigade. Ow- 
ing to the excessive heat, an unusual number of the enlisted 
men were compelled to fall out of the ranks while on the 
march, from sun-stroke and excessive fatigue, being bur- 
dened with their knapsacks ; so that, on the morning of the 
16th, they numbered but 161 men." 

On the 16th was fought the battle of Deep Run by 
Terry's division ; resulting in carrying the enemy's intrench- 
raents, and capturing two hundred prisoners and a stand of 
colors. Col. Hawley's brigade took a prominent part in the 
work of this day. At three, a.m., Hawley ordered his men to 
throw up some sort of protection in front as a guard against 
the enemy's sharpshooters. Rails were collected ; and the 
position rendered more safe. At eight, a.m., the brigade 
moved half a mile by the right flank, and marched on the 
Confederate works. After approaching about four hundred 
yards, the men lay down in line of battle. 

Capt. Thompson, in his report, thus outlines the fight of 
the brigade : " Col. Hawley informed his whole brigade that 
a brigade in front of us was to charge the enemy's works, 
and cautioned the Avhole command to remain firm, and, in 
case the leading brigade was repulsed, to allow them to pass 
over us to the rear ; and then to hold our position at all 
hazards. The brigade in front of us then rose up, and 
rushed forward through the woods, towards the enemy's 



652 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

works ; when a galling fire of musketry greeted us from 
the enemy. When they had proceeded about fifty yards, 
I heard Col. Hawley give the command, ' Forward, second 
brigade ! ' when my regiment rose up instantly, and rushed 
forward at a double-quick, cheering loudly, and following 
the leading brigade in as good line of battle as the dense 
woods and the nature of the ground generally would permit. 

" On arriving within about fifty yards of the works, we 
came upon a slashing of fiiUen trees, very difficult to pass ; 
but through it we went with a will, and over the works, driv- 
ing the enemy before us. On crossing the enemy's works, 
without halting, I moved the regiment by the left flank, to 
avoid a dense thicket of young trees, in order to reach an 
open field about a hundred yards to the left. We then 
formed in line of battle, and moved forward across an open 
field about four hundred yards, and halted in the edge of a 
piece of woods, in order to guard against the approach of 
the enemy on our right flank. Other regiments coming up 
to our support, a severe and general engagement with the 
enemy ensued. During the engagement, I perceived the 
enemy coming down through the woods on my right flank, 
I changed my line of battle accordingly, so as to front 
the enemy, and opened on them vigorously with the 
Spencer carbines, and soon succeeded in driving them from 
before us. 

*^ I soon received orders from Col. Hawley to fall back to 
the enemy's works, which we had passed over. Here I 
formed the regiment in line of battle, fronting the enemy. 
I then received orders from Gen. Terry to march my regi- 
ment to the rear ; our ammunition being very nearly ex- 
hausted. Of the six officers who were engaged in battle, 
four were either killed or wounded ; and, myself being very 
ill from the effects of sunstroke a few days previous, I 
turned over the command to Lieut. Morton A. Taintor of 
Colchester, the only remaining officer." 

The Sixth participated in the charge ; and the Tenth 
joined with a will farther to the left. " We knew that 
Hawley's brigade was charging. The Massachusetts 24th 
took it up. Our boys sprang to their feet, and joined in the 



HANCOCK WITHDKAWS TO STRAWBERRY PLAINS. 653 

shout. Col. Otis gave the word ; and the line rushed on 
over the brow of the hill, through the undergrowth where 
the skirmishing had been so sharp, straight on without halt 
or hesitation ; while the rebel -skirmishers vanished from 
before, until the main line of rifle-pits was reached and 
occupied." ~ 

While this was going on. Col. Wooster received orders 
from Gen. Butler to jDush forward cautiously with a strong 
line towards a body of troops advancing from Dutch Gap 
above ; and at about five, p.m., he moved out. Company C 
of the Twenty-ninth, under Capt. Thomas G. Bennett, was 
thrown out to skirmish. The enemy's pickets gave ground, 
firing briskly ; and shortly the right flank of the regiment 
became warmly engaged near the Kingsland Road. The 
rebels were soon driven, and fell back. The force from 
Dutch Gap failing to come up. Col. Wooster withdrew at 
dark to the defenses. 

Terry's division held their hastily-constructed breastworks 
for forty-eight hours, but were attacked in front and flank 
by the heavy re-inforcements which Lee had transferred to 
this side of the river. The rebels showed much visror and 
strength in these repeated assaults ; and, the movement on 
the Weldon Road having succeeded, Hancock withdrew his 
forces to Strawberry Plains on Thursday, followed closely 
and hotly by the flushed and confident foe. Skirmishing 
was constant ; there was little sleep ; and these were days 
and nights of weariness and exhausting effort. As usual, 
the Tenth was the rear-guard ; ^ and, after fighting and 
marching in rain and mud, the whole of the two corps had 
recrossed the James before daybreak of the following 
Sunday, Aug. 21. The Twenty-ninth, in the mean time, 

. 2 Exti'act from a full narrative ia the Knightly Soldier, p. 271. 

^ Gen. E. I). S. Goodyear, writing of this battle, thus refers to the chaplain of the 
Tenth, " Chaplain Trumbull displayed an amount of personal courage and efficiency 
which people at home would hardly have conceived possible in a minister of the Prince 
of Peace. A battery o])cned a rapid fire, and exploded their shells and spherical case 
exactly over our line ; wounding several of our men. One shell exploded a few feet over 
Mr. Trumbull's head, knocking him down ; and we supposed him to be dead. As soon as 
the smoke rose and the dirt settled, he rose up, partially stunned, and shook the dirt off 
his clothes. Just at this moment, three or four shells burst in the ranksof a couple of 
the regiments on our left, and they broke, panic struck, for the rear. In an instant, the 
chaplain, pistol in iiand, sprang into the midst of the disordered mass of flying men ; and 
no officer ever exerted himself with more energy or firmness in a like disaster than he 
did on that occasion." 



g54 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

had rejoined the 10th Corps, and returned with it to the 
Bermuda Hundred front. 

Nothino" directly had been accomphshed, and the losses on 
both sides had been heavy. Of Connecticut troops, the 
Sixth had lost six killed, sixty-four wounded, and eleven 
missino-. Among the wounded were Capts. Bennett S. Lewis, 
John Stottlar, and D wight A. Woodruff (severely), and Lieuts. 
John Waters, Joseph Miller, and George Bellows. Capt, 
Woodruff suffered the amputation of his arm, and died after 
a few weeks of pain. He was a brave and faithful soldier. 
He entered the army as a private, and was steadily pro- 
moted for good conduct. When told that death was near, 
he said, "That is a small wound, — a slight hurt to take a 
man's life. But I received it in a noble cause, — the cause 
of my country." His remains were taken home to West 
Avon, and buried with Masonic honors. 

The Seventh had lost seven killed, thirty-one wounded, 
and seven missing. Among the wounded were Lieuts. Edwin 
J. Merriam, Charles E. Barker, Henry B. Lee, John L Hutch- 
inson, and Henry B. Gill, the first three severely. The 
wounds of Lieut. H. B. Lee and Lieut. C. E. Barker (both of 
Derby) were mortal, and they died in the enemy's hands. 
Capt. Thompson says in his report, — 

" Lieut. Hutchinson was wounded and disabled during the assault on 
the enemy's works, while gallantly performing his duty, and compelled to 
retire. Lieut. Merriam had been wounded in the engagement of the 14th, 
but resumed his command, and was again wounded while nobly dischar- 
ging his duty ; and too much praise can not be awarded him. Lieuts. Bar- 
ker and Lee, I regret to say, were Avounded in the latter part of the engage- 
ment (supposed mortally), and of necessity were left on the field to fall into 
the hands of the enemy. They displayed great coolness and courage 
throughout the entire engagement. 

" Surgeon George C. Jarvis and Assistant Surgeon E. C. Hine were 
deserving of great praise for their elHcient and untiring efforts in caring for 
the wounded of the command. 

" The men displayed unusual zeal and bravery during the whole engagei- 
ment ; and, where all who were with me have done so nobly, it is difficult 
to mention any particular individual as worthy of most praise. I will take 
the liberty, however, to give the names of Sergeant S. W. W. Phimb of 
Meriden, Lewis A. Cook of Stamford, W. G. Smith, Benjamin Starr, 
Charles M. Shailer, W. W. Whaples, Willard Austin, William Cook, and 
Corporal Edwin W. Clark." 

Lieut. Merriam's wound soon proved mortal; and the State 
lost no more devoted son. He enlisted from Durham, and, 



LIEUT. HENEY B. LEE. 655 

after three years of service as a private, re-enlisted as a 
veteran. He was a Christian soldier, following with equal 
fidelity the cross and the flag. When his time expired, he 
said, " I have determined to re-enlist in order that I may, 
during the three years to come, try to do good to the souls 
of my fellow soldiers." Chaplain Wayland says, " He was 
the best man I ever knew anywhere, uniting more virtues 
with fewer weaknesses." And to Chaplain Eaton he said, 
" I am willing to give up all my worldly interests and enjoy- 
ments, if I can thereby secure the invaluable blessings of 
nniversal justice and freedom to those who shall live after 
me." 

Lieut. Henry B. Lee was the oldest of five brothers, born 
in Pleasant Valley, Conn. Four of them were in the army 
at one time ; and the fifth offered himself, and was rejected. 
The youngest was Capt. E. R Lee of the Eleventh, killed 
at Antietara. Henry was a citizen of Derby when the 
mad appeal to arms was made ; a member of the company 
whence Col. Kellogg, Col. Chatfield, and Col. Russell grad- 
uated. He was a thorough soldier, but did not ask for a 
commission. It came to him, however." When the veterans 
were re-enlisting, his brother at home wrote him, saying, 
" You ought not to re-enlist : your family need you at home. 
If more are needed from our circle, let the government give 
me a place. If I am disabled, I can do a man's work in some 
place." His reply was, " I have re-enlisted ; I will fight the 
enemies of my country while I live ; I'll see the end of this, 
or it shall see the end of me." Lieut. Lee was a brave, fliith- 
ful, uncomplaining soldier; an honest, conscientious, devoted 
patriot ; a kind, loving, tender husband and father. He left 
a family of four little ones, and gave his life for the land he 
loved. He was buried by the enemy, and sleeps in an un- 
known grave. 

The casualties of the Tenth had been, Capt. Horace F. 
Quinn, killed ; Lieut. A. F. Sharp, mortally wounded ; Capt. 
Selleck L. White and Lieuts. H. A. Peck and George H. 
Brown severely, and Capt. M. M. Webb and Lieut. W. 
L. Savage slightly wounded : four enlisted men killed and 
twenty- two wounded. 



656 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION, 

Capt. Selleck L. White died Sept. 11, of wounds received 
in this action. He was born in Danbury, Conn., and entered 
the service at the organization of his company, Oct. 1, 1861, 
as a sert'-eant; was in command as first sergeant during 
the summer of 1862 ; and rose rapidly, by superior merit, 
through all intermediate grades to that of captain. He fell, 
severely wounded, while gallantly leading his men in a 
charge on the enemy's ritle-pits. Adjutant Camp wrote, 
■' Capt. White was one of the finest ofiicers in the regiment." 
He was buried at home with military honors. 

Capt. Horace F. Quinn, killed in action here, entered the 
service in the Second Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, and 
served as a private through the three-months' campaign. 
On the organization of the Tenth, he joined it as first lieu- 
tenant of Company H, under Capt. Leggett. Said Col. 
Greeley, '• No more brave or daring officer ever led li com- 
pany than Capt. Quinn. Although young in years, he was 
a veteran soldier : twenty years of age at his death, he had 
seen more than three years' active service." 

Lieut. Albert F. Sharp, mortally wounded, was born in 
Providence, R.I. ; entered the service as a private in the 
Second (three-months') Regiment, and again as a sergeant 
in the Tenth upon its organization. Col. Greeley wrote, 
"He early distinguished himself by his bravery, and was 
finally promoted for gallant and meritorious services in the 
last campaign. In him the regiment lost one of its most 
promising and faithful officers, and the State one of its most 
patriotic citizens." 

Lieut. Sharp had received a medal from Gen. Gilmore, and 
had been complimented' for gallantry by Gen. Butler. He 
died from the eftects of a ball which tore out both of his eyes. 
Chaplain Trumbull wrote of him, '• Lieut. Sharp was as brave 
a man as ever lived ; as prompt and as efiicient in the per- 
formance of duty as any soldier I ever knew. He was 
always ready to do any thing by which he could help for- 
ward the cause to which he had joined himself; and he lived 
prepared for every emergency. His record is a noble one." 

In the battle of the 16th, Col. Otis was hit again, — the 
third bullet or shell contusion which he had received in battle. 



EFFECT OF THE MOVEMENT ACROSS THE JA]\IES. 657 

Here, also, Cyrus A. Green of South Coventry was killed. 
He was a brave and faithful soldier.^ 

" Poor Dennis Mahoney was shot through the body early 
in the day. It was he who sent for Henry [Chaplain Trumbull] 
to come to the hospital and see him. He was the ideal of a 
private soldier. Tall and fine-looking; always neat and 
soldierly in dress and equipments ; always cheerful and 
prompt in duty ; brave to recklessness ; never missing a chance 
to volunteer for an expedition, a scout, or any service of 
danger ; full of fun and dash and spirit : it would have^ been 
difiicult to match him in the regiment." ^ 

Sergeant Charles H. Clock of Darien received his death- 
wound on this day. He had borne a gallant part in nearly 
every important battle in which his regiment (noted for its 
high character) had been engaged — from that of Roanoke 
Island to those of this summer before Richmond. At 
Kinston, N.C., he was wounded in the shoulder, and for a 
time disabled. For his meritorious conduct while on Morris 
Island, under the hot fire of the enemy's batteries, he re- 
ceived from Gen. Gilmore a medal and certificate of honor. 

The Fourteenth had been held as a reserve ; and its loss 
was but one killed and six wounded. 

The 10th Corps, on returning, relieved the 18th Corps on 
the Petersburg line, on Aug. 26 ; and the latter took position 
again alons; the Bermuda-Hundred defenses. 

If the movement across the James had not accomplished 
much directly, it had been of the greatest service in com- 
pelling Lee to withdraw troops from his right, and enabling 
Warren to strike there an effective blow. He advanced 
boldly ; seized the Weldon Railroad, a chief avenue of supply 

* Cyrus A. Green was one of six sons of William A. Green of Sonth Coventry (form- 
erly of Norwich), Conn., all of whom were in the service, and had an honorahlc record. 
One of the brothers, Thomas L., was killed in the gharge at Cold Harbor; another, 
Cliarles A., was a member of the 15th Massachusetts, fought in several battles, was cap- 
tiu\(l, and languished for nine months in as many rebel prisons ; W^illiam H. was in both 
the Eighth and Eighteenth, but was discharged for disahility ; George H. was in the 
Twentieth, but his health was soon impaired, and he served less than a year ; Nelson H. 
enlisted without his parents' consent, and followed the Ibrtunes of the First Artillery 
through four years' service, and was among the first to enter the city of Richmond. As if 
the martial record of the family was incomplete, the father himself desired to enlist; but his 
age barred his admission. Four of his sons lived to see freedom vindicated and the nation 
saved. 

^ Mahoney was a young Irishman, and enlisted from MancUester. 
83 



658 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

for the rebel army ; and stubbornly held it at the end of a 
series of desperate encounters. No Connecticut regiment 
participated in this advance of the 5th and 9th Corps. 

On returning from Deep Bottom, Hancock marched his 
corps immediatel}^ to the extreme left of the line ; taking 
position in Warren's rear along the Weldon Railroad. On 
Aug. 24, the Fourteenth Connecticut, commanded by Lieut.- 
Col. S. A. Moore, was engaged in destroying the railroad- 
track in the vicinity of Reams's station. During the night, 
the brigade was massed in a sugar-cane field, awaiting attack, 
and at eleven next morning advanced to ascertain the 
strength of the enemy. Four companies of the Fourteenth 
were out as skirmishers, under Capt. John C. Broatch. The 
bri2;ade advanced in line of battle, under a lieavv fire of 
musketry and artillery ; driving the rebel skirmishers more 
than half a mile. As they were moving steadily forward, 
Capt. William H. Hawley was killed. 

The brigade commander, suspecting that he had advanced 
far enough, sent back for orders. Before these reached him, 
however, the sound -of heavy firing almost directly in the 
rear induced him to return towards the station to prevent 
being cut off from the main body of the corps. This was 
done upder an artillery-fire. We quote from Col. Moore's 
report : — 

'' We found the main body of the corps drawn up in order 
of battle in the form of two sides of a square ; one of the 
sides west of the railroad, and parallel to it, and the other side 
runnino; at a ri'j;ht ansi-le to it, and from west to east. In this 
form they had already successfully repelled two attacks made 
by the enemy. 

" Our brigade was ordered to throw up a breastwork run- 
ning in an oblique direction across the same field in which 
we had been massed in the morning, to connect the ends of 
these two lines; thus forming an irregular triangle, in which 
the troops stood behind slight breastworks facing outwards. 
Before we could complete our slight barricade of rails and 
earth, the cavalry skirmishers in our front were* driven in. 
At the same time, a heavy artillery-fire was opened upon us 
from our right flank and rear. This was followed by a third 



THE FOURTEENTH IN ACTION AT PETEKSBUEG. 659 

attack by the enemy, made in heavy force upon that portion 
of the line directly in our rear. The troops who occupied this 
position of the line being principally heavy artillery regi- 
ments belonging to the 1st Division, and composed, to a 
great extent, of raw recruits, broke, and that admitted the 
rebels into our inclosure. 

"The Fourteenth was now faced by the rear rank, and 
formed in line of battle on the reverse side of our breastwork. 
We were then ordered by Gen. Gibbon, our division com- 
mander, and Gen. Hancock in person, to charge, and try and 
recover a portion of the lost ground. We went forward at 
a double-quick, exposed to a heavy fire of both musketry and 
artillery. The left wing, with the lieutenant-colonel and 
Major James B. Coit, succeeded in retaking a portion of the 
line left by the troops which had broken. This position they 
held until after dark, firing all the time, when they were 
ordered by Col. Smyth, the brigade commander, to withdraw, 
which they did ; hauling off, and thereby saving from fill- 
ing into the hands of the enemy, one brass cannon and one 
limber belonging to McKnIght's battery, and one caisson 
and one limber belonging to the 3d New-Jersey battery. 
The right wing, after losing heavily both in killed and pris- 
oners, was compelled to fall back to its original position. 
This it held until about dark, when the heavy fire poured 
into it from front, rear, and one flank, forced it, in common 
with the rest of the division, to fall back a short distance to 
a better position, where it commenced throwing up a new 
line of breastworks. During the night, however, the corps 
was withdrawn to the line of the defenses around Peters- 
burg." 

The Fourteenth went into this fight with seventeen offi- 
cers and one hundred and fifty enlisted men ; of whom it 
lost five killed, eighteen wounded, and twenty-seven missing. 

Capt. William H. Hawley of Bridgeport was one of the 
best officers in the regiment. He enlisted as a private, and 
was promoted to a captaincy for efficiency and gallantry. 
The ofiicers assembled, and adopted the following : — - 

Hesolved, That in all the varied experience of the service, we have ever 
found Capt. Hawley fully equal to every emergency ; in camp, the trusty 



Q60 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

counsellor, the agreeable companion, the faithful friend ; on the march, 
while a strict disciplinarian, not without mercy ; in action always com- 
posed, and brave to a fault. He had the respect and love of all who knew 
him ; and his manifold virtues will ever be remembered." 

" At the time of his death, he filled the office of brigade-inspector, and 
was acting upon the staff of the colonel commanding the brigade. This 
responsible and difficult station he filled alike with credit to himself and 
his regiment, and to the satisfaction of all with whom he came in contact. 
His loss is deeply felt, not only in this regiment, but throughout the en- 
tire brigade." ® 

Among the wounded were Capt. George N. Brigham, 
Capt. James F. Simpson, and Capt. James R. Nichols, and 
Assistant Surgeon Levi Jewett, who had fearlessly exposed 
himself in the performance of his duty. Capt. Henry Lee 
and Lieut. James M. Moore were taken prisoners. 

Capt. Nichols, dangerously wounded after a gallant fight, 
was also left for a time in the hands of the enemy. They 
robbed him of his purse, revolver, and papers ; and it was 
not until after dark that he was found by his fellow-soldiers, 
and brought within our lines. He was sent to hospital at 
Washington, where he suffered for six months in a remark- 
able spirit of patience, and made for himself many friends. 
At last, the next February, he joined the great army of 
martyrs. In his regiment, — a regiment of gallant officers 
and men, — his reputation for gentlemanly conduct and 
soldierly valor was second to none. He was greatly re- 
spected and sincerely beloved. 

Among the bravest men who fell here was Sergeant 
Junius E. Goodwin of Hartford. He had been among the 
foremost in all the battles of the regiment, and was the first 
to mount the Confederate works on the North Anna. A 
comrade wrote of him after Reams's Station, " I need not 
tell you of Sergeant Goodwin's noble and gallant conduct 
while engaged in that terrible battle ; for you have, doubt- 
less, heard it many times. He was badly wounded in the 
thigh ; the ball crushing the bone, and entering the other 
leg. I assisted in the last effort that was made to get him 
off. He was very weak from loss of blood. We carried him 
with great difficulty a quarter of a mile in a terrific thunder- 
storm. We had to pick our way in the darkness by the 

^ Report of Lieut.-Col. Moore. 



CONNECTICUT REGIMENTS IN THE RIFLE-PITS. 661 

flashes of lightning ; and, as we had no stretcher, it was 
almost impossible to carrj^ him. His wound was so painful, 
that he begged to be put down ; but we cheered him up as 
well as we could till we reached the spot where we had 
left the regiment, and found it gone. There was no means 
of conveyance at hand, and we were obliged to leave 
him. His mind appeared to be wandering, and he seemed 
to be saying something of home. We did not think he 
would survive the night. We covered him with an over- 
coat, and placed a pillow beneath his head, and left him to 
his fate. He was a noble and patriotic young man. We 
all loved him." 

This recoil did not loosen Warren's hold upon the Weldon 
Railroad. He strengthened his position, and formed a line 
of redoubts connecting himself with the former left of the 
army. 

For more than a month did the 10th and 18th Corps lie 
in the trenches at the east and north of Petersburg, with 
nothing to break the monotonj^ There was artillery firing 
on both sides ; and the sharpshooters kept up an intermit- 
tent crackle : but even fighting had by this time become 
monotonous. The siege was little less than one constant, 
prolonged battle; and half the 'time the men were under 
fire. The Eighth, Eleventh, and Twenty-first were still 
along the Bermuda-Hundred front. A soldier of the Eighth 
wrote, — 

" We are in the pits two, and sometimes four, days at a time, through 
night and day, rain and sun, mud and water. When a shell comes bowl- 
ing along, down we all go with a jerk. Tliere is nothing lost, I notice, 
by being polite. We have to lie low, of course : and when we are relieved, 
and get behind our breastworks, it is not much better; for, if a head or 
hand is lifted in sight, fifty bullets are sent after it. The enemy's guns 
have good range upon our camps, and sometimes open upon us about mid- 
night, supposing us sound asleep after our fatigue in the trenches, and keep 
us awake all night, and many times drive us into our gopher-holes. Thus 
we stand the storm ; our works growing stronger day by day, and our 
faith strengthening with our works." 

An officer of the Twenty-first wrote afterwards, — 

" The greatest praise is due our noble soldiers for the patience and for- 
titude vv^ith Avhich they endured the almost intolerable heat during this 
period. The line held by the regiment, being in the open field, was fully 
exposed to the scorching I'ays of the sun, which poured down with the 



662 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

utmost intensity. The men were obliged to lie under ground, as it were, 
where no circulation of the air could be obtained ; and one could do nought 
but lie still and swelter in the sultry air. Any appearance of a head above 
the breastwork was sure to secure attention of some hard-hearted Southron 
with a crack and a whistling ball by no means pleasant to hear. The 
advent of the company cooks Avas always hailed Avith delight : a commo- 
tion was. at once visible. Tin cups joined in a lively chorus ; and hungry 
stomachs began to grow ravenous. The usual amount of grumbling must 
be bestowed upon these devoted sons of the cxnsine, who finally retired 
from the field abashed, ducking their heads around each corner, calling 
forth roars of laughter ; and then the usual quiet resumed its sway." 

Chaplain DeForest of the Eleventh wrote, " We lived in 
ditches and holes of the earth, exposed to the sun and dog- 
star by day, the dew by night, and both rebel fire and diar- 
rhoea at all times." 

The Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and Twenty-ninth were in 
front of Petersburg, next the Appomattox. " On the picket- 
line, in the trenches, in camp, there was constant danger of 
death. Rifle-bullets went whizzing past, or striking near 
one, wherever he went. ... A sharp cry at dead of night 
more than once gave indication that some one had been 
wounded while asleep in his tent ; and casualties came to be 
so frequent, that officers and men moved about with an ever- 
present consciousness that they might fall the next minute."'^ 
Here Capt. Francis G. Hickerson from- Derby, of the Tenth, 
was severely wounded in the face by a rebel bullet, and 
Henry Lyman of Saybrook, one of the most tried and re- 
liable soldiers, was shot and died on the skirmish-line. 

Occasionally there was a friendly truce between the Union 
and Confederate pickets. " One afternoon, while the Tenth 
was on picket, there was a rest from active hostilities. Then 
a rebel soldier showed himself on the parapet of his works, 
and, shaking a newspaper as a sign of truce, sprang over 
into the cornfield. At once a hundred men from either side 
were over their lines, and side by side, exchanging papers 
and coffee and tobacco, and renewing old acquaintances or 
formino: new ones." ^ 

While the Tenth lay in the trenches here. Adjutant Henry 
W. Camp received his well-earned commission to be major. 

A detail of twenty-five men from the Eighth was sent to 

7 Cliaplain Trumbull in the Knightly Soldier. * Ibid. 



DEATH OP CAPT. ISAAC D. KENYOX. 663 

establish a line of telegraph from City Point to Fort Pow- 
hattan ; -when sixteen were captured bj ^yacle Hampton in 
a raid within our lines after beef. 

The Twenty-first had been almost constantly exposed, and 
during these weeks had lost six killed and thirty wounded. 
Among the wounded were Capt. Isaac D. Kenj'on and Lieut. 
Walter P. Long. The former was struck in the shoulder ; 
and the hurt proved mortal a few days thereafter. He was 
young, ardent, and enterprising ; and, when the war began, 
was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Voluntown. " His 
young comrades called on him to lead them ; and he closed 
his business and accepted the call ; and thenceforth, on every 
battle-field and in every camp, he was the same courteous, 
brave, and humane soldier, having a tender care for the com- 
fort of his men ; an excellent disciplinarian, who inspired 
them with a pride of subordination, and at the same time 
taught them to think ; and a patriotic citizen, who instilled 
into their minds the principles of freedom and love of coun- 
try, and set them an heroic example in the sacrifice of even 
life itself Peace to his ashes ! " ® 

3 Narrative by Dr. Harvey Campbell of Voluntown. 




CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Still in Front of Petersburg. — Demonstration on the Left. — The Fourteenth. — Advance 
of Butler. — Chaffin's Bluff. — Capture of Fort Harrison. — The Eighth and Twen- 
ty-first. — The Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and Twentj'-ninth on the Right. — Rebel 
Repulse. — Casualties. — Attack on Terry's Line. — Repulse. — Counter- Attack. — 
Death of Major H. W. Camp. — Hawley's Brigade on tlie Darbytown Road. — The 
Twenty-ninth as Skirmishers. — The Second and Fourteenth on Hatcher's Run. — 
Hawley's Division at New York. — The First Artillery. — Butler fails to capture 
Fort Fisher. — Teny takes it by Storm. 

EN. GRANT resolved, towards the end of Sep- 
tember, on a further advance in the direction 
of Richmond from Butler's front ; and, in order 
to cause the weakening of forces on the rebel 
left, he ordered another demonstration by War- 
ren and Hancock. This was successful, and the enemy gave 
ground. The Fourteenth Connecticut was in a brigade of 
observation, stationed at Prince George's Court House. Here 
it remained until Sept. 26, when the 2d Corps moved to the 
right to relieve the 10th and 18th Corps. 

On the afternoon of the 28tli, Butler faced his army to 
the right, and moved in the evening towards the James. 
At nine in the evening, the 18th Corps had arrived at Aiken's 
Landing, and the 10th had crossed the Appomattox, and was 
hurrying' forward. At two in the morning, the 18th Corps 
began moving over the pontoon -biidge ; and by four they 
were all over, massed in column by division, and moving up 
the Varina Road, on familiar ground. The Eleventh Connec- 
ticut, being detached for artillery-service, remained at Ber- 
muda Hundred. Lieut. W. P. Long of the Twenty-first wrote, 
"The gallant 1st Division of the 18th Corps swept up the 
hill, which brought them in contact with the enemy's skir- 
mishers. These, however, were pressed steadily back about 

664 



THE EIGHTH HEAD A STORMING COLUMN. 665 

four miles, to their main line of works, thrown up along the 
crest of a hill, — a strong position by nature, — where they 
had a large square fort mounting about eight guns, and sur- 
rounded by a ditch ten feet deep, with perpendicular sides. 
From this, on eitherside, stretched a heavy rifle-pit, intersect- 
ed with small redoubts mounting one or two guns, and which 
enfiladed our approach in every direction. Just before our 
line of battle was formed, seven companies of the regiment, 
with our commanding officer, then Capt, now Lieut.-Col., 
J. F. Brown, were sent out as skirmishers on the left of the 
line, where, gallantly led by Capt. Brown, they pressed the 
enemy back in the face of a heavy fire even to their strong- 
hold. The remaining three companies, with our colors, kept 
on with the column." 

The Eighth furnished two companies for skirmishers, while 
the rest of the reariment headed the storming; column. This 
was a gallant charge across nearly a mile of open field to 
Chaffin's BlufC The new recruits vied with veterans. Now 
the muzzles of the rebel guns frowned from Fort Harrison 
directly in the front ; now little puffs of smoke revealed an 
alert foe, and the batteries showered destruction upon the 
advancing column ; now the Eighth deployed in line of bat- 
tle, and, closely followed by the rest of the division, dashed 
away over the field. It was a fearful distance to traverse 
such a field under such a fire. " Without a moment's delay, 
the brigade moved to the position assigned it, and advanced 
through a dense slashing, and under a heavy artillery-fire, 
to the assault. The enemy's gunboats, in the mean time, 
dropped down the James, and threw a heavy cross-fire into 
the assaulting columns. No halt was made, however, until 
the troops reached a slight cover at the foot of the hill, on 
which was situated the main work of the enemy, and less 
than a hundred yards from it. A moment was spent here 
in resting and re-forming the men ; and then with a shout 
they rushed into the ditch, and over the parapet; and Fort 
Harrison, with its garrison, and armament of twenty-two 
pieces of heavy ordnance, fell into the hands of the 1st 
Division of the 18th Corps." ^ 

1 Official Report of Lieut.-Col. Brown. 
84 



666 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

The Eighth and the three companies of the Twenty-first 
led the way over the ramparts ; and at eight o'' clock the 
standard of Connecticut replaced the Confederate flag. 
Chaplain Moses Smith wrote, " We had really surprised the 
rebels. Ten minutes' delay would have lost the battle, and 
sacrificed v/liole hecatombs of precious lives. It was a race 
for the prize. Re-inforcements were coming down at ' double- 
quick.' Our men saw them approaching, but were soon 
enough to snatch from them the otherwise impregnable 
hit'-hts." Both the color-sero-eants of the Eighth — William 

O CD CJ 

S. Simmons of Plainfield and Jacob Bishop of Wilton — re- 
ceived commissions " for meritorious daring ; " and Sergeant 
Nathan E. Hickok of Danbury, the choice of a commission, 
or thirty days' furlough.- The following is an extract from 
the order issued by Gen. Butler : — 

" Aetiug Adjutant P. Long, Twenty-first Connecticut, is recommended 
to his Excellency the Governor of Connecticut for promotion for gallantly 
planting his colors among the first on the rebel fortifications. Corporal 
F. Clarence Buck, Twenty-first Connecticut, is recommended to the Secre- 
tary of War for a medal for courage. Although wounded in the arm, he 
refused to leave the field until the engagement closed. In addition, he will 
have his warrant as sergeant." ^ 

Col. Brown says, " Justice requires me to state that others 
performed their duty with equal gallantry and distinction 
on that occasion." A soldier of the Twenty-first, writing of 
this day, speaks of others who conducted themselves nobly, 
" Among the first, then, Corporal Howard A. Camp of Com- 
pany I, although severely wounded before reaching the 
summit, stood by the flag he carried till safely transferred to 
Corporal Rix of Company G, who bore it on till just as we 
were scaling the parapet. He, too, was wounded, but careful 
to see it again safe in other hands. Lieut., now Capt., E. P. 
Packer of Company G, while gallantly leading his division in 
the charge, was seriously wounded in the head by a frag- 
ment of shell, and fell senseless a short distance from the 
fort. Sergeant George P. Edwards of Company A received 
a serious wound in the arm just as he leaped over the para- 
pet. And then a little band of nine rallied round the dear 

- He declined tlie commission, and, before receiving a furlough, was wounded in a, 
subsequent .action, and fell into the hands of the enemy. 

3 Long was promoted to be captain, and Buck first lieutenant. 



GALLANT CHAEGE OF THE TWENTY-NINTH. 667 

old flag in tlie moment of victory. George F. Curtis of 
Company C, John Coon, Noah Wilcox, James S. Tucker, and 
Ransom Colgrove of G, L. M. Maynard and Isaac G. Fardon 
of I, and Yfillis D. Rouse of K, were the first inside of the 
fort. A gallant color-guard, and worthy of their colors ! " 

The following!; is also an extract from Gen. Butler's order: 
"First Lieut. C. W. Cook, Twenty-first Connecticut, aide to 
Brig.-Gen. Stannard, has special mention for distinguished 
gallantry, and is recommended for promotion." The recom- 
mendation was concurred in. 

Meantime, the 10th Corps pushed out on the extreme 
right, along Four-mile Creek, and advanced vigorously up 
the New^-Market Road. A soldier who witnessed the gallant 
charge of the Twenty-ninth (colored) writes, " Dashing 
across the space beyond the Kingsland Road, the line of 
breastworks are carried in one vigorous charge ; the enemy 
retreating;: to a stronger line a short distance in the rear. 
The troops pause for a moment before this line ; and silence 
intense and penetrating succeeds to the clamor of battle. 
This lasts for a few moments, that seems an age. Again 
Col. Wooster gives the order to charge; and the leveled bayo- 
nets press forw\ird, at first steadily and in order ; but, mad- 
dened by the fire from the breastworks, the steady tramp 
becomes a double-quick, and the double-quick a run, increas- 
insr until the line is reached : here the advance is for a 
moment checked, and a fierce struggle ensues. Musketry 
rattles briskly, and shells explode in the ranks. Away at 
the left, where the 18th Corps is fighting, comes the thunder 
of cannon and the faint echo of victorious cheers ; and now, 
above cannon and musketry, rise the ringing hurrahs of 
the negroes, as the}^ leap with their leader over the works." 
Without delay, they push quicklj^ forward ; and pursued and 
pursuers reach a third line of works almost simultaneously. 
Giving the foe no time to rally, the 10th Corps rushes along 
in the direction of Richmond, and effects a junction with the 
18th Corps towards Fort Harrison. 

Then the whole line from right to left advanced. On the 
left, the 18th Corps moved rapidly forward, and confronted 
Fort Gilmer, where it received a check. On the right, Ter- 



668 ' CONNECTICUT DUEINa THE KEBELLION. 

ry's division, including the Sixth, Seventh, and Tenth Con- 
necticut, advanced during the afternoon up the Darbytown 
Road towards Richmond ; the head of the column reaching a 
point within three miles of the city, of which the roofs and 
spires were in full view. The incompleteness of the success 
on other parts of the line rendered it inexpedient to press 
forw^ard into Richmond ; and at night Terry retired to the 
new line now being intrenched. Battery Harrison was a 
position too valuable to be tamely surrendered. The fol- 
lowing day. Gen. Lee brought up three brigades of veterans 
from Petersburg to retake the fort. The occupants had im- 
proved the night in constructing temporary defensive works, 
and the men waited behind them in the utmost confidence. 

The Twenty-ninth (colored) had been moved to this 
point. A single shot from Fort Gilmer passed over the regi- 
ment, followed by heavy cannonading along the lines. In- 
trenching tools were quickly thrown down, and the troops 
rushed to arms. It was soon discovered that the point of 
attack was Fort Harrison. A powerful rebel force, screened 
from view by the trees and by the inequalities of the ground, 
had been massed in front ; and, when the fierce artillery-fire 
had somewhat slackened, the column of attack swept into 
view, and with the well-known yell came forward at double- 
quick. The Twenty-ninth had a position just on the right 
of the fort, connecting with the left of the colored troops 
of the 18th Corps: in the fort itself were the Eighth and 
Twenty-first. From rampart and breastwork waved our old 
State flag, amid the deadliest storm of battle ; and beneath 
its folds that day two widely different races bravely main- 
tained its honor with their lives. The musketry-fire was 
now perfectly terrific ; but the attacking column soon ex- 
hausted its fire, and prepared to rely on the bayonet. Our 
men had generally retained their fire, waiting for this mo- 
ment. Just as the gray column reached the crest of a neigh- 
boring knoll, the whole line opened fire — one unbroken 
blaze and crash. The head of the column seemed to sink to 
the earth : the rest tottered for a moment, and rolled back 
in confusion to the valley. Two more charges followed, 
more determined than the first ; but we held the position. 



LOSSES IN CAPTUEING BATTERY HARRISON. 669 

Lieut. W. p. Long of the Twenty-first tells of the sequel, 
" Most of the rebel column turned and fled. The rest 
dropped to the ground, and took shelter behind the bushes 
and any thing they could find, unable to retreat or advance. 
Here and there a dirty handkerchief raised above the bushes 
indicated the owner's desire to surrender. Then the order, 
' Cease firing! ' was given ; and the air resounded with, ' Come 
in. Johnnies, come in ! ' of which invitation a large number 
took advantage, and found refuge and safety behind the 
works of the detested Yankees. Our packet-line was quickly 
re-established, and, being sent out by the flank, completely 
surrounded those who had not already given themselves up, 
and gathered them in. Nearly two hundred were thus 
secured, while the ground in our front was thickly strewn 
with killed and wounded. As we fought behind breast- 
works, our losses were comparatively light. Yet a num- 
ber received honorable scars, though but one was mortally 
wounded. The regiment here, as everywhere, did honor to 
its native State. I think the men never fought with more 
enthusiasm." 

" The capture of Battery Harrison had not been effected 
without severe loss to Connecticut troops. The casualties of 
the Eighth were eight killed and sixty-five wounded. Among 
the killed were Lieut. James B. Kilbourne, Lieut. Charles 
N. L'win, Sergeant Seth F. Plumb, William H. Durfee, Gil- 
bert G. Reynolds, William H. Peterson, William A. Smith, and 
other brave men. 

Lieut.-Col. Martin B. Smith, leading the regiment, was 
wounded severely in the leg. Among the wounded were also 
Capt. William J. Roberts, Capt. Andrew M. Morgan, and 
Lieuts. Samuel S. Foss, John A. Rathburn, Amos L. Keables, 
and Thomas S. Weed. Chaplain Moses Smith wrote, — 

"Among the lost were two lieutenants, — Charles N. Irwin of New Mil- 
ford, whose term of service had just expired, and who was expected home 
each train when the melancholy tidings arrived ; and James B. Kilbourne 
of Hartford, who had but recently been commissioned. One other name I 
must mention among our honored dead. Our rolls record him only as an 
enlisted man, with rank of sergeant ; for, although having been commis- 
sioned, he had never been mustered as lieutenant. But fairer character never 
graced a soldier's uniform, and he lives embalmed in the affections of home 
and in the hearts of his comrades. He led in the closing prayer of that last 



670 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

meeting an hour before the march ; and his last words as the column moved 
for the charge were respecting ' that good meeting.' Even the casket in 
which- such a jewel has been carried is prized ; and, as we write here in 
camp, weeping friends are preparing in the burying-ground of Litchiield, 
Conn., the grave of our dear comrade, Seth F. Plumb." 

The Twentj-first had lost four killed and twenty-four 
wounded. Among the latter were Lieuts. W. S. Hubbell, 
George P. Edwards, and E. Perry Packer. 

Cajot. Henry R. Jennings of Stonington was mortally 
wounded in the breast. He died a month afterwards. Lieut.- 
Col. Brown wrote, " ]^o truer patriot or braver soldier than 
he has flillen in defense of the nation's life. He fell as a 
soldier would wish to fall, in the hour of victory ; leaving a 
noble record for his comrades to emulate." 

The Sixth, Seventh, and Tenth had met with slight loss. 

The Twenty-ninth, thus far, had lost four killed and forty 
wounded. Among the killed was Lieut. Thomas H. McKin- 
ley, a brave and efficient young officer. Among the wound- 
ed were Capt. E. A. Thorp, and Lieuts. Thomas G. Bennett 
and Eugene S. Bristol. 

On Oct. 1, Gen, Hawley's brigade advanced towards Rich- 
mond with the division, and was for a short time under a 
severe fire on the Darbytown Road. The Tenth moved out 
on the New-Market Road to Laurel Hill, as a diversion, going 
beyond the picket-line and beyond all flank-supports with a 
battalion of only a hundred and fifty rifles; Col. Otis com- 
manding. There was but one line-officer present, Lieut 
Benjamin Wright, the rest being sick or excused. 

The next week was full of exposure and privation. The 
troops stood to arms much of the time, and were frequently 
under fire. The Connecticut regiments had left Deep Bot- 
tom in light marching order, and were now without tents, 
and many even without blankets. The utmost activity and 
vigilance were demanded. Heavy fatigue-parties were kept 
at work night and day. 

On Oct. 7, the enemy made a vigorous attack on the part 
of the line held by Terry's division. The cavalry came rush- 
ing in, and the infantry immediately sprang to arms. The 
Tenth moved from the left around to the right of Hawley's 
brigade to strengthen that part of the line where Kautz's 



BrtAVEIlY OF THE TENTH. 671 

position had been turned. The principal force of the enemy 
came down from their right; and the Sixth was the first 
Connecticut regiment engaged. Major H. W. Camp wrote of 
the action of the Tenth, — 

*' When the brigade next to U3 became engaged, including the Seventh 
Connecticut with its seven-shooting rifles, the crush was beyond any thing 
I had ever heard. We shook our heads, and listened : ammunition could 
hold out but very few minutes at that rate ; and we knew that, as always, 
nine shots out of ten must be wasted. Yet, as it afterwards proVed, that 
tenth sliot did fearful execution. 

" We had not long to wait and comment. A rattling volley in our own 
front showed that the skirmishers were engaged ; and, in a moment more, 
they came hurrying back through the dense pine-woods before us — the 
rebels close upon them. While the bullets of the rebel skirmishers flew 
among us, their main body was forming line just behind for the attack, 
their feet plainly to be seen beneath the low-growing foliage, which con- 
cealed their bodies as they dressed their ranks. . . . We opened fire. The 
rebels opened in return, and bullets flew fast. Col. Otis stood near the right 
of the line ; 1 at the left. We had hardly a hundred men in the ranks ; and 
the regiment looked like a single company, with a captain and lieutenant 
to manage it. The men needed little in the way of orders or instruction: 
they knew just what to do, and they did it. At the first fire, the regiment 
on our right [iOOth New-York] turned and ran. Our men saw it; knew 
that their flank was now exj)osed ; nothing there to hinder the immediate 
advance of the enemy. Nothing is so apt to strike men with panic. Our 
men paid no other attention to it than to give a rousing cheer just to show 
the enemy that they had no thought of giving ground ; then turned steadily 
to their work. Each man stood fast. Where a comrade fell, they gave him 
room to lie, — no more. There was no random firiug in air, but rapid 
loading, cool aim, and shots that told. It was good to see such fighting. 
Those whom we met were no raw recruits. They fought well. For a while, 
though unable to advance, they stood their ground. Broken once, they 
rallied again at the appeal of their officers, and once more ti'ied to move 
forward through the fire that mowed them down. It was of no use : again 
thrown into confusion, they fell back, leaving their dead and wounded on 
the field." 

Gen. Plaisted said of the Tenth. in this engagement, " The 
Tenth Connecticut, Col. Otis commanding, held the vital 
point of the position ; and its splendid behavior when the 
regiment on its right gave way saved us from disaster. In 
this connection, I can not fail to mention Chaplain H. C. 
Trumbull, who was constantly at the front with his regi- 
ment, as is his wont at all times. He was conspicuous on 
this occasion, with revolver in hand, in his efforts to stay the 
crumbling (New-York) regiment. An hour later he offici- 
ated at the burial of our dead, Vv^hile the skirmish-line was 
still engaged, and every moment a renewal of the attack was 



GT2 CONNECTICUT DUIIING THE REBELLION. 

expected. The sound of prayer mingled with the echoes of 
artillery and musketry, and the crash of falling pines for 
hastily-constructed breastworks. His services to the bri- 
gade, not only on this, but on many other like occasions, 
are gratefully acknowledged." 

The Sixth, commanded by Col. A. P. Rockwell, and the 
Seventh, led by Capt. S. S. Atwell, had a similar experience ; 
and the enemy, repulsed at all points, withdrew to his old 
line of works. Terry's division strengthened the position it 
had defended. The Twenty-ninth arrived in time to assist 
in restoring the original picket-line, which it held till mid- 
night. 

Gen. Terry was now placed in command of the corps. An 
attack upon the rebel right was planned ; and at four in the 
morning of the 13th the regiments were on the march. 
They passed beyond the works, by the Cox Farm, through 
the woods, across the ravine, thence over the Darbytown 
Road to the plains beyond. The skirmishers opened fire, 
and advanced. The enemy's advanced line was pressed 
back to his intrenched position. The desultory fighting 
was brisk for several hours. Four companies of the Tenth 
were out as skirmishers under Lieut. James H. Lindsley. 

About noon. Major Camp was sent to the right on a mis- 
sion from the corps commander. Before he returned, the 
Tenth had joined Pond's brigade, and was moving rapidly 
to the desperate assault on the rebel fortifications. Those 
works were strong intrenchments, with slashing in their 
front. The advance to them must be for several hundred 
yards by a dense thicket of scrub-oaks and tangled laurels 
and vines, through which men could force their way but 
slowly, even if otherwise unimpeded ; and which was raked 
by a deadly fire of artillery and musketry on both front and 
flank. Camp hurried back, and joined the regiment as it 
went in. " Col. Otis led the right and front. Lieut.-Col. 
Greeley led the right of the second line, the left of which 
was assigned to Major Camp. ' May 1 not as well take the 
left of the fro7it line, colonel ? ' Camp asked in his quiet 
way ; believing that he could thus do most in encouraging 
the men in their terrible trial." * 

* The Knightly Soldier, pp. 314, 315. 



DEATH OF MAJOR HENRY W. CAMP. 673 

The peerless regiment leaped eagerly forward, though it 
seemed like a hopeless rushing to destruction, — forward, 
undaunted by the shower of bullets, or the crash of grape 
and canister ; and to all that charging brigade. Camp set a 
splendid example. He forced his way on up to the lar front 
of the bloody advance, and there^ in full view of the enemy's 
works, sought to rally the scattered remnant of his little 
band as he stood right before the bristling parapet in the 
face of open-mouthed artillery, find over against the double 
battle-line of the defiant foe. His tall form was the tariret 
for a score of hostile rifles. "Waving his sword, he called 
out cheerily, 'Come on, boys! come on!' then turned to the 
color-sergeant just emerging from the thicket, that he might 
rally the men on the regimental standard. As he did so, 
a bullet passed through his lungs ; and, as he fell on his side, 
he was pierced again and yet again by the thick-coming 
shot. His death was as by the lightning's stroke. His eyes 
scarce turned from their glance at the tattered, dear old flag, 
ere they were closed to earth, and opened again beyond the 
stars, and their field of blue."^ 

The Tenth, after a stubborn fight, retired with the line of 
the brigade. The Sixth and Seventh also fell back, and the 
assault was abandoned. The Seventh lost twenty killed and 
wounded. The Twenty-ninth was on the skirmish-line, but 
was not involved in the charo-e. The Tenth had lost five 
killed and thirty-five wounded. Among its slain were Ser- 
geants George G. Bradley, Caleb M. Holmes, and Orlando S. 
Goff. 

Col. Otis, in his report, said, — 

" My regiment has taken part in more than forty battles and skirmishes, 
— never before fell back under fire, and never behaved better than on 
this occasion. I have no apologies to make for it. I have not seen so 
hopeless a task undertaken since I entered the service, as that attempted by 
the assaulting column to-day. Assistant Surgeon Hart was, as usual, con- 
stantly near the regiment, rendering prompt and efficient aid to our wounded. 

" The memory of Major Henry W. Camp, the gallant officer lost in this 
affiair, is deserving of more than a passing notice. The country has never 
suffered a heavier loss in an officer of his grade. Brave and cool in every 
emergency, of spotless character and refined intellectual culture, he was 
one of the brightest ornaments of the volunteer service, — a soldier 
•^ without fear and without reproach.' " 

5 The Knightly Soldier, pp. 314, 315. 

86 



674 CONNECTICUT DUIllNG THE EEBELLION. 

A life of rare symmetry and of high promise was closed 
to earth when this yomig officer lay down to die. He was 
a fine scholar, of clear head, close reasoning powers, and 
mature judgment. His correctness of taste and delicacy of 
sentiment were as marked as the vigor of his intellect and 
the strength of his character. He seldom uttered an idle 
word. His sentences were full, forcible, and polished. His 
purity of speech was proverbial ; yet he had the keenest 
appreciation and enjoyment of humor, and his wit was of 
the sharpest edge. He was as graceful and attractive as he 
was manly and dignified. His unbending integrity, his strict 
conscientiousness, his high sense of honor, were well known, 
and remarkable. None ever knew him to do a mean or 
ungenerous act, or heard from his lips an ungentlemanly 
expression. And above all, his retiring modesty was as 
marked as his ability. 

'•'My impression of him is," says Rev. Dr. Bushnell, " that I 
have never known so much of worth and beauty and truth 
and massive majesty, — so much, in a word, of all kinds of 
promise. — embodied in any young person. Whatever he 
might undertake, whether to be a poet, or a philosopher, or 
a statesman, or a preacher, or a military commander, or, in- 
deed, an athlete, he seemed to have every quality on hand 
necessary to success. When he fights a college boat-race at 
Worcester, or the sea at Hatteras Inlet, or the enemy at 
Newberne, or the dreary rigors of a prison, or the impossible 
rigors of an escape, it makes little difference whether he 
is successful or not ; everybody sees that he ought to be." 
Gen. Plaisted said of the young officer, "Our cause can not 
boast a nobler martyr than Henry W. Camp." 

As winter approached. Grant made a last effort to turn 
the Confederate right; and, to cover the movement, dis- 
patched the Army of the James on Oct. 27 to demonstrate 
in force against Richmond. This movement was made along 
the Darby town Road, and was led by Gen. Butler in person. 
All the available troops were engaged. The Twenty-ninth 
was attached to Hawley's brigade, and was deployed on the 
skirmish-line of its entire front, commanded by Capt. F. E. 



DARING OF THE COLORED SOLDIERS. ^75 

Camp of Micldletown. There is no part of battle more full 
of intense excitement than that enacted on the skirmish- 
line previous to the encounter of lines of battle. Skir- 
mishing is more a duel than a battle. Each man seems 
opposed to a single, personal enemy ; and these two aim and 
fire, deliberately and purposely, at each other; and they 
take a deeper interest in the result of the contest than when 
they are atoms in a huge mass. There is none of the con- 
fusion and dense smoke of battle ; nothing to distract the 
thoughts, or obstruct the vision. You plainly s$e the charge 
rammed home, which, the next instant, may seek your life. 

Stubbornly was the advance contested ; but from tree to 
tree, from bush, rock, and rifle-pit, the rebel skirmishers 
were driven, until they broke, and fled into the works. 
The brigade remained in the woods while the Twenty-ninth 
pushed forward, nearly six hundred strong, until they had 
made their way close up to the breastworks, from which 
poured a heavy fire. At this time, the enemy opened upon 
the Twenty-ninth from a battery in an angle of the works ; 
sweeping the line with shot and shell, and threatening to ren- 
der it untenable. A well-directed rifle-fire silenced it. The 
gunners fell at their guns. Comrades attempted to crawl 
up ; but they we;re shot down or forced back, and the guns 
remained as silent as if spiked. The blacks exhausted their 
ammunition, but replenished their supply from the dead or 
wounded. They vied with each other in deeds of daring. 
In a lull of battle they would call out, "How about Fort 
Pillow to-day ? " " Look over here, Johnny, and see how 
niggers can shoot ! " They exposed themselves with the 
utmost recklessness and indiflPerence ; and Capt. Camp was 
obliired to restrain them from useless exhibitions of their 
courage. 

During the afternoon, various points of the rebel works 
were assaulted, but without success. The Twenty-ninth 
remained in front, firing until the muskets became so foul 
that the charge could not be rammed home. Nightfall 
found the regiment still engaged with unwearied enthusiasm 
where they had been for fifteen hours. By eight o'clock, 
the firing gradually slackened, and finally ceased; and the 



676 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

regiment remained on the skirmish-line till daylight. A vio- 
lent storm drenched the men completely; but they were 
vigilant until relieved. 

By this time, our negroes had showed that they could 
fio-ht, if anybody had sincerely doubted it. On the skir- 
mish-line this day, the Twenty-ninth had lost twelve killed 
and sixty-seven wounded. Among the latter was Capt. 
James C. Sweetland. During the advance of the morning, 
Sergeant Jacob F. Spencer of Clinton ran far ahead of the 
line, and captured, single-handed, two armed rebels, and 
brought them back prisoners. They afterwards declared 
that they would never have surrendered to him if they had 
known he was a " nigger." Gen. Weitzel presented Spencer 
with a medal for gallantry. 

Adjutant H. H. Brown said in the regimental report, 
"Though twenty-three hours on the skirmish-line, and the 
men excessively fatigued, I beg to call especial attention to 
the fact that there are none missing. When we returned 
to camp yesterday afternoon, Ave brought every man we 
took out, excepting those killed and wounded." Sergeant 
James B. Johnson of Sharon, killed, was mentioned for cool- 
ness and bravery. 

Sergeant-Major George A. Gesner of the Sixth, and Ser- 
geants William H. Haynes, Benjamin A. Hill, and Lewis A. 
Cooke of the Seventh, were recommended by Gen. Butler 
for promotion for gallant service. 

Capt. Charles M. Coit of the Eighth, serving on the staff 
of the commander, received a severe wound, which it was 
feared would be mortal ; but, after a doubtful struggle be- 
tween life and death, he rallied, and recovered. He was an 
accomplished and fearless officer, and had often led the regi- 
ment in battle. 

On the same morning, Warren and Hancock struck Lee's 
right vigorously. The work assigned to the latter was to 
swing to the west side of Hatcher's Run, and advance to 
seize the Southside Railroad. Hancock advanced rapidly, 
and crossed the run. The direct attack of Warren and 
Parke failed , and the enemy fell on the right and left flanks 



THE FOURTEENTH ENGAGED AT HATCHER'S RUN, 677 

of Hancock with great fury, and not inferior numbers. 
They met a bloody reception. Here the Fourteenth Con- 
necticut was engaged. 

Early in the morning, the regiment, under Lieut.-Col. 
S. A. Moore, had left its camp near the Vaughn House on 
the Weldon Railroad, and marched westward until day- 
light; when Col. Moore deployed four companies on the right, 
under Lieut. William Murdock, as flankers to cover the 
brigade. Three companies were also detached on the left, 
under Major John C. Broatch. Advancing a quarter of a 
mile, the force came in sight of the Confederate works on 
Hatcher's Run. Here the regiment formed in line of bat- 
tle, and charged across the run, and up the hill into the 
enemy's works ; taking some prisoners. Major Broatch was 
severely wounded in the thigh in this charge. Sergeant 
Albert DeForest of Stratford, being at the head of the flank- 
ers on the right, was the first to observe the telegraph-wire 
running in rear of the enemy's works, which he promptly 
cut. 

The regiment then re-formed, and marched by a road 
running in a northerly direction about two miles, where it 
halted, and was joined b}^ the companies which had been 
acting; as flankers on the rigfht, under command of Lieut. 
Murdock ; they having been relieved. After a rest of half 
an hour, the column again proceeded, the regiment having 
two companies, under command of Capt. Frank E. Stough- 
ton of Vernon, deployed as flankers on the left, and another 
company, led by Lieut. Robert Russell of Middletown, on 
the right. Near the plank-road, the Confederates attacked ; 
and the regiment deployed in line of battle with the brigade, 
and advanced across an open field to the right, facing the 
enemy's works. Lieut.-Col. Moore in his official report 
says,— 

" At this point we lay under a shell fire, directed from the front and 
I'ight flank, lor about one hour ; when we were ordered forward to and 
across the plank-road, crossing a brook on its westerly side, and were 
formed facing to the south, under cover of a bank. Firing being heard 
on our right flank, we were ordered to file to the right, under cover 
of a hill. This was done on the double-quick ; and, the cavalry being 
driven in at this point, we charged over the hill, and drove the enemy from 
their works. Our loss was small. The regiment occupied the works thus 



678 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

vacated, remaining in tliem till nearly five o'clock, p.m. ; when I was ordered 
to take the regiment from the works, and deploy it on the road on the left 
flank of the brii^ade. Before this could be done, however, the enemy 
attacked ns in front. It was at this time that Lieut. Perkins Bartholomew 
of Company I received the wound of which he soon after died. I at once 
sent a sergeant to the general commanding the brigade for further orders, 
and Avas directed to hold the position then occupied. The enemy, being 
repulsed in this attack, fell back to their works. We remained in the 
works till about eleven o'clock, when, pursuant to orders, we withdrew; 
leaving a strong picket-line. Throughout the whole day, the conduct of 
both officers and men was deserviug of praise. Lieut, Bartholomew, who 
was killed, was one of our most promising young officers. Surgeon Fred- 
erick A. Dudley of New Haven was left behind with medical supplies to 
take charge of the wounded who could not be moved." 

The losses of the regiment in this ensjasrement were two 
killed, thirteen wounded, and fourteen prisoners. 

Next morning, the whole force returned to the original 
lines before Petersburg ; the expedition having resulted in 
failure, though Hancock had repulsed the Confederates, and 
inflicted on them terrible losses, much heavier than his own. 

The Fourteenth returned to winter-quarters on the Wel- 
don Railroad. It was now armed throughout with Sharp's 
rifles, reported one hundred and eighty men for duty, and 
was pronounced second best in the division. The regiment 
was, in fact, one of the best in the army ; spirited, brave, 
proud of its name, always prompt and ready. In practical 
fighting efficiency, it had few equals. 

On Dec. 1, the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery 
returned to Petersburg with the 6th Corps, from the She- 
nandoah, and on the 5th went into camp near Meade's head- 
quarters at Parke's Station.*^ The locality was precisely 
the same where the regiment had skirmished with the 
enemy, and lost twenty men, on the 22d of the previous 
June ; and the works which it had improvised under fire, in 
an unbroken forest, had grown to be permanent defenses, 
prepared with consummate engineering skill. Here the 
regiment lay until the re-opening of active operations. 

On Sunday morning, Feb. 5, 18G5, the Fourteenth was 
again called out to participate in 'an advance of the 2d 

® Lewis Luddington of the Second Connecticut Artillery died Oct. 20, at the hos- 
pital in Baltimore, and was buried from his home in Bethlem This is the first time 
since the commencement of the Rebellion, that the citizens of that place have bteii called 
to follow to the grave a deceased soldier, native of the town. — Norwich Courier. 



THE FOUItTEEXTH AND THE SECOND AETILLERY. 079 

Corps, now under Humphreys. The regiment marched down 
the Vaughn Pioad to Hatcher's Run, and before noon reached 
its position on Armstrong Hill, in support of the 10th Massa- 
chusetts Battery. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon, the rebel artillerists 
commenced throwing shot and shell into the position, but 
did not continue the fire long. About four o'clock, the 
rebel infantry commenced an attack. Its main force was 
directed against the 3d Division, with the evident inten- 
tion of breaking through our lines, and cutting off the 2d 
Division. Five times the charge was made and repulsed. 
The 3d Division was en echelon in reference to the 2d, in 
consequence of the conformation of the ground. When 
the firing commenced, the Fouiteenth changed front on the 
first company, which brought it to face the rebel fiank. But 
as the enemy were in thick woods, and could not be seen, 
this regiment did not actively participate, though several 
shots were fired into them by sharpshooters, and the bat- 
tery which they were supporting did good service. 

The first division of the 6th Corps, containing the Second 
Connecticut Artillery, came to the rescue, and opened fire 
on the Confederates with good efi'ect. After the enemy was 
repulsed, the Second was engaged in throwing up breast- 
works, which thenceforth became a part of the permanent 
advanced line. The regiment had lost seven wounded and 
two missing. 

The Fourteenth had lost one killed (Lieut. Franklin Bart- 
lett of Bridgeport) and seven wounded. Among the.se was 
Lieut. Ira A. Graham of Durham, severely. He was an 
excellent officer. Lieut. Bartlett was an officer of great 
promise, had been recommended for a captaincy, and was 
highly esteemed by officers and men. He was acting as 
adjutant. The regiment was under command of Lieut.-Col. 
Moore, whose bearing and promptness gave courage to the 
new recruits on this day, the first time they had come under 
fire. Lieut. Murdock of Company A captured three armed 
rebels. 

At this juncture, the Confederates put in execution their 
counter flanking movements, by the Vaughn Road, against 



680 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Crawford's division ; and the usual result followed, — a check- 
ing of the Union advance. But the important position was 
held. Grant's left was extended to Hatcher's Run. 

During this severe service of the autumn, the Connecticut 
retriments at this point had been partially re-organized. The 
men wlio had served the three years for which they origi- 
nally volunteered went home, materially reducing the 
strength of the regiments raised in 1861." These men 
were received in Connecticut with enthusiastic demonstra- 
tions of gratitude for their patriotic and honorable services. 

Col. A. P. Rockwell commanded the Sixth ; Lieut.-Col. 
Lorenzo Meeker resigned, and was succeeded by Major 
Daniel Klein ; Capt. "Hiram L Grant being promoted to be 
major. Again the regiment received a cliaplain, — Rev. 
Charles C. Tiffany, formerly pastor of the church at Derby, 
a young man of high character, finished scholarship, and 
genuine sympathy for the cause and the soldiers. He proved 
a capable and enthusiastic assistant. 

Col. J. R. Hawley of the Seventh was promoted to be 
brigadier-general, Sept. 17 ; Lieut.-Col. D. C. Rodman, still 
disabled from his wound, resigned ; and Seager S. Atwell, 
who came into the regiment as second lieutenant, was made 
lieutenant-colonel. 

Col. John E. Ward of the Eighth frequently commanded 
a brigade. Capt. William M. Pratt was made major; the 
position having been declined by Capt. Charles M. Coit. 

The regiment at this time lost the services of Surgeon 
Melancthon Storrs of Hartfo'xl, who resigned and returned 
home, after three years of devotion to the good of the sol- 

" Lieut. H. H. Lincoln of the Tenth died at his home in Soutli Coventry in November. 
He had risen from a private soldier for good conduct in every liaitle. He led his com- 
pany in many sharp engagements with the enemy ; and. during Lieut. Camp's imprison- 
ment, he was adjutant of the regiment. He reached home, on fnrlough, so exhausted from 
the stress of constant service, that his mind was already wandering in the first delirium of 
fever. In a week, he was dead ; not having had an hour of consciousness for intelligent 
converse with the dear ones who had waited so anxiously Tor his coming. 

Capt. Frederick B. Osborn of the Sixth, from Ne^v Haven, was honorably discharged 
at this time; and within a year met his death by accident on the New- York and New- 
Haven Railroad. He was born in Derby in 1825 ; and, during the four years preceding 
the war, had cruised twenty-one thousand miles as a marine. He was on the frigate 
Niagara when it was en^iaged in laying the Atlantic cable. He enlisted in the three- 
months' service. He afterwards joined the Sixth as a private, and was steadily promoted 
to a captaincy for etficieucy. Through his great bravery, the colors of the regiment were 
saved at the Idoody assault on Fort Wagner. He was i)uried with honors from his resi- 
dence in New Haven, his cofBn draped in the flag which he had carried on Morris 
Island. 



NUMEROUS CHANGES AMONG OFFICEES. 681 

diers. He had showed himself diligent, quietly faithful, 
skillful, cool in peril, quick to see, and steady and calm in 
executing;. He was often summoned from his reo;iment to 
positions requiring ability and reliability at corps and gen- 
eral hospitals. So manifest was his excellence, that, when he 
was sent for a special purpose to Washington, Dr. McMellan, 
a suro-eon of the regular army, in charg-e of the mammoth 
hospital near Fort Monroe, in indorsing his orders, added 
the statement that Dr. Storrs was " the most efficient sur- 
geon ever on duty at this hospital." 

Col. John L. Otis of the Tenth resigned,^ and Lieut.-Col. 
E. S. Greeley was promoted to fill the vacancy. Capt. E. D. 
S. Goodyear became lieutenant-colonel. 

Col. John H. Burnham of Hartford declined a commission 
as colonel of the Eleventh ; and the regiment, having no field- 
officers, w^as commanded by Capt. Randall H. Rice, who had 
received a wound at Petersburg, wdiich, it was feared, would 
be mortal. He had been promoted from the ranks. Major 
John Kies of Killingly had been comj^elled to leave the ser- 
vice from continued ill-health, incurred by continued expos- 
ure in the field. 

Col. Hiram B. Crosby of the Twenty-first,^ being prostrated 
with intermittent fever, resigned ; and the regiment was 
commanded by Lieut-Col. James F. Brown. Capt. William 
Spittle was promoted to the majority. 

Many line-officers resigned at this time, having served 
three years ; until a majority of the officers of every regi- 
ment had been promoted from the ranks. In such regiments 

^ Col. Otis was a merchant before the war, but left his lucrative business and his quiet 
home in Manchester to volunteer in his country's service. ■ He sought no prominence, 
but accepted the humblest commission an officer can receive, — a second lieutenancy. 
His practical efficiency could not remain unnoticed, and even before leaving Annajjolis he 
commanded a company. His services were always timely and valuable ; and his promo- 
tion was steady. He did his whole duty in the Carolinas and Florida, and was hardly 
out of a flght^ during tlie months of battle. At Drury's Bluff he made, at imminent 
peril, a personal reconnoissance of the Confederate works, which saved a brigade from 
rej)ulse and slaughter. At Bermuda Hundred, as general officer of the day, he cutiduct- 
ed several sharp fights ; repellini^ the enemy's assault at one time, and recovering a hjst 
position at another. At Deep Bottom, Strawberry Plains, White's Tavern, on Darby- 
town l\oad, and before Petersburg, he performed distinguished service. His regiment 
had implicit trust in him, and deeply regretted his loss when he resigned at the end of 
his three-years' service. 

'■* Lieut. F. W. H. Buell died of fever during the winter. He was a son of William 
G. Buell of Chatham. He enlisted in the ranks" in 1862, shared all the toils and perils of 
his regiment, and was promoted for excellent conduct. He was a young man of high 
promise and worth, of good personal appearance, and noble bearing. 
60 



682 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

as the Tenth and Fourteenth, indeed, there was not one of 
the oricj-iDal officers left in the line. 

Our regiments along the hostile front now hastily built 
for themselves winter-quarters, and awaited the opening of 
another campaign. The works were strengthened, and 
sharpshooters were busy along the line. Chaplain Henry 
Clay Trumbull wrote at this time, " The manner in which 
the skill of the sharpshooter is criticised in the army might 
strike a civilian with surprise. If he does his work well, a 
soldier gives him credit for it. I have heard many a com- 
pliment to a rebel marksman, even from those whose escapes 
from him were most narrow, or whose dearest comrades he 
had recently j)icked off. ' What admirable range ! ' ' How 
capitally they fire ! ' ' Isn't their shooting excellent ? ' and 
other similar remarks were freely uttered in the picket rifle- 
pits in front of Bermuda Hundred, while the enemy were pour- 
ing in an artillery-fire upon us on an afternoon in June, — and 
that while limbs were being; mangled or brains scattered 
wide by the death-dealing fragments of the spherical case. 
After a prolonged skirmish-fire on the edge of Strawberry 
Plain a few weeks ago, a brave and faithfid private of the 
11th Maine was commenting on the work of the day, in 
which he had borne an active and honorable part. ' They've 
got some good fellows out here,' he said, referring to the 
rebel sharpshooters — ' picked men. They've given us a b idly 
good shootin'. They gave us first-rate shootin' t'other day 
when we were here. And they've given us a good shootin' 
to-day. There was one of our fellows ! they put a ball right 
into one of his cheeks under the eye, and it came out under 
his t'other ear. Killed him dead. And he was behind a 
good tree, too. But they brought a flank fire on him, and 
they dropped him. Now thaat's what I call good shootin'.' " 

On Nov. 3, threats of violence at the* polls being made by 
the peace-men of the North, and alarming frauds being dis- 
covered having for their object a stuifiug of the ballot-boxes 
of New-York State with forged votes, Gen. Butler was trans- 
ferred to the command of that department; and he was 
accompanied by a division of troops under Gen. Joseph R. 



KEGIMENTS JNCEEASED BY UNTRIED RECEUITS, 683 

Hawley. The division, consisted of two brigades of three 
thousand men. In the first brigade were the Sixth Con- 
necticut Volunteers under Lieut.-Col. Daniel Klein, Seventh 
under Lieut.-Col. Atwell, and Tenth under Col. Greeley. 
Col. Rockwell of the Sixth commanded the 2d Brigade. 
Chaplain Jacob Eaton of the Seventh wrote, — 

" The expedition was attended with great hardships to botli otRcers and 
enlisted men. Many brave men who have served faithfully for three years 
have assured me that their privalious and sufferinps during the past week, 
on board government transports, and in the uutinished works on Staten 
Island, have been greater than their privations and sufferings during any 
previous week of their army-life. The troops were not landed in the city 
at all. OfScers and enlisted men were not allowed to go on shore, or even 
communicate with their friends, who had come many miles to see them. 
The soldiers were kept on small vessels : they were crowded and huddled to- 
gether, exposed to cold, drenching storms, and subsisted for a time on half- 
rations ; so that the enemies of the government who had riot, murder, and 
treason in their hearts, could have no excuse for an outbreak. Many were 
aware that their parents or wives were in the city, only a few rods off, hav- 
ing come many miles and waited many days to see them ; and yet they must 
return disappointed and sad to the homes they left. The boats were 
anchored, — some in the North River, and some in the East, and there 
remained for a few days, guardians of liberty and justice. Gen. Haw- 
ley's headquarters were on the fast steamer Moses Taylor, at the foot of 
Twenty-third Street." 

Immediately after the presidential election, the troops 
returned to the front, and resumed their places in the line. 
The Tenth, finding its former cabins pre-occupied, was 
obliged to rebuild its log-village.^° 

As the Connecticut regiments were at this time reduced 
in size by the muster-out of tried soldiers, they were soon 
increased again to a minimum by the muster-in of large 
numbers of untried recruits. An officer of the Eleventh 
wrote at this time, " Two hundred and sixty recruits have 
arrived, ' substitutes ' for patriots who stay at home. Of 
these five have put down their names as having been born 
in the United States of x\merica. The rest represent twentj-- 
one different natioiuilities." 

1' Lieut. Georize Northro]5 of the Tenth died Nov. 10, of wounds received in action on 
the Darl)yto\vn Road, Oct. 1.3. 

" He "was born in ihc town of Bethel, Conn. ; served as a private in the Third Regi- 
ment during- the three-months' lampaiiin ; enlisted, and was api)ointcd sergeant in Com- 
pany D of "this regiment, Oct. I, 1861, and re-enlisted as veteran volunteer. He was 
promoted for gallant and meritorious conduct while commanding his company in the 
charge on the enemy's works on the Dathytown Road. Lieut. Northrop died regretting 
only that he had but one life to give for liys country." — liejioii of Col. (Jrcdeij. 



684 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

The white troops of the 10th Corps were consolidated 
with those of the 18th, in a new corps known as the 24th; 
and the Eighth Connecticut was detailed to guard headquar- 
ters. The Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Connecticut Volun- 
teers (colored) were now in the 25th Corps, where all the 
colored regiments were gathered under Gen. Weitzel, 

The First Connecticut Artillery still manned the defenses. 
Col. Abbot had thirty-three guns and mortars in position at 
Bermuda Hundred, and twenty-nine in front of Petersburg. 
The following changes of ordnance were made during Au- 
gust, September, and October : Lieut. L. W. Jackson with 
a mortar stationed on railroad at Petersburg front ; Lieut. 
T. D. Cashin with two howitzers sent to Battery Burpee ; 
Capt. E. C. Dow with three 30-pound Parrotts sent to 
Petersburg front; Lieut. J. H. Cummings with one 100- 
pounder Parrott sent to Dutch Gap ; Capt. E. A. Gillette 
with four mortars and two guns sent to Petersburg front ; 
Capt. F. A. Pratt with eight guns sent to Fort Sedgwdck, 
Petersburg; Capt. A. F. Brooker with two Coehorns and 
three mortars sent to Dutch Gap ; Lieut. L. W. Jackson 
with one mortar to Battery No. 4, Petersburg ; Lieut. L. G. 
Logan with three 30-pound Parrotts, four Coehorns, and one 
20-pound Parrott, respectively to Battery 5, Redoubt Dutton, 
and Battery Drake ; Capt. F. A. Pratt with four guns to 
Battery- 17 ; Lieut. E. P. Mason with two mortars to Battery 
20 ; Capt. H. H. Pierce with one 100-pounder Parrott and 
three oO-pounder Parrotts to Fort Brady; Lieut. E. P. Ma- 
son w^ith four mortars to Fort Sedgwick ; Major Thomas S. 
Trumbull with eight guns and two 30-pound Parrotts sent to 
the City-Point lines; Lieut. C. R Bannan with one 12-pound- 
er to redoubt at Broadway Landing. Capt. H. H. Pierce 
took charge of Battery Burpee. Capt. AYilbur F. Osborne 
was transferred to Battery No. 11. Capt. John H. Burton 
was stationed at Fort Converse. Major T. S. Trumbull was 
in command of all the siege-artillery in front of Petersburg. 

Col. Abbot reported as follows : " Since the battle of the 
Mine, the firing in front of Petersburg and near the James 
River has been heavy. The average weight of iron thrown 
daily has been, during August, 5.2 tons; during September, 



IMPORTANT SERVICE OF THE FIRST ARTILLERY. 685 

7.8 tons; during October, 4.5 tons; during November, 2.7 
tons; during December, 2,1 tons; during January, 1.6 tons; 
during February, 1.1 tons. The aggregate number of rounds 
fired during this period has thus been 37,264, amounting to 
about 793 tons of iron. The total expenditures of ammuni- 
tion from tlie beginning of the campaign to March 1, 1865, 
has been 55,325 rounds, amounting to 1,118 tons of iron. 
Upon the Petersburg Unes the firing has been so frequent as 
to render it difficult to select special instances for mention. 
At all hours of the day and night sudden artillery battles 
have occurred, often involving the entire line, and demand- 
ing the expenditure of many tons of ammunition." 

" After the advance upoa Fort Harrison, the rebel fleet habitually lav 
in the reach near the graveyard, in pliiiu sight of our lines, occasionally 
firing upon them. A surprise was planned for them by Gen. Butler, whose 
chief ensrineer. Major Michie, erected a battery commanding tlieir position. 
During the night of Oct. 21, three 30-poander Parrotts, served by Com- 
pany C, and Ashby's battery of four 20-pounder Parrotts, the whole under 
command of Capt. II. II. Pierce, were placed in position, and at daylight 
opened suddenly upon the fleet at a range of about fifteen hundred yards. 
The efiect was excellent. The rebel papers admit that a gun-carriage was 
hit on the gunboat Drury, by a shell, which wounded five men ; that the 
smoke-stack of the ram Fredericksburg was considerably perforated, and 
six men on her wounded ; and that a plate was started on oae of tlie iron- 
clads. It is believed, from the number of times the wooden boat was hit 
(sixteen), that her injuries were more serious than admitted. Certain it is, 
that the fleet all steamed away as fast as possible, and tliat the wooden 
boats have not again exposed themselves in this reach. . . . 

" The most important event during January, on these lines, was the 
attempt of the rebel fleet to pass the obstructions in James River, on the 
night of Jan. 23, when I think it may fairly be claimed that the First Con- 
necticut Artillery prevented a serious disaster. Three rebel rams, the 
wooden gunboat Drury, a small steam torpedo-boat, and perhaps more, 
passed Fort Brady about eight, p.m., under cover of the darkness." 

These gunboats created great alarm and consternation, 
as their purpose was to reach and destroy the Union trans- 
ports, laden with ammunition and supplies, m the river below. 
In this they were foiled. The boats were shelled furiously 
from Fort Brady, and Batteries Parsons, Wilcox, Spofford, 
and Sawyer. At daylight, two rams and the Drury were dis- 
covered aground near the left bank, some fifteen hundred 
yards above Parsons. Fire was at once opened from that bat- 
tery with long percussion-shell from the hundred-pounder. 
The second shot struck the Drury ; and the third exploded 



686 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EE-REI.LION. 

her magazine, completely destroying her." The rest escaped 
up the river about noon. Col. Abbot says, " During the 
firing, my batteries, especially Forts Brady and Parsons and 
Wilcox, were under a very heavy fire from the rebel land- 
batteries. Three men were killed in the former, and a large 
number slightly injured from fragments. Too much com- 
mendation can not be given to Capt. H. H. Pierce, command- 
ing Fort Brady, and to Lieuts. Henry A. Pratt, E. P. Mason, 
and Charles N. Silliman, commanding the other batteries, 
for their excellent conduct." 

The regiment had, long before this time, accquired an 
enviable reputation ; and the most penetrating eye would 
not have detected in it any resemblance to the Fourth Con- 
necticut, which, three years before, had wandered through 
Maryland, inefficient and insubordinate. The New-York 
Journal of Commerce now declared that this model artillery 
resjjiment had been of more service to the srovernment than 
any other, regular or volunteer, in the field. 

In December, an effort was made to reduce and capture 
Fort Fisher, at the mouth of Cape-Fear River, N.C., in order 
to supress the immense amount of rebel blockade-running at 
the port of Wilmington.-"' To this end Gen. Butler was dis- 
patched with sixty-five hundred men, assisted by Admiral 
Porter with seventy-three vessels, carrying in all six hundred 
and fifty-five guns. The fort was of very formidable con- 
struction, and heavily armed and manned. An assault was 
feebly made and repulsed, when Butler concluded to leave, 
" finding that nothing but the operations of a regular siege 
would reduce the fort, and in view of the threatening aspect 
of the weather." The whole force returned to Hampton 
Roads. 

Porter was not satisfied with the effort ; and Grant im- 
mediately decided to make a more resolute attempt. "It 
was necessary that the confidence of the armies in their 
commander should be confirmed. It was necessary that 

11 The firing from Fort Bratly was mainly conducted by Lieut. Sterling A. WoodrufF, 
of Company C. 

1- The total value of cargoes sent into this port by English capitalists between Janu- 
ary, 1863, and December, 1864, was estimated at sixty-six millions of dollars. 



GEN. TEEHY DIEECTED TO TAKE FORT FISHER. 687 

Grant, by taking Fort Fisher, should demonstrate that it 
could be taken. It was necessary that he should prove that 
he was no butcher, who dashed his men against impregnable 
battlements, and slaughtered them in hopeless enterprises. 
Under these circumstances, Grant cast his eyes upon that 
brilliant galaxy of generals by whom he was surrounded, 
and looked for one w^ho would have the courage to attempt, 
and the skill and tenacity to execute, the great work which 
needed to be done. He looked for one to whom he could 
intrust the hopes of the nation and the army, and into whose 
keeping he might safely deliver his own great reputation. 
His choice fell upon Alfred Howe Terry." ^'^ 

He had known Terry, and marked his skill and sagacity as 
leader of a division, and occasional commander of the 10th 
Corps, and did not hesitate in the selection. Eight thousand 
infantry were given him ; and he went down the James 
with Porter and his fleet, not knowing whither he was 
bound. During the night. Grant came aboard, and dh^ected 
him to " take Fort Fisher — by storm if practicable ; if not, 
by siege." Included in the force, at Terry's request, were 
the Sixth and Seventh Connecticut, in Hawley's brigade, 
now commanded by Col. J. C. x\bbott, Hawley being left with 
the remainder of the corps. Col. H. L. Abbot of the First 
Artillery also accompanied the expedition, with twenty offi- 
cers, five hundred and sixty-eight men, and a siege-train of 
sixteen 30-pound mortars, twenty Coehorns, and fourteen 
thousand rounds of ammunition. 

" Fort Fislier consists of one inclosed fort or bastion, from the opposite 
angles of which spread out at right angles to each other high parapets, or 
curtains of earthwork ; the sea-face to a distance of sixteen hundred yards, 
and the noi-th face to about a third of this distance. At regular intervals, 
these curtains are crossed by high traverses, which at the same time 
serve as bomb-proofs ; and between which are mounted, sometimes one, and 
at others two, heavy guns. On the north face are fifteen of these traverses ; 
and, should an assailant succeed in capturing the first of these, the second 
is an earthwork behind which the rebels could retreat ; and so on, succes- 
sively, until our men reach the bastion, which is inclosed on all sides." 

On the morning of Jan. 13, 1865, Porter opened the bom- 
bardment from his iron-clads ; again showering the fort, as he 

^^ Speech of Henry B. Harrison in the General Assembly, on a resolution of thanks to 
Gen. Terry. 



688 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

had done a few weeks before, with shot and shells at the rate 
of four a minute for eight hours. In the mean time, the in- 
fantry had landed ; and intrenchments were speedily thrown 
up across the sand-spit, cutting off the fort from any relief 
from Wilmington. In these works. Abbot's brigade was 
posted ; while Ames's division moved up to within a hundred 
and fifty yards of the fort by daybreak of Sunday the loth, 
and prepared for immediate attack. 

The cannonade had been furious. "I was told by the sec- 
retary of Col. Lamb commanding, that the concussion within 
the fort from exploding shell and solid shot was terrible and 
deafening beyond description. It seemed as if volcanic fires 
were leaping and thundering from the ground. The air 
hissed, quivered, and flamed with missiles of destruction : one 
unceasing thunder of artillery shook the earth. Shot and 
shell fell either upon or within the fortress to the number of 
three hundred and sixty in a minute, or twenty-one thou- 
sand and six hundred an hour. Probably a more concen- 
trated and powerful naval fire was never witnessed ; probabl}' 
it was never equaled." ^* 

Some guns had been dismounted, stockades broken, and 
barracks shivered to kindling wood. Yet the fort was not 
breached, nor its defensive strength seriously impaired. 
Within its walls were two thousand and two hundred men, 
brave and vigilant. 

At three, p.m., two storming columns advanced, — one of 
two thousand marines and sailors, led by Capt. Porter against 
the sea-face ; the other, Ames's division, of about three thou- 
sand and three hundred veterans, against the north-western 
face, — the most difficult point. The navy column made a 
desperate dash, fought with great valor, but were quickly 
driven back in disorder, with heavy loss. The enemy, doubt- 
less, mistook the seamen's attack for that of the main body, 
and poured into them a terrible fire. The diversion was 
favorable to the advance of Ames's column, which Terry was 
pushing down upon the land-face. On they came rapidly. 

The defiant cheer of the rebels as the sailors sullenly re- 
tired had hardly died away, when another cheer was heard. 

1* Narrative by Chaplain Jacob Eaton. 



688 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 
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ENGRAVED EXPBESS"UY FOR HTSTnPT r-T 



CAPTURE OF FOET FISHEE. 689 

The rebels met it with a yell and a simultaneous fire. On 
rushed the three brig-ades of Ames's division. The fi2;htin2: 
was at close quarters. The carnage became terrible. The 
leader of each brigade, and the commanders of half the regi- 
ments, went down in the storm. No man turned his face to 
the rear. Terry led them gallantly. The Pennsylvania regi- 
ments were first in the fort. At five o'clock, after the most 
desperate fighting, foot by foot, we had possession of half the 
land-front The division was almost exhausted. Terry sent 
for Abbot's brigade, with the Sixth Connecticut, and his old 
regiment the Seventh. Its place in the defensive line was 
filled by the naval brigade, and it moved splendidly forward 
to re-inforce the weary and shattered ranks. 

There is brief consultation. Ames's division is ordered to 
keep the rebels busy. The fresh column is moved in the 
deep shadow of the frowning parapet — noiselesslj^ but swift- 
ly along the entire land-front to the very point where the 
fierce assault of the navy boys had tailed. 

Gen. Terry and Gen. Ames are with the brigade — all 
cool, but anxious. Minutes now are worth ordinary years. 

When the brigade reaches the sally-port, tlie Seventh is 
thrown forward to form a skirmish-line near the center of 
the work. Capt. John Thompson is wounded, and borne to 
the rear ; and his place is taken b}' Capt. William S. Marble 
of North Manchester, who leads the regiment, with equal 
coolness, to its post of peril. Here it remains during the 
hours of evening, while the other regiments close in and 
press forward, returning the fearful fire, and seizing point 
after point. Spencer rifles and veteran bayonets are irre- 
sistible. The rebels are driven from their foot-hold : Fort 
Fisher is won ! 

Terry springs to the head of the column, leads it through 
the fort in pursuit of the retreating rebels, pushes them 
along the sea-front to the last corner into Fort Buchanan, and 
compels instant and unconditional surrender. 

The result was a capture of seventy-two guns, two thou- 
sand men, with garrison equipage and ammunition ; and suc- 
ceeding captures swelled the number of guns to a hundred 
and sixty, and included seven valuable blockade-runners. 

87 



690 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

The Sixth was commanded by Col. A. P. Rockwell. The 
Seventh lost two killed and five woimded. 

Lieut. Edward K. Wightman of the 3d New-York, a native 
of Middletown in this State, was killed while leading his men 
to the charge. lie graduated at the Free Academy in New 
York, in 1854 ; became a contributor to several of the jour- 
nals ; and contributed one article to the Shoe and Leather 
Reporter, which was republished in Great Britain, Germany, 
and France, and was used by the Home Department of the 
United States. He enlisted in the 9th New- York Volunteers, 
in 1862, and served with them until they were mustered 
out, when he was transferred to the 3d New- York. He 
thrice declined commissions, and the last one did not reach 
his regiment till his death. 

After taking possession of the fort, the great magazine 
exploded, and buried more tlmn a hundred men — rebel and 
loyal entombed together. The disaster was probably the 
result of carelessness ; though many believed that some mor- 
tally wounded Confederate prisoner had applied the match. 
The men from Connecticut were mostly at some distance, and 
escaped. Paymaster Robert H. Gillette, a son of Hon. Francis 
Gillette of Hartford, had obtained permission to go ashore 
with some other officers, and was examining the fort when 
the explosion took place. He was instantly killed. His was 
a noble, manly, generous nature ; and not only to his own 
kindred, but to thousands of others the intelligence of his 
death came to imbitter the cup of victory. 

The capture of a work that had been declared to be 
impregnable startled the country; and Terry became imme- 
diately " the hero of Fort, Fisher." President Lincoln at 
once nominated him to be major-general of volunteers, and 
brigadier- general in the regular army; and the Senate 
hastened to confirm the appointment.^^ 

Admiral Porter telegraphed, " The troops have covered 
themselves with glory." " These works," wrote the admiral 
afterwards, " are tremendous. I was in Fort Malakoff a few 
days after its surrender to the French and the British. The 

^^ At the close of the war, Gen. Terry was made a major-general by brevet in the regu- 
lar army ; the highest promotion received by any volunteer officer in the country. 



CONGRESS THANKS GEN. TERRY. 691 

combined armies of those two nations were many months 
capturing that stronghold, and it did not compare in size or 
streno-th with Fort Fisher." 

'■• I'have spoken of Gen. Terry as a soldier. Let me speak 
of him also as a man. In person he is tall, — over six feet 
in hight, — with light hair, blue eyes, and a grave but gentle 
expression of countenance. He possesses an intellect strong 
and remarkably versatile ; and few men surpass him in vari- 
ety, extent, and precision of information. In temperament, 
he is ardent, impetuous, quick, and sometimes rash in his 
prepossessions. He is modest, generous, tender-hearted, apt 
to bend down to little children and caress them ; a good 
son, a kind brother, an unflinching friend. Porter evidently 
Appreciated him when he so enthusiastically pronounced him 
the ' heau ideal of a soldier and a gentleman.' " ^° 

Gen. Grant expressed in very strong terms his admiration 
of the achievement ; and both houses of Congress enthusias- 
tically passed the following : — 

Resolved^ That the thanks of Congress are hereby presented to Major- 
Gen. Alfred H. Terry, and to the officers and men under his command, for 
the unsurpassed gallantry and skill exhibited by them in the attack upon 
Fort Fisher, and the brilliant and decisive victory by which that important 
Avork has been captured from the rebel forces, and placed in the possession 
and under the authority of the United States; and for their long and faith- 
ful service, and unwavering devotion to the cause of the country, in the 
midst of the greatest difficulties and dangers. 

Butler still went on insisting that Fort Fisher could not 
be captured, or rather that no man had a right to capture 
it after competent officers had declared it to be impregnable. 
Thereupon, he was relieved of his command ; and he retired 
to Lowell, leavino^ few friends and no admirers in the armies 
before Richmond. From his retreat he fulminated a series 
of ill-tempered dispatches, arraigning his great commander; 
but every word came back upon him like a boomerang. 

1^ Speech of Henry B. Harrison. 



'^^S^ 


mm 


M 


B 



CHAPTER XL. 

The Fifth and Twentieth in Tennessee. — Guarding the Railroad. — Fight with Guer- 
rilhis. — Retaliation. — Advance of the Spring. — The Twentieth at Boyd's Trail. — 
Battle of Resaca. — Amusing Incidents. — The Fifth and Twentieth at Peach-tree 
Creek. — Sherman's Flank Movement. — Atlanta occupied. — Casualties in the Con- 
necticut Regiments. — A Rest. — The March to the Sea. — At Savannah. — Second 
Connecticut Battery. — In Louisiana and at Mobile. — " The Bay Fight." 

REPARATIONS were made in the East and West, 
as early as the spring of 1864, to move forward 
simultaneously and give the coup de grace to 
the wavering Confederacy. The enemy was 
bankrupt in men and means, and his military 
spirit was declining ; but the momentum of three years of 
war enabled his armies still to show a stubborn front where- 
ever assailed. 

Connecticut was to be worthily represented in the victo- 
rious column of Sherman. The 11th and 12th Corps were 
transferred from the Army of the Potomac to Tennessee 
in September, 1863, to meet Longstreet's army, already 
thrown into the western scale in aid of Bragg. Rosecrans 
had been pushed into the fortifications around Chattanooga ; 
and Bragg was investing the place, while operating on the 
Union communications with strong detachments. The ene- 
my occupied Lookout Mountain, and the railroad and river 
back to Bridgeport, Ala. The Union army was on half- 
rations. Every day their provision-trains wero attacked and 
wagons captured. 

The 12th Corps traveled night and day from Virginia, 
westward. The Fifth and Twentieth Connecticut were 
stowed away in freight-cars. Dispatch was indispensable. 
Comfort could not be considered. On they sped, through 

692 



THE FIFTH AXD TWENTIETH IX TENNESSEE. 693 

Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, Hancock, Piedmont, over the 
wild Alleglianies, past Bellaire, Zanesville, Columbus, Day- 
ton, Richmond, Indianapolis, Jefferson, to Louisville, Ky. 
The commissary had preceded ; and at regular intervals the 
train stopped for sandwiches and coffee for the soldiers. All 
through Ohio and Indiana, the troops were greeted with an 
ovation. Thousands turned out at every stopping-place ; 
and ladies brought to the veterans bouquets and wreaths of 
flowers, and articles of utility. Haversacks were seized, and 
filled with fruit, cake, baked meat, pies ; and the pork and 
hard-bread came to be despised. From Louisville to Nash- 
ville, thence to Murfreesborough and to TuUahoraa. The rebel 
guerrillas infested the whole country ; and they now cat the 
railroad immediately in the rear of the re-inforcements. A 
division of the 12th Corps was ordered to guard the track 
from Bridgeport back towards Nashville ; and the guerrillas 
became, for a time, more timid, and their raids less frequent. 
The Fifth Connecticut under Col. W. W. Packer, and the 
Twentieth under Col. Samuel Ross (now released from cap- 
tivity), went through Tennessee to Stephenson, Ala., where 
they arrived on Oct. 4. Here the 12th Corps had its head- 
quarters, and was occupied in guarding the lines of commu- 
nication for the army at Chattanooga. Lieut. Edward A. 
Doolittle, of the Twentieth, from New Haven, died at Stephen- 
son, in December, of typhoid fever. He enlisted as a private, 
and was promoted for good conduct and efficiency. " His per- 
sonal gallantry at Chancellors ville and Gettysburg forms a 
proud memoir in our history," wrote Col. Ross. And his 
brother - officers said of him, "Noble without ostentation, 
faithful beyond any influence of fear or favor, and patriotic 
without desire of praise, he had endeared himself to us all." 

The Fifth started immediately north again, and chased the 
rebel cavalry for two weeks ; maintaining the reputation for 
celerity which they won at the East. The regiment at last 
went to Cowan, Tenn., via Decherd and Tantallore, and 
arrived on Oct. 26 ; being soon joined by the Twentieth. 

Grant was now in command, and had an army of one 
hundred thousand veterans in and around Chattanooga. 
During the- succeeding weeks, he moved on Lookout Moun- 



(394' CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

tain and Mission Riclge ; defeated the rebel army with great 
slaughter ; captured six thousand prisoners, seven thousand 
stand of arms, and scores of cannon ; and pursued the shat- 
tered hosts of Bragg to Dalton.^ The Fifth and Twentieth 
Connecticut were still guarding the lines of communication. 
In December, a member of the Fifth wrote, " The location 
of the regiment is at present very agreeable, on the Nash- 
ville and Chattanooga Railroad, near Cumberland Tunnel, 
the safety of which is intrusted to our care. Col. Packer is 
in command of the post." Yet before the winter was over 
the position proved to be no sinecure. In March, a mem- 
ber of the Twentieth wrote from Cowan, from which town 
the regiment was scattered now along the railroad in squads 
for forty or fifty miles, — 

" Our duties the past winter liave been very arduous ; and twice witliin 
a few weeks have we suffered from guerrilla raids. At Tracy City, in Jan- 
uary, Company B stationed at that place was surprised by about one hun- 
dred and fifty mounted land pirates, who dashed into our lines, and attempted 
to capture or murder our boys. David B. Rowell of Derby,"' a guard, was 
shot dead from the first fire. Capt. Andrew Upson of Southington, com- 
mander of the post, was murdered in cold blood. While he was trying to 
join his company, only a few rods distant, he was shot twice through his 
body after his surrender, and has since died from the eflfects of his wounds. 
He was one of our finest and most gallant officers, beloved by all, a Chris- 
tian gentleman, and a most honorable and high-minded man. Peace to his 
ashes ! Lieut. Theodore Jepson showed the genuine Yankee pluck in 
bravely defending his little band of soldiers against the one hundred and 
fifty rebels who tried in vain to drive them from their stockade. 

A part of this same force of guerrillas, on the IGth of March, attacked 
a freight-train of eleven cars, about seven miles from TuUahoma. A rail 
had cautiously been displaced from the track, which threw off the approach- 
ing train with a terrible crash. Instantly a gang of rebels jumped from 
behind trees and ledges, and commenced the work of bloodshed and plunder 
upon the passengers ; simultaneously firing the train, which was loaded 
with hay, lumber, &c. Capt. Ambrose E. Beardsley of Derby, our brigade 
inspector, who is sometimes unlachy, then again lucky, happened unfortu- 
nately to be on board. Three soldiers were shot down by his side ; and a 
musket was leveled and fired at him, which missed its mai-k, just grazing 
his neck. Beardsley, in company with two lieutenants and three negroes, 
brakemen on the train, was then taken under a guard, and run off three 
miles into a dense wood. The poor negroes were shot. Beardsley ex- 
pected the same fate ; but was finally simply robbed of his watch, three 
hundred and eighty dollars in money, his coat, hat, and boots ; and then 
asked to sign a parole. He refused ; and, after stripping the two lieu- 

1 Don,s:lass Bushnell, a native of New London, was killed in the battle near Chatta- 
nooga, lie was major of the 13ih Michigan. i,- i, u 

■^ Rowell was a quiet, unassuming young man, devoted to the cause for which he so 
bravely gave his life. 



MALIGNITY OF GUERRILLAS. 095 

tenants who were with him" of all they had, they were then left by their 
cut-throats to grope their way back through the woods, barefooted, which 
they did, guided by the light of the burning cars." 

The Unionists had learned prompt and bloody retalia- 
tion. Next morning, a squadron of the Tennessee Union 
Cavalry went in pursuit, overtook them, defeated them, killed 
eleven, and captured seventeen. None of the prisoners were 
brought into camp. The captors reported that they " lost " 
them. 

The Twentieth Regiment maintained good health, having 
received a supply of esculents from the soldiers'-aid societies 
of Bridgeport and Derby. 

In Cowan and Tracy City, as elsewhere in the South, the 
women were more violently disloyal than the men. A 
story is told of one of these, who, besilked and befeathered, 
sheered off in passing the Union headquarters one day, and 
gave her skirts the usual flirt to show her contempt for the 
drooping flag ; when a soldier retorted with the following 
bit of torture : — 

" marm ! how dirty your stockings are ! Just look 
at 'em ! " 

Female skirts and female pride went down together, while 
the irrepressible roars of his comrades winged the sarcastic 
shaft, and sent it home. 

Bushwhackers and guerrillas abounded ; scarcely a day 
passed without damage* being done to the railroad at some 
point. The utmost vigilance was exercised. Squads were 
stationed at every depot, bridge, or watertank ; and redoubts 
and stockades were erected along the whole route. Guards 
patrolled the road. 

Yet the rebels plied their ingenuity. " Torpedoes were 
placed on the track. Rails were loosened so as to launch 
the next train off an embankment. The timbers of bridges 
were sawed nearly through. Rocks were rolled down the 
mountain upon the rails. With infernal malignity they 
watched and waited for trains laden with soldiers, on which 
to practice their schemes of destruction. Union soldiers 
caught alone were robbed and murdered." ^ 

3 Col. Buckingham's MS. History of the Twentieth. 



696 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

An order of terrible retaliation was immediately issued 
by Gen. Grant, which made bushwhacking dangerous and 
unpopular. Ten thousand Union refugees were provided for 
by large levies upon the property of secessionists. Guer- 
rillas were hunted down, tried by court-martial, and shot. 

As the spring of 1864 approached, the veterans of the 
Fifth took their furlough ; and the non-veterans were tem- 
porarily transferred to the Twentieth, commanded at this 
time by Capt. Ezra D. Dickerman. Col. Ross commanded the 
brigade. Rev. A. L. Frisbie of Ansonia here joined the regi- 
ment as chaplain, and he made himself of great service. 

Gen. Sherman now succeeded Grant ^ in command of the 
armies of the West ; and the different corps were re-organ- 
ized and mobilized. The 11th and 12th Corps were consoli- 
dated, and became the 20th Corps. The Twentieth Connecti- 
cut Volunteers was placed in the 2d Brigade, 3d Division. 

An immense depot of supplies had been gathered at 
Chattanooga prior to April, 1864. The roads rearward had 
been rebuilt ; the defenses strengthened ; the veteran guards 
relieved by hundred-day men, and recalled to the front. 
Sherman gathered his host in Lookout Valley. 

On April 27, the Twentieth took its place in the 20th 
Corps, and again the regiment was led by Lieut.-Col. Buck- 
ino-ham. 

The veterans of the Fifth had returned from their fur- 
lough home, and the non-veterans hud resumed their places 
in the ranks. 

The veterans, after passing Indianapolis on the return, 
exchanged the doubtful comforts of second-class cars for the 
certain discomforts of freight-cars. That jolly soldier, Isaac 
B. Rogers of Danbury, wrote the next week from Decherd, 
Tenn., "-It would be useless to attempt a description of the 
thumps, bumps, contusions, jams, knocks, whacks, cracks, 
pokes, and jars experienced by the ^ soldier patriots of Con- 
necticut' while in process of transportation as government 
freight. One thing is certain, — we found plenty of exercise 
in jumping from the cars, and pushing the train up each 
successive grade from Indianapolis to Decherd ; the locomo- 

* Gens. Grant and Sherman are both of Connecticut ancestry. 



THE FIFTH AND TWENTIETH FNDEE GEN. SHERMAN. 697 

tive having been constructed for the government by con- 
tract." 

At Decherd, they crept under shelters, and had few 
conveniences of any kind. The weather was unseasonably 
cold and wet, and much disease was engendered. Sergeant 
J. W. Burley of Woodstock died of small-pox in April ; but 
the case was isolated. Chaplain Moses C. Welch of Hart- 
ford wrote of him, " He possessed an uprightness of charac- 
ter that secured him the respect of all. He was intelligent, 
thoughtful, and independent." 

While it is true that the exposure incident to soldiers 
is often destructive to life, yet in many instances its 
effects are favorable to the health of men. This is strik- 
ingly exemplified in the case of Capt. William Spencer^ of 
Cheshire, who enlisted as a private in the Twentieth Regi- 
ment. He was of a delicate constitution ; but three years 
and a half of service in the field — during which he never 
received a furlough, and never was absent from his regi- 
ment — rather imj^roved than impaired his health. 

On April 30, the Fifth had again removed to Bridgeport, 
Ala., whence it marched, and joined, in Gen. Knipe's brigade, 
the forces under Gen. Sherman. 

The armies of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland, 
advanced by different routes upon Dalton. The 20th Corps 
moved down to the right, then marched westward towards 
the town, crossing Taylor's Ridge. After an unsuccessful 
effort (May 8) to break through the fortified passes. Col. 
Ross was directed to take and hold Boyd's trail in the 
mountains, to keep the enemy from coming through into 
the valley. Col. Ross's command consisted of the Twen- 
tieth (Lieut.-Col. Buckingham commanding) and the 19th 
Michigan, — in all about a thousand men. He started a 
little after midnight, and moved in the dark four miles, 
arriving at the trail at four, am. The pass was held by two 
Virginia regiments. Col. Ross threw out a double line of 
skirmishers under Capt. E. D. Dickerman. The advance 
was so rapid and vigorous, that the enemy's picket-reserve 

5 He participated in eleven general battles, and escaped without the slightest injury. 
Capt. Spencer was educated in France, and is a high type of the patriotic soldier. 



(398 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

barely escaped capture. By eight o'clock, the enemy were 
driven from the trail to the top of the mountain. Col. Ross 
says in his report, " I then established a picket-line in a 
circular form, from the rocky face of the mountain on one 
side of the trail, around and across it to the same on the 
other side. I next established the main body on a ' hog- 
back ' hill commanding the main road (where the trail con- 
nects with it) and much of the trail, and fortified my po- 
sition so as to hold it against large numbers. I remained 
in this position, undisturbed by the enemy, save occasional 
shots from sharpshooters from the top of Rocky Face, until 
noon on the 11th instant, when I was relieved. From 
thence my command marched to Snake-creek Gap, where 
it joined the brigade. I desire to thank and commend the 
officers and men unfler my command for their uniform 
promptness and bravery. Not an officer or man faltered." 

Meantime, Johnston's rebel army fell back rapidly on 
Resaca, and Sherman pressed forward. The Fifth and 
Twentieth moved in the column ; though, of the particulars 
of the movements of the Fifth, we find no atlequate record. 
The colonel furnished a report of only three lines from time 
to time, submitting a list of casualties. The Twentieth was 
in line of battle during May 14 and 15, and was, with 
the Fifth, engaged in the battle of Resaca. Col. Ross says 
in his report, "In passing the open ground, after crossing 
the first hill under a heavy fire of musketry, grape, and 
canister, the color-bearer was hit, and fell out of line : there- 
upon Adjutant C. Jay Du Bois seized the colors, and gal- 
lantly carried them forward ; holding them until our line was 
re-formed on a new front, when he surrendered them to the 
sergeant designated to carry them." 

Immediately in front of our line at this point, and just 
behind the rebel intrenchments, was a battery of four guns, 
from which the gunners had been driven during the charge 
on the afternoon of the 15th. The Union troops had 
charged up to the very muzzles of these guns, but had been 
compelled to leave them, and fall back a few rods, behind a 
slight elevation. The pieces w^ere now on disputed territo- 
ry ; and both Union and Confederate soldiers had striven in 



THE TWENTIETH ASSIST IN CAPTURING CASSVILLE. QQQ 

vain to drag tliem off during the daylight. The ground 
about the battery was strewn with the dead of both sides. 
In the evenino- Lieut.-Col. P. B. BuckinQ-ham was directed 
to take a detachment of men, and get the guns. He soon 
reached "the low ground in front; when he and Capt. John 
H. Doolittle of Derby, and Capt. Oliver R. Post of Hartford, 
crept up to reconnoiter. The result was, that the men were 
quietly set at work digging broad trenches straight up to 
the muzzles : ropes were carefully attached; and before day- 
break the four new, brass 12-pounders had been safely re- 
moved to our lines. Not a man was lost, though a fierce 
attack broke out about midnight, during which the working 
part}^ was subjected to a hot fire of artillery and musketry 
from both sides. Lieut.-Col. Buckingham was commended 
for this exploit in general orders. 

Of a movement on Cassville on the 19th, Col. Ross 
reports, "About two, p.m., the division made a demonstration 
on the enemy with infontry and artillery. In this move- 
ment, the 19th Michigan and Twentieth Connecticut, under 
my command, covered the right flank, and supported our 
artillery. The division advanced about half a mile, and 
swung around on Cassville (the enemy retiring); when these 
regiments under my command were posted on the right of 
the division, my left connecting with the right of the 3d 
Brigade. 

'■ The formation for a general advance of the division 
being completed, these two regiments, thus posted on the 
right, advanced with the division in good order to the road 
near the seminary. Officers and men acted promptly and 
bravelj^ The Twentieth was then advanced a few rods to 
support our artillery batteries ; sending skirmishers to the 
front to drive back the enemy's sharpshooters. About 
eight, P.M., these two regiments, — the Tw^entieth Connecticut 
and 19th Michigan, — assisted by no other troops, in line of 
battle, with fixed bayonets, assaulted and captured Cassville, 
and occupied it until the morning of the 20th instant ; wdieii 
we marched to the present camp. 

" I desire to mention the following company commanders 
for promptness and good conduct throughout these opera- 



700 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

tions : Capt. Ezra D. Dickerman of Hamden, Capt. Samuel 
S. Woodruff of Southington, Capt. Wilbur W. Smith of Sey- 
mour, Capt. Oliver R Post of Hartford, Capt. John II. Doo- 
little of Derby, Capt. Ezra Sprague of Derby, Capt. Horace 
G. H. Tarr of Hartford, Lieut. John E. Royce of Derby." 

The Fifth Connecticut Volunteers entered Cassville imme- 
diately afterwards, from another direction, and assisted in 
holding the village through the night. The citizens fled in 
terror, leaving their aged and invalids in an utterly helpless 
condition, to be taken care of by " the Yankee Vandals." 
Col. Buckingham says, " At a house found tenantless, and 
occupied for the headquarters of the Twentieth Regiment, 
a table waited, already spread with strawberries, warm 
biscuit, and a nice boiled ham, smoking hot, which furnished 
the officers of the regiment with a supper after their hard 
day's work." 

Col. Buckingham wrote in May, — 

" Here is some of the finest land in Northern Georgia. The people 
have obeyed the behests of Jeff Davis ; and, instead of the cotton and 
tobacco formerly raised, all the arable land is planted with corn, or some 
with wheat. It is said that rebel soldiers were detailed in the spring to 
assist in planting the crops ; but in the track of the armies not much will 
be reaped ; for, spreading over the land like a swarm of locusts, the troops 
eat up and destroy every green thing. The droves of cattle driven along 
to furnish beef for the army ai'e pastured in the fields of waving wheat ; 
outlying troops of cavalry feed their horses upon the young corn ; and 
cavalry and infantry tread down all that is left." 

The same officer thus tells of the passage of the formid- 
able gap at Alatoona by the 20th. Corps, by a ruse of its 
commander, — 

" Yesterday, on arriving at the gap, we found strong rebel works ; but 
they were abandoned. The officer in command had moved to another point 
on the order of Gen. Hooker. It occurred in this way : At daylight in the 
morning, Hooker and staff, accompanied by his body-guard, started from 
near Raccoon Creek, and, moving on three or four miles in advance, halted 
for bi'eakfast by the roadside. While sitting here, a rebel courier rode in 
among them, bearing a dispatch from Gen. Johnston to the officer in com- 
mand at the gap, directing him to hold it at all hazards, and saying it 
was of the utmost importance to delay the advance of the Federal troops 
for a day, or until he could reach Dallas. Hooker pocketed the dispatch ; 
directed one of his own orderlies to exchange uniforms with the rebel 
courier; gave him the pass from Gen. Johnston; and wrote a new order 
(from ' Gen, Johnston ') to the officer at the gap, directing him to remove 
his troops to another point some miles distant. The new courier mounted 
a captured ' C. S.' horse, and rode away with the order. He found the 



A SOUTHEEX LADY'S OPINION OF FLANKING. 701 

officer on the qui vive, with his troops drawn up ready to repel the Yankees. 
He delivered the bogus message, showed tlie genuine pass, and, after being 
tboroughly questioned, liad the satisfaction of seeing the rebel army move 
biF in obedience to the commands of Joe Hooker. Tlie officer said he 
must obey orders, he supposed ; but Gen. Johnston was either crazy, or a 
d fool. The brave orderly made a detour ; and, after several adven- 
tures with rebel scouting parties, was at last captured by our own cavalry." 

The women were intensely " rebel " in their feelings and 
conversation. An officer rode np to a house one day, to get 
a drink of water. While obtaining the beverage, the lady 
of the house appeared, with the inevitable pine-splinter in 
her mouth (most of the women of this locality are snuff- 
dippers), and accosted the colonel with, " I don't see what 
you uns comes down heah to fight we uns for. We uns hain't 
done you uns any harm ; and you uns can't never beat we 
uns neither." — " Well, madam," rejoined the colonel, "we 
came down here to compel the people to submit to the 
authority of the United-States Government. As to our not 
succeeding, I think we make pretty fair progress. We have 
driven your army down to this point, and have defeated it 
every time it stopped." — "But you uns don't fight we uns 
fair," persisted the lady. " When we get all fixed, with a row 
of dirt in front, Mister Hooker he takes his regiment and 
comes down on the eend of our men, and that's the way he 
doos all the while. And," continued the lady after a pause, 
'• hain't you got a man o' the name o' Sherman long o' you 
uns?" — "Yes," confessed the officer. "Wall, he doos jes' so 
too, with his regiment ; and my man — he's in the army — he 
writ home, and says, if 'twa'n't for Mister Hooker and Mister 
Sherman with their regiments, we uns should beat you uns 
all the while." The officer acknowledged that it was proba- 
ble, and rode on. 

During the succeeding three months. Col. Ross was de- 
tached from the Twentieth, and placed in command, first of 
Cassville, then of Marietta, while the column advanced on 
Atlanta. About dark of June 17, the Fifth and Twentieth 
crossed the Chattahoochie, and, after advancing four miles, 
bivouacked in column by division. A line of battle was 
formed the next forenoon ; and an advance was made, the 
enemy's skirmishers retiring rapidly. 



702 CONNECTICUT DURING THE KEBELLION. 

On the 20th, the colamn again moved forward, and about 
noon crossed Peach-tree Creek, in front of Atlanta, and halted 
in column by division. After a rest of an hour, the army 
was deployed in line of battle, and assailed Hood's intrench- 
raents. The Twentieth Connecticut was in the front line, 
on the extreme left of the division adjoining the 4th Corps. 
Col. Buckingham reported, — 

" After being formed in proper order, the command was given to ad- 
vance to a ravine about a hundred rods in our front. This was accom- 
plished under a heavy fire from the skirmishers of the enemy, who were 
driven back, our line advancing in excellent order. Here we again rested 
for about three-quarters of an hour, vmtil other dispositions were made ; 
when, in connection with the 4th Corps, our whole line was advanced to 
the crest of a hill in our front. On arriving at this point, the enemy, who 
was concealed in a ravine, made a desperate charge along the entire front 
of the 20th Corps and the right of the 4th. This was received with a 
steady and terribly destructive fire from our front line, which stood firmly, 
determined not to give a single inch of gi-ouiid. 

"• The brigade of the 4th Corps on our immediate left was compelled, 
after a short but severe struggle, to fall back some twenty or thirty rods, 
iu considerable confusion ; but soon re-formed, charged, and drove the 
enemy back, recovering the lost ground. When this brigade fell back, 
the enemy followed closely ; and thus not only threatened the left flank and 
rear of my regiment, but actually opened fire upon us from that position. 
I immediately threw back five companies on my left, so as to face the 
enemy, and opened fire in that direction ; thus contributing not a little in 
repulsing tlie enemy on the front of the right of the 4th Corps. After that 
corps had recovered its position in line, Ave were again ordered to advance 
through a ravine, and to the top of a high ridge in our front, which we 
were to take and hold at all hazards. Our skirmishers had, before this, 
been compelled to take refuge within our lines, and we were again ad- 
vanced, drove the enemy out of his ravine, up and over the hill ; punishing 
him severely as his scattered regiments retired over the rising ground, 
as the numerous dead and wounded in our front bore witness. On arriving 
at the top of the ridge, we halted, formed the line in perfect order, and 
held the ground firmly until the battle was over. The right of the 4th 
Corps, on account of the determined opposition received, was not able to 
advance up to our line, but held their line some twenty-five rods to our 
left and rear. The enemy was soon discovered, not only advancing at a 
charge in our front, but also to our left, against tiie 4th Corps ; and two 
companies on my left were oi'dered to face the flank of the enemy, and open 
fire in that direction, while the remaining companies maintained a deter- 
mined fire against the three lines of the enemy advancing in our front. 
The attack was repulsed, and the enemy fell back in confusion ; and, 
altliough repeated charges were made during the afternoon, our lines 
remained firm and immovable. The regiment stood for four hours in the 
open field, and fought with most determined courage ; and both ofiicers and 
men are entitled to praise for their coolness and steadiness during this most 
obstinate battle. The regiment was relieved by the 136th New- York, at 
about sundown, after having fired one hundred and fifty rounds of ammu- 



THE FIFTH IX A SEVEKE ENGAGE:\IENT. 703 

nition per man, and after the muskets had become so foul from use as to 
be almost entirely unserviceable. On being reliev^ed, we fell back a short 
distance, and remained under fire, supporting the 136th New-York, until 
the enemy retired. Soon after dark, tlae enemy fell back, leaving his dead 
and wounded on the field. 

" Wounded rebel officers belonging to the 3d, 33d, 55th, and 144th 
Mississippi Regiments, left on the field in front of the Twentieth, remarked 
that they had lost luore men during this engagement, in killed and wounded, 
than they had before during the war. During our advance, a rebel color- 
bearer in front of the right of my regiment was killed ; and a rebel officer 
who sprang forward and seized the colors to bear them off was also shot 
dead ; but a soldier from the 26th Wisconsin Infantry succeeded in obtain- 
ing the flag. During the action, our division captured seven stand of 
colors." 

A soldier writes from the field the following account of 
the honorable part taken by the Fifth : " On the morning 
of July 20, we crossed the creek, and, advancing about 
half a mile, halted for the purpose of arranging the line, and 
other details incidental to a change of position. The 1st 
Division had no formation for battle ; when suddenly, and as 
unexpectedly as an earthquake, the storm of battle broke 
out upon the left, and rolled rapidly down from the 2d 
Division upon the left, through the 3d, and speedily en- 
veloped the 1st in its uproar. 

" It was almost a complete surprise ; but the men who 
formed the line of July 20 were too familiar with the 
rattle of musketry and odor of powder to yield to panic, or 
flee without being driven : and as the enemy came shouting 
and yelling from the woods within twenty yards, flaunting 
their flags in the assurance of an easy victory, the old 
division closed sternly in, and the answer to their yells 
was Union bullets and Union cheers. For three hours, the 
battle raged, the enemy being repeatedly repulsed, and as 
often returning to the charge, only to find the wall of fire 
and steel more impenetrable than before, and to lose in- 
creased numbers of their misguided soldiers upon the field. 
At a little before sunset, the battle ceased. The returns of 
the Fifth exhibit a loss of sixty men killed and w^ounded, 
out of less than two hundred who went into action ; among 
whom were many of the best and most valued men of the 
regiment." 

Hood was now in command of the rebel army. Several 



704 COKNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

successive desperate assaults were repulsed by Sherman, and 
ao-ain the Union forces crept forward and encircled Atlanta. 
To avoid a direct assault on the intrenchments, Sherman 
extended his line rapidly to the right, and reached around 
to the south-eastward of the city. The Fifth and Twentieth 
Connecticut Volunteers were constantly active. Col. Buck- 
ingham relates the following : — 

" A day or two after, as our division was on a reconnoissance beyond 
our right, Ave rode up to a house occupied by a half-dozen of the feminine 
portion of the Confederacy, — an old lady and her daughters. The phiz of 
the old lady was adorned with a clay pipe ; and three of the daughters 
closed their teeth upon delicious pine sticks, and the pink of their pretty 
lips was blended with the brown of moistened snufF. We inquired if 
there had been any rebel troops in that vicinity in the morning. ' 'Deed 
they has ! ' replied the old lady. ' How many?' — ' Oh ! a right smart of 
'em,' she answei'ed. ' Some o' you uus come along here about sun up, and 
they formed a streak of fight right through my garden.' — ' Were the rebel 
troops you saw infantry or cavalry?' asked the officer. ' Dunno,' was the 
reply. 'Were they on horseback, or on foot?' he explained. 'No,' 
briskly responded the dame. ' They was all critter men, you uns and we 
uus both.' So we learned that there had been a cavalry skii'.mish." 

The hostile lines were now pressed closely together. In- 
trenchments were advanced and strengthened. Every can- 
non-shot fired by Sherman's army went into Atlanta. Col. 
.Buckingham wrote of sharp-shooting, " There are many 
excellent shots in almost every regiment, and there are 
companies of sharpshooters, so called ; but the genuine 
sharpshooter is an institution by himself Though nomi- 
nally attached to some regiment, he acknowledges obedience 
to no organization. He is detached, and reports only to the 
headquarters of the division or corps. He goes to the front 
when there is any chance for game, and hunts rebels as he 
would deer, — for the fun of it. Armed with a rifle that would 
break down any ordinary man, with telescopic sights upon 
it, and a patent muzzle, he is a dead-shot at six hundred to 
a thousand yards. He loads his piece with as much precision 
as if he were shooting for a wager ; and just at daylight goes 
out to the skirmish-line to hunt rebels for the day. His 
particular business is to pick off the rebel artillerymen ; but 
he doesn't object to draw a bead upon any vertical piece of 
gray cloth. He comes in at night with a long stick in his 
hand, with a row of notches cut in it, indicating the number 
' certainly killed,' ' probably killed,' and ' winged.' " 



LOSSES IN THE FIFTH AND TWENTIETH. 705 

Very deliberate murder this, — cold-blooded, atrocious, re- 
minding of the Indian who takes the scalp. But all war 
is barbarous and horrible ; and perhaps that which kills the 
surest, and ends the quickest, is least inhuman after alh 

The 20th Corps remained north of Atlanta, while Sher- 
man gradually stretched his right away to the south, then 
closed suddenly in on the Macon Railroad. Hood met him 
stubbornly : there was another great battle, and another 
Union victory. Hood evacuated Atlanta, and withdrew 
southward ; while the 20th Corps leaped over the breast- 
works, and rushed into the city. Here Sherman paused; 
and the army, which had been in an almost constant battle 
for four months, took breath, rested, and re-organized. 

The Connecticut regiments had both suffered heavily. 
In the battle near Resaca, May 15, the veteran Fifth lost 
eight killed and forty-three wounded. Among the wounded 
was Lieut. George W. Titus in the head, severely, and Lieut. 
John H. Brewster. In the fight near Dallas, the Fifth lost 
two killed and twenty-nine wounded. In June, the regi- 
ment suffered three killed and twenty-five wounded. Among 
the wounded were Lieut. Perry P. Wilson of Woodstock, who 
lost both legs ; and Lieut. James Stewart, wounded severely 
in the thigh. In the battle of Peach-tree Creek, the Fifth 
was in the hottest of the fight, and lost from its now feeble 
line fifteen killed and forty-four wounded. Among the 
wounded were Lieut, and Adjutant William A. Daniels, As- 
sistant Surgeon Andrew I. Gilson, Lieut. L. M. Snow, Lieut. 
Isaac N. Weldon, Lieut. Albert L. Gavitt. In a skirmish of 
July 31, the Fifth also lost three killed and seven wounded. 

The losses of the Twentieth had been scarcely less. On 
May 15, it had lost one killed and thirteen wounded ; on 
the 19th, one killed, three wounded, three missing; July 20, 
Peach-tree Creek, ten killed and forty-five wounded ; and 
during the succeeding week three killed and six wounded. 
In the battle of Peach-tree Creek, among the wounded were 
Capt. Ezra D. Dickerman, Capt Horace G. H. Tarr, Capt. 
Oliver R. Post, Lieut. Theodore Jepson, Lieut. Wellington 
Barry, Lieut. Ebenezer B. Fenton, Lieut. Edward J. Murray 
and Lieut. Edward Root. Capt. Dickerman and Lieut. Jep- 

89 



706 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

son were wounded very severely in the head ; and the 
injuries of the former ultimately proved mortal.'' 

Capt. Oliver R Post of Hartford died next day of his 
wound, in the hospital at Atlanta. He was a native of 
Essex, and a son of Capt. Ambrose W. Post of that town. 
At the time of his enlistment, he was assistant editor of the 
Hartford Press. He had served with great acceptance in 
the regiment ; being seldom absent from his company for 
any reason. His body was embalmed by his comrades, and 
sent home for burial. 

From Atlanta, a soldier of the Fifth wrote, — 

" In a hundred days, the division to which this regiment is attached 
has been engaged in four pitched battles, in all of which the command has 
borne its part, and left its traces in fresh mounds and rudely-carved head- 
boards upon every field and skirmish-line for a hundred miles. The regi- 
ment started upon this campaiga with about four hundred and fifty men 
for duty, and at this writing has one hundred and thirty : of the first 
number, nearly two hundred have fallen in battle, and are either buried on 
the field of battle and victory, suffering with wounds in hospitals,'' or 
enjoying the soothing influence of home and its ministrations." 

•> Ezra Day Dickerman of Hamdcn entered the service as a private soldier in the 
Tenth; was in the expedition to the North-Carolina coast, and wounded in the chin at 
the battle of Roanoke Island. He attracted much notice by his bravery, promptness, 
soldierly appearance and conduct, and studious habits. When the Twentieth was organ- 
izing, he was promoted to a second lieutenancy, and sent home to recciiit a company for 
that regiment, which was composed largely of his personal friends and acquaintances. 
He was immediately chosen captain. This company was known as the Whitney Rifles, 
being under the patronage of the generous founder of Whitneyville, near New Haven. 
At Chancellorsville, he was again wounded, receiving a bullet in his hip. While at home 
on a furlough, before he had fully recovered from this wound, and before his furlough had 
expired, rumors were heard of a coming battle ; and he at once started to join his regi- 
ment at the front, near Washington, which place he visited tor information as to its 
position. Failing to get definite directions, he jumped upon a supply-train, which carried 
iiim to Westminster, the nearest railroad point, and yet twenty-five miles distant from 
the field of Gettysburg. This distance he walked, with halting step, and presented him- 
self before Col. Wooster for duty about five minutes before the commencement of the 
great battle of July 3. At Peach-tree Creek, near Atlanta, July, 1864, he received a bul- 
let in his head ; was reported mortally wounded, and by the surgeons on the field was 
passed as a hopeless case. A faithful friend and comrade attended him, and procured his 
removal to the officers' hospital at Nashville, where, after a period of thirteen days of 
almost entire unconsciousness, the ball was with great difficulty extracted from a depth 
of three inches. Possessing a vigorous constitution and ])erfect health, promoted by 
strictly temperate hal)its, he soon rallied, but with the loss of the sight of one eye ; and 
was alile to visit his home in Connecticut. After some months, he was detailed for duty 
at the conscript camp at New Haven, in charge of the commissary department, where he 
remained until March, 1865 ; when he was promoted to be major of the Twentieth, and 
ordered to join his regiment, which he did at Richmond, Va. At the close of the war, he 
was mustered out with the regiment, after four years of service. He lived nearly three 
years thereafter, with occasional periods of intense suffering, arising (as since ascertained) 
from the formation of an abscess in the head. In December, 1867, in one of these ago- 
nizing attacks of jiain, he died at the age of twenty-seven years. The key of his excel- 
lent military record is found in the words Christian patriot. He shrank from no duty, 
however perilous ; and has left the reputation of a gallant, faithful soldier, and a most 
estimable man. 

"> Private Gilbert M. Stocking died at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., Jan. 24, 1865. He 
was a native of Waterbury, and graduated at Yale in 1861 ; standing sixth in a class 



THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 707 

From the first .of August up to the first of October, a 
tacit armistice prevailed. At this latter period, Hood, 
who, though impetuous and imprudent, had succeeded John- 
ston in command of the Confederate array, struck northward 
past the flanks of the Union army, crossed the Chattahoo- 
chee, and moved rapidly on Sherman's communications. 
Sherman sent Thomas along the road to Nashville with 
three corps of his army, but maintained his position at 
Atlanta. About Dec. 1, Hood menaced Thomas in front of 
Nashville, swearing, foolishly as profanely, that he " would 
water his horse in the Cumberland River or in hell." Three 
weeks later, he was flying from the battle-field with an 
army defeated and utterly ruined.^ 

On Nov. 16 began the wonderful march to the sea. 
Sherman's army moved in two divisions, wdth four corps, of 
which the 20th Corps was on the left flank. The great 
commander abandoned his rearward communications, as 
Cortez burned his ships, and fixed his eye on Savannah. 

Col. W. W. Packer of the Fifth commanded the brigade 
for a few weeks as the successor of Gen. Knipe, in which 
office he showed zeal and ability; and soon afterwards 
resigned, having served faithfully more than three years. 
Lieut. - Col. Henry W. Daboll commanded the regiment, 
assisted by Major AVilliam S. Cogswell. Col. Daboll, in his 
report of the march, said of the condition of the regiment 
when it left Atlanta, " There were present with the regi- 
ment but six line-officers ; and one of these was acting as 
adjutant. Notwithstanding this, and though the nature of 
3ur marches (depending almost entirely upon the country 
for supplies, and regiments and companies being broken up 
to guard and assist trains stretched over long intervals) was 
necessarily such as would try the morale and discipline of 
a command, I am happy to state, that, during the entire 
campaign, the regiment behaved in a manner not only 
gratifying to myself, but eliciting the commendation of my 
superiors." 

of ninety-seven. He enlisted in 1 863 in the Twentieth. The severe duties of the At- 
lanta campaign proved disastrous to his health, and he retired to a hospital to die. 
** The following epigram was current at this time : — 

" Where Hood is, 'twere not difficult to tell. 
He swore lie'd go to Naslivilie or to hell; 
And hasn't gone to Nashville — very weU I " 



708 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

What need to describe in detail the colossal stride from 
the mountains of Georgia to the sea? There was little 
in the experience of the Connecticut regiments that was 
peculiar. They remember the sublime illumination of the 
heavens over burning Atlanta; the clamor and clatter of 
the setting-out ; the steady progress and constant resistance ; 
the frightened rebels hiding while the hurricane passed ; the 
negroes gathering along the rear, a black triumphal escort ; 
the liberal foraging ; the burning of houses, mills, and towns, 
and the desolation of the broad track of the army, almost 
as complete as the wasting of the Palatinate by Turenne ; 
the occasional skirmish ; the private campaign of the " bum- 
mer" astride his mule, hovering along the , flanks, and 
dragging in his ill-assorted plunder; the construction of 
corduroy roads over hundreds of miles for the artillery ; the 
wonderful panorama of the march, and the quaint tableaux 
of the nightly bivouac ; the sombre caravan of ambulances ; 
the ponderous cannon with the fighting-cock mounted atop ; 
the weary toil, beguiled each day by new scenes and fresh 
encounters as the old flag was borne from county to county 
and from State to State in the grand pageant. In January 
of 1865, the army — "Sherman's iron-clads " as they were 
called by the Confederates — rested for a few weeks in and 
about Savannah, after one of the most remarkable cam- 
paigns in the wars of the world. 



The Second Connecticut Light Battery, Capt. John W. 
Sterling commanding, left Brashear City, La., on June 17, 
1864, and moved to Algiers, and pitched tents. On July 
30, the battery was embarked on board transports, and 
moved down the Mississippi, and through the Gulf, landing 
in the rear of Fort Gaines, at the mouth of Mobile Bay. It 
here went into position, and was engaged with other forces 
in the bombardment and capture of the fort after the 
passage of Farragut's fleet.^ No other field-battery parti- 

^ Connecticnt had still other participation in the fight for Mobile. Lieutenant-com- 
mandinn; Edward Terry of Hartford, was in command of Farragut's flagship, the Hart- 
ford. Lieut. J. C. Kinney, son of Rev. E. D. Kinney of Westford, was Farragut's signal 
ofiBcer on the flagship, and sat on the cross-trees of the fore-topmast. Both showed great 
eflSciency throughout the terrible battle. On the different vessels of the fleet were many 



THE .SECOND BATTEKY IN FLOEIDA AND ALABAMA. 709 

cipated. On Aug. 19, two sections of the battery, under 
Lieut. Frank H. Whiting (Lieut. W. S. Hotchkiss being ill 
at the time), were transferred to the rear of Fort Morgan, 
across the entrance to the bay, and opened fire upon the 
fort at a distance of three hundred yards. The cannonad- 
ing was continued at brief intervals for four days, when the 
fort surrendered. 

The battery remained in this vicinity until Sept. 3; 
when it was re-embarked and returned to Algiers, remaining 
there a few days, and then going into excellent barracks in 
New Orleans. Here the men tarried two months. Capt. 
John W. Sterling resigned in October, after a severe and 
creditable service of three years, and was succeeded by 
Capt. Hotchkiss. Nov. 13, the battery proceeded up the 
Mississippi to White-house Landing, Ark., where it went 
into winters-quarters on the island formed near the conflu- 
ence of the White River with the Arkansas. The quarters 
were not tempting ; but the men had ample time to construct 
huts of logs and clay. A droll and philosophical member 
wrote at this time, " We' are only supplied with shelter-tents 
in this department ; but a veteran will not sleep cold or wet 
a second night, with a shelter-tent, a hatchet, and a mud- 
hole to start with." 

Early in February, 1865, the battery arrived at Green- 
ville, La., via Kennerville ; where it remained a short time, 
and was ordered to Florida. It reached Fort Barancas on 
the 26th, and parked where the Twenty-eighth Connecticut 
Volunteers encamped in 1862-63. On March 11, a division 
of Union troops, in which was the battery, left Barancas, and 
marched to Pensacola ; thence slowly, through swamps on 
corduroyed roads, to Pine-barren Creek ; thence, after fight- 
ing and dispersing a large Confederate force, to Blakely, Ala. 
Here the enemy was met, intrenched and prepared for 
battle. The batteries went into position, and shelled the 
rebels fiercely ; when the Union infantry charged, and swept 

Connecticut men in service ; among them, Henry Howard Brownell of East Hartford, a 
nephew of Bishop Brownell, who served on Farragut's staff. Mr. Brownell described 
" The Bay-Fight " in the most stirring epic which the war inspired ; writing some of the 
most vigorous stanzas on deck in the hottest moments of the combat. He has pub- 
lished his war-poems in a volume that is received with much favor. 



710 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

away the whole, taking many prisoners. John S. Mills of 
Bridgeport was killed by a torpedo. This was on April 9, 
and was one of the last battles of the war. Mobile immedi- 
ately capitulated ; and there the Second Battery went into 
camp, until it was transferred for a few weeks to Selma. 
This battery was in arduous service more than three years. 
It never lost a gun or a flag ; and so well had its property 
been taken care of that it returned home with the same 
harnesses with which it was first equipped — never having 
drawn even a bridle.^*^ 



Meantime, the Fifteenth remained in Newberne ; and Sur- 
geon Mayer, being speedily exchanged, reported there. 
During the summer of 1864, the yellow fever broke out. 
The first cases occurred in the Fifteenth, during the latter part 
of September. Then it came out in the United-States Gen- 
eral Hospital Foster in full violence. At that time, Surgeon 
Mayer was in charge of this hospital; and Assistant Surgeon 
Eli F. Hendrick of the Fifteenth, from Danbury, was one of 
the resident surgeons. The epidemic increased rapidly. It 
was some time before efficient means could be devised for sav- 
ing any of those attacked. Surgeon Hendrick labored nobly 
and fearlessly. Surgeon Mayer wrought with zeal and emi- 
nent success. With the management of a large hospital, 
the nurses and cooks of which had to be replaced by new, 
inexperienced ifien as frequently as once in four days, be- 
cause, on an average, they sickened with the fever after serv- 
ing that length of time ; with the machinery of the hospital 
loose, and the clerks who kept record dying one after the 
other ; with new patients, often men that had ventured into 
town, and, being suddenly attacked, were brought into the 
hospital speechless, to die there, — with all this to man- 
age and superintend. Dr. Mayer also, on account of the 
dearth of surgeons, had medical charge of five wards; and in 
those, during the entire yellow-fever epidemic, he succeeded. 
in saving seventy men above the percentage of recoveries 

1" This result was due not more to the attention of the officers than to the practical 
vigilance of the saddler, Daniel W. Hawley. 



YELLOW FEVER IN NEW BERNE. 711 

under other hands. The doctor was himself seized with the 
epidemic on the 3d of October, and, expecting to die, made his 
arrangements for the future calmly; requesting that his body 
might be dressed in the uniform, and "plenty of roses be 
put in the coffin," for Newberne was then aglow with flowers. 
He recovered, however, and took charge of the hospital 
again on the 20th of October; keeping that position until the 
end of the year, when he was made medical purveyor of the 
District of North Carolina. Assistant Surgeon Hendrick was 
also atacked by the fever after the most faithful and Christian 
discharge of his difficult duties, not only in the hospital, but 
also caring for many of the poor citizens of Newberne, as he 
found opportunity. The chief clerk of the Foster Hospital, 
W. Chester Case of Bloomfield, a private of the Sixteenth 
Connecticut, labored unceasingly to keep the machinery of 
the hospital in order, and to secure data for ascertaining the 
heirs of the deceased soldiers, "After the epidemic had 
passed, there remained two trunks of gold and silver watches, 
and a safe containing thirty thousand dollars left by these 
poor victims." These were restored to relatives. At that 
time. Surgeon D. W. Hand, the medical director, transmitted 
Surgeon Mayer an official letter from which we quote the fol- 
lowing passage : " I shall never forget your manly conduct 
during this ejoidemic, and how nobly 3'ou did God's work in 
that time." 

When North Carolina became a department, under Gen. 
Schofield, Surgeon Mayer was made medical .purveyor of the 
department. He provided medical stores for Schofield's and 
Sherman's armies, and received, and. took an official inven- 
tor}' of, a half-million of dollars' worth of captured property 
which fell into his hands ; leaving the offi^ce, when the Six- 
teenth went out of service, with the thanks of his superior 
officers. Gen. tiarland and staff resided at Newberne during 
the epidemic; and the general, being in charge of the city, 
did the utmost to prevent any spreading of the disease. 

He sent most of the Northern troops out of the city into 
camp, substituting colored troops who were acclimated. Only 
surgeons, and officers of the quartermaster's and commissary's 
department, were retained. The general even sent away 



712 COISTNECTICUT DUKING THE llEBELLION. 

members of his own staff; permitting none to remain with 
him more than a few days at a time. Believing that, if 
he himself left, panic or confusion might ensue, he quietly 
staid in the city. He was ill much of the time, and his 
surgeons insisted upon his departure, especially when three 
died of the terrible malady at his own house ; but, resolute 
in purpose, he remained at his post, and survived. 

Soldiers and citizens died at the rate of thirty to forty a 
day. Not a church or store was opened for weeks. The 
pestilence raged malignant and uncontrollable. Everybody 
tied that could get away. Only six Northern men who 
remained in the city were spared the visitation; and one 
of the six was Gen. Harland. 

The Fifteenth Connecticut, which had been relieved from 
provost-duty on the approach of the disease, and encamped 
outside of the city, yet suffered fearfully. Almost every day 
there were some deaths. Chaplain John B. Doolittle of New 
Haven, the faithful chaplain of the regiment, attended 
thirty-two funerals of soldiers and citizens during the week 
ending with Sunday, Oct. 2. On Oct. 6, Capt. Septimus 
S. Smith of New Haven, and six enlisted men of the Fif- 
teenth, died. During the pestilence, the regiment lost fifty- 
eight men, including Capt. Smith, and Lieut. (Quartermaster) 
Marshall C. Anger and Lieut. William W. Thompson, both 
of Meriden. Capt. Smith was a brave soldier, and a capable 
officer. 

At the news of the death of Lieut. Anger, the flags in 
Meriden were displayed at half-mast, and there was profound 
sorrow. Probably no officer of the regiment was more highly 
esteemed. Surgeon H. V. C. Holcomb of Branford wrote, 
" As a man he was one of the truest-hearted, most genial, and 
obliging souls that ever lived. I believe, without any ex- 
ception, he was the most popular man in the regiment ; 
esteemed alike by officers and men. There was in his com- 
position a vein of genuine wit and good humor which often 
enlivened the sometimes gloomy hours of a soldier's life ; and 
a keen sense of the ludicrous took off the edge of many a 
hard service. He never lacked for friends. I see not how 
he could ever have had an enemy. As I think of his noble, 



SUEGEON MAYER MEDICAL PURVEY OE. 713 

manly traits, his heart overflowing with kind and generous 
feeling, it is difficult to realize that I shall feel the warm 
grasf) of his hand no more." 

Towards the end of October, the fever began rapidly to 
abate. The Fifteenth was temporarily divided between 
Slocum's Creek and Evans's Mills, — outposts a few miles 
distant. 

When North Carolina became a department, under Gen. 
Schofield, Surgeon Mayer wa^ made medical purveyor of the 
department. He provided medical stores for Schofield's and 
Sherman's armies, and took an official inventory of a half- 
million dollars' worth of captured property. 

90 




CHAPTER XLI. 

Sheridan takes Command in the Shenandoah. — The First Connecticut Cavalry, Second 
Artillery, and Ninth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Eighteenth Infantry. — At Winchester. 
— Kearneysville. — Skirmishes. — Battle of Opequan Creek. — Casualties. — Spring 
Hill. — Cedar Creek. — Defeat and Victory. — Heavy Losses. — The Pursuit. — 
Roll of Honor of Yale College and Wesleyan University. — The Seventeenth in 
Florida. — Battles and Raids. — Successes and Disasters. — Incidents. — Casualties. 

ESOLVED to push the enemy at all points. 
Grant ordered ao-o-ressive movements m the 

Do 

Shenandoah. On Aug. 1, 1864, Gen. Hunter 
was, at his own request, relieved of the com- 
mand of that army; and Sheridan was appointed 
his successor. The new commander was given three infantry 
corps, — the 6th, 8th, and 19th, — and ten thousand cavalry. 
Of Connecticut regiments, there were the Second Artillery, 
still fighting as infantry in Wright's 6th Corps ; the Eight- 
eenth in Crook's 8th Corps ; the First Cavalry in Wilson's 
division; the Ninth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth (which had 
joined the army again), from the Department of the Gulf, 
in the 19th Corps. The Second was commanded by Col. 
Mackenzie, assisted by Lieut.-Col. James Hubbard, and 
Majors William B. Ells, James Q. Rice, and Jeffrey Skinner. 
The Eighteenth was commanded b.y Capt. M. V, B. Tiffimy. 
The First Cavah-y was under Col. E. Blakeslee. The 
Twelfth was commanded by Lieut.-Col. Frank H. Peck, who 
became colonel Aug. 26, vice Ledyard Colburn resigned ; 
Major George N. Lewis succeeding him as lieutenant-colonel, 
and Capt. Sidney E. Clark becoming major. The Thirteenth 
was still commanded by Col. Charles D. Blinn. Homer B. 
Sprague was lieutenant - colonel ; and Apollos Comstock, 
major. The Ninth was led by Capt. John G. Healey. 

714 



SKILLFUL MANETD7EII OF THE FIEST CAVALEY. 715 

Brig.-Gen. Henry W. Birge commanded a division. Col. 
William G. Ely commanded a brigade, including the Eight- 
eenth, under Crook. 

Early was posted at or near Winchester : Sheridan had 
headquarters towards Harper's Ferry ; and for weeks the 
two armies advanced and receded, each making feints, but 
hesitating to bring on a general engagement. 

On Aug. 16, Sheridan had pushed forward to Winchester ; 
and a brigade of Wilson's cavalry was stationed south of the 
town. The First Connecticut Cavalry was dismounted, and 
in the extreme front. About dusk, the rebels issued from 
the woods in double lines, and charged heavily all along the 
left of the position, driving in our pickets, and advancing on 
the east towards the town. The First was just west and 
south of a fort ; and into this the enemy charged on a run, 
as the Union guard vacated it. The regiment held its post 
behind a stone wall, not knowing that the rebels had 
attacked on the west simultaneously, and driven in our 
forces there also. At last, they pressed forward to the stone 
wall in heavy force ; and Col. Blakeslee withdrew his men 
up the hill. It was too dark for the enemy to distinguish 
whether they were friends or foes ; and the silence was not 
disturbed. By the time the cavalry had reached their 
horses, posted in a little valley just back of the fort, the 
rebels had swung round on the fort as a pivot, until their 
line extended far towards the town, in which direction fight- 
ing was brisk. In this hollow. Col. Blakeslee found detach- 
ments of the 1st New -Jersey and 18th Pennsylvania 
Cavalry ; and at their request assumed command. The 
enemy's infantry were within pistol-range ; and his men 
could not mount. The colonel immediately made his ar- 
rangements. Major George 0. Marcy concealed the men 
in some bushes ; while Major Brayton Ives withdrew the 
horses carefully over the brow of the hill. By this time, 
the Confederates and " Yankees " had struck up a wordy 
war. " Who's in them bushes ? " demanded a rebel. " First 
Connecticut Cavalry," shouted Capt. John B. Morehouse ; 
while others added the names of a dozen other regiments. 

The horses were promptly got in line ; the men, at the 



716 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

whispered word of command, stole out of the bushes ; the 
rebels followed like shadows. This would not do : Col. 
Blakeslee posted a squadron of his men behind a stone 
wall, while the rest mounted. They, in turn, were then 
defended by the horsemen wheeled to the front ; and the 
force took a hasty retreat across the fields. The enemy had 
advanced from the east and west, and was now fighting our 
infantry in the very streets of Winchester. The regiment 
took a circuitous route, passed to the west, and, without the 
loss of a man, joined the column in retreat north of the 
town. Gen. Mcintosh was surprised and delighted at 
the apparition ; for he supposed the force was cut off and 
captured. There was much comment on both the skill and 
good fortune of the escape. The whole brigade fell back 
towards Harper's Ferry. 

Early on the morning of Aug. 25, Wilson's cavalry divis- 
ion marched from Halltown towards Winchester in column 
by brigade. Near the railroad station of Kearneysville, the 
advance met the rebel outposts. Col. Blakeslee of the First 
said in a narrative at the time, " As the head of the regi- 
ment rose over a little hill, a scene presented itself more 
like the book-fights than any other 1 ever saw. In front 
was a large plain, without fences, one-third of a mile across ; 
a large tract of tall, old woods beyond the farther edge. 
The wood was ringing with the sharp crack of muskets; and 
out of it our mounted skirmishers were skurrying across 
the field towards us. The plain was fall of mounted men 
surging backwards, followed by the sharp ' ping ' of musket- 
balls. On our right, Custar's brigade battery, six guns, was 
showering shot and shell into the woods. His fine brigade- 
band was arrayed on white horses, playing 'The Star- 
spangled Banner ' at the loudest ; and his men stood with 
sabers drawn and colors flying, ready to charge." 

The regiments were now dismounted, and moved forward 
to fio;ht on foot. The men of the First were all eas-er excite- 
ment. Across the plain they charged, into and through 
the woods, close on the heels of the flying enemy. The 
latter made a slight stand in a cornfield, but broke when 
down the line rolled out a terrible volley from the Spencer 



i 



RESIGNATION" OF COL. ELY. 717 

carbine. They rallied no more until reaching their reserves, 
— Early's main force, — when, the object of the reconnois- 
sance being effected, the cavalry retired. 

During the next few weeks, the regiment was in the saddle 
almost constantly, reconnoitering and skirmishing daily in 
the vicinity of Berry ville, Millwood, White Post, and Win- 
chester; the most important affair being on the 14th of 
September, on the Winchester Pike, where Capt. Joab B. 
Rogers's squadron assisted a detachment of the 3d New- 
York and 2d Ohio in surrounding and capturing an entire 
regiment of South-Carolina infantry with their colors. Ser- 
geant Charles Griggs of Woodstock was killed at this time. 

The Eighteenth continued with the 8th Corps until Sept. 
12 ; when, after the sharp and successful skirmish at Berry- 
ville, it was detached to recuperate. Its recent severe ser- 
vice under Hunter had sadly diminished its numbers and 
impaired its efficiency ; and it was ordered to Martinsburg, 
and was not engaged in the succeeding battles of the 
autumn. Col. William G. Ely, who had been a brave and 
skillful officer, and who had retained in a marked degree the 
confidence of the regiment, here resigned, and received 
the compliment of promotion to the rank of brigadier- 
general by brevet. He had served more than three years 
faithfully. Capt. M. V. B. Tiffany, commanding the regi- 
ment in the temporary absence of Major Peale, wrote of 
Gen. Ely, — 

" I can not but express in behalf of the regiment the sincere regret we 
feel in parting from one who has so long been our champion leader, and 
endeared himself to us by his many ennobling qualities. On the long, 
weary march ; in the sanguinary engagement ; when the enemy surrounded, 
and danger on every side threatened, — he has ever been present with us. 
He has been most faithful to his trust ; strict in discipline ; firm, resolute, 
but just, in the exercise of "his authority. By his undaunted courage, by 
his calm and deliberate judgment, by his own patient endurance of hard- 
ships and sufferings, and his ever-cheerful willingness to comply with the 
requirements of his position, he has won for himself the entire confidence, 
respect, and esteem of his command ; in a word, we have always been 
proud of our colonel. It has filled us with admiration, strengthened our 
courage, and inspired us with renewed confidence, as we have seen him in 
the impetuous chai'ge, dashing forward on the leading flank, and cheering 
on his men by his own enthusiastic bravery. During the latter part of 
his term of service, he has been in command of the 2d Brigade, 1st Divis- 
ion, Army of West Virginia ; in the exercise of which command he has 



718 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

acquitted himself with that ability, efficiency, and characteristic bravery 
which ever distinguished him as a regimental commander, and thus gained 
for himself the deserving commendations of his superiors in command." 

About the middle of September, Grant visited Sheridan, 
and, being assured by the latter that he could defeat Early, 
permitted him to advance. Before daybreak on the 19th, 
the whole force was in motion. The rebel army lay on the 
Winchester side of the Opequan Creek. 

On the previous night, the First Connecticut Cavalry, 
under Major George 0. Marcy, had struck the first blow ; 
advancing five miles, routing the rebel pickets, and taking 
possession of Limestone Ridge, — a strong position com- 
manding the ford. The ridge was .held until three, a.m., 
when the rest of the brigade came up ; and the First joined 
in a charge across the creek. They chased the enemy two 
miles, and chargced and carried the first line of intrench- 
ments ; holding them till the infantry came up. For this 
exploit, the brigade was commended by Gen. Sheridan. 

The plan seemed to be to advance with the 6th Corps on 
the left, and the 19th on the right ; and then to strike the 
enemy's left with the 8th Corps, and follow with cavalry. 
The 6th Corps crossed the creek passed through a long, nar- 
row gorge, debouched from the road, and deployed opposite 
Early's right. Grover's division of the 19th Corps assumed 
the same position nearly opposite the rebel center. From 
its first station, it was ordered to advance to make room for 
the 8th Corps and D wight's division of the 19th Corps com- 
ing through the gorge. The Thirteenth was in its place, 
commanded by Lieut.-Col. Sprague; Col. Blinn being pros- 
trated with a fever. Forward they went with a will, many 
mistaking it for the final charge. The line was raked by a 
direct and oblique fire from hostile batteries ; while the rebel 
infantry poured from their concealment incessant volleys. 
The steady advance became a rapid charge. A tremendous 
fire was now tearing up every portion of the field. Col. 
Sprague's horse was here shot under him, and he led his 
regiment on foot. The enem3^'s first line bent back before 
the swift advance ; but his batteries kept up a furious fire. 
A halt was ordered. Both lines were blazing with mus- 
ketry. 



BATTLE OF OPEQUAN CREEK. 719 

Early now struck a terrible blow, determined to over- 
whelm Grover's division, take possession of the exit to the 
gorge, cut Sheridan's army in two, and then defeat it in 
detail. This plan of vivisection nearly succeeded. By some 
unexplained blunder, when Early plunged forward an order 
to retreat ran down Grover's lines; and sullenly back the 
regiments marched, pursued and fiercely beset by the Con- 
federates, sweeping down, an avalanche of steel. Sheridan 
sent word that the point must be held at all hazards ; and 
a few made a desperate stand ; while the enemy, flushed 
and eager, surged about and ingulfed them. Here Col. 
Sprague and Lieut. William C. Gardner, standing to hold th6 
position, with a handful of brave men who had heard Sheri- 
dan's orders, were captured, after delaying for a few minutes 
the rebel charge. 

Dwight's division in which was our Ninth and Twelfth, 
Upton's brigade in which was the Second Artillery, and the 
8th Corps, were now in sight, and rapidly advancing. The 
retreat of Grover's division had become precipitate. Capt. 
John Vv". DeForest of the Twelfth describes the scene in 
Harper's Magazine, — 

" Grover's find Rickett's divisions reached the base from which they 
had advanced, in a state of confusion that threatened wide-spread disaster. 
The 6th-Corps men and 19th-Corps men were crowdini^ together up the 
line of the Berryville Pike ; Avhile to the right and left of it the fields 
were dotted with fugitives, great numbers of them wounded, bursting out 
of the retiring ranks, and rushing towards the cover of the foi-est. Some 
regiments disappeared for the time as organizations. Early's veterans 
advanced [Steadily with yells of triumph and constant volleys of musketry, 
threatening to sweep away our center, and render our struggle a defeat 
almost before it became a battle. It was the bloodiest, the darkest, the 
most picturesque, the most dramatic, the onlv desperate moment of the 
day." 

Dwight's division now came steadily up ; Grover's divis- 
ion ralhed ; and both moved forward more deliberately to 
recover the lost ground. The Twelfth Connecticut Volun- 
teers advanced slowly at first, then on the double-quick, to 
the position formerly held by the Thirteenth ; and in this 
advance Col. Peck was mortallj^ wounded. He was suc- 
ceeded by Capt. S. E. Clark, who nobly led the regiment in 
the charge. The Ninth was also in the' front. The Thir- 



720 COXNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLIOK 

teenth, under Capt. William E. Bradley, again moved up. 
The Second Artillery was at the left, fighting as resolutely 
as at Cold Harbor, and again suffering terribly. 

The 8th Corps formed in dense column on the extreme 
rio-ht, and at foar, p.m., started on that brilliant charo;e which 
turned the Confederate left. The three corps and the cav- 
alry advanced simultaneously ; and Early's line was broken, 
and his forces swept through Winchester closely pursued ; 
those in the rear throwing away arms and equipments, and 
running for their lives. The First Cavalry was hanging upon 
their left flank. The victory of Opequan was complete. 
' The losses of the First Cavalry were light, although they 
had been almost constantly in the saddle and near the left 
front. 

The Second Artillery had been five hours in battle, and 
had again lost fearfully, — no less than twenty-five killed and 
one hundred and seventeen wounded. Among the killed 
were six of&cers, — Major James Q. Rice of Goshen, Capt. 
Fred. M. Berry of Kent, Lieut. Franklin J. Caudee of 
Plymouth, Lieut. James P. McCabe of Goshen, Lieut. Wil- 
liam H. Cogswell of Cornwall, and Lieut. Horace Hubbard 
of Plymouth. Col. Mackenzie and Major Jeffrey Skinner 
were among; the wounded. 

Major Rice had been a faithful soldier. He was a native 
of Sullivan County, New York, and a resident of Litchfield 
County for ten years before the war. He had graduated 
with honors at Middletown, and had been obliged to abandon 
the study of the law on account of impaired eyesight. The 
call of 1862 found him conductinsj a flourishinsr academical 
school at Goshen, assisted by his accomplished wife, a daugh- 
ter of Gen. Cook of that town. He raised a company of 
intelligent and worthy young men, and joined the Nine- 
teenth. The next month he was on the staff of Geri. 
Slough at Alexandria, Va., captain of the picket and patrol 
of the city. He gave the highest satisfaction. Li the 
spring of 1863, he was on the staff of Col. Leverett W. 
Wessells, commanding the 2d Brigade in the south defenses ; 
and the succeeding fall he was assigned to the command of 
Fort Ellsworth, an important post covering the city of 



DEATH OF COL. PECK. 721 

Alexandria. In the carnage of Cold Harbor, lie issued 
orders to the men in the midst of the storm, in the same 
clear, miruffled voice they used to hear on their brilliant dress- 
parades at Fort Ellsworth. In the battle of Winchester, he 
was struck by a grape-shot, and instantly killed. His 
remains received a soldier's burial on the field, but were 
a,fterwards removed to Goshen, and committed to earth 
with Masonic honors. 

Lieut. William Cogswell was a half-blood Indian of the 
Scoticoke 'tribe ; and there was united in him the cunning, 
endurance, strength, courage, and elasticity of spirit, that 
belong to both races. It is related of him that he would 
often carry the muskets of five or six of his weary men on 
his own broad shoulders. In fleetness, he was unsurpassed 
in the State. His comrades tell many stories of his exploits. 
The Twelfth had also lost very heavily, — eleven killed 
and sixty wounded. Among the killed were Col. Frank H. 
Peck of New Haven, Lieut. William S. Buckley of Hart- 
ford, and Lieut. George W. Stedman of Stonington. Amono" 
the wounded were Capt. A. C. Hendricks, Lieut. Edward 
Bushnell, Lieut. A. D. McCall, and Lieut. Smith Canfield. 

Col, Peck was struck in the midst of the charge. " As 
the command, ' Forward, double-quick ! ' was on his lips, a 
shell exploded within a very few feet of his head : a piece 
nearly two inches long passed through his right knee, stop- 
ping in the stirrup-strap, and wounding his horse. He was 
taken to the division hospital, where every attention was 
paid him by sympathizing friends and surgeons; but the 
shock and loss of blood was so great, that he died the next 
morning at half-past seven o'clock." ^ 

Col. Peck was born in New Haven in 1836. He entered 
Yale College at the age of sixteen, and graduated with 
credit in the class of 1856.- He studied law with fine 

1 Narrative of Chaplain James H. Bradford. 

2 The roll of honor of Yale Collcivc in connection with the war for the Union is one 
which that venerable institution may well exhibit with pride. Of graduates and under- 
graduates, the whole number of those who served ayainst the Rebellion was seven 
hundred and fifty-eight. Of these one hundred and six were killed in battle, or died of 
disease while in service. Of the seven hundred and fifty-eight in service, six hundred and 
forty held commissions. Of these, seventy-six were chaplains, one hundred and forty- 
three surgeons, and one hundied and eighteen colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors. 
Yale furnished to Connecticut regiments alone no less than twenty chaplains and iifty- 
seven surgeons and assistant surgeons ; and her proportion of the otlier officers was equally 

91 



722 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

promise ; and in 1861 went out with the Twelfth, as major. 
Col. Peck was the only regimental commander that the 
Twelfth ever intimately knew ; Cols. Deming and Colburn 
having been almost constantly on detached service. At 
Port Hudson, he was severely wounded, but led the regiment 
to the last. At New Iberia, he commanded a brigade. 
When the regiment came home on veteran furlough, four 
hundred and fifty having re-enlisted, Col. Peck responded to 
the address of Mayor Morris Tyler. From the response we 
quote : — 

"Two years ago this month, we left this city to join the army of 
Gen. Butler. Since that time, we have been in active service in the 
face of the enemy : how active that service has been four hundred 
vacancies on our rolls to-day show. But discouragements and failures 
have never yet appalled us, we assure you. On the contrary, not fo have 
re-enlisted would have seemed like abandoning the princi\)les which actuated 
us in entering the service. At a proper time, we sliall be ready to take 
the field again. And let me say, it depends upon you who remain at home, 
as much, if not more, than upon us, what the result of this contest will be. 
You who remaiu enjoying the blessings of peace should see to it that you 
are loyal in your legislation, loyal in your conversation, loyal in all things ; 
and we pledge you our lives to carry 3'our flag and our flag with honor into 
the face of the enemy." 

That pledge was gloriously redeemed. 

As has appeared in the course of this record, he was 
constantly at the front, and was a great favorite with his 
command. He had been a Democrat in politics, but now 
insisted that the war must be settled at the point of the 
bayonet. His last message to his family was, " Tell them I 
die cheerfully in the performance of my duty at t|ie front." 

Capt. S. E. Clark, in his report, says, " Lieuts. Buckley and 
Steadman were brave and efficient officers, and men of 
unimpeachal)le moral character." 

The Thirteenth had lost six killed, thirty-seven wounded, 
and thirty-one prisoners. 

Among the trophies of this victory were twenty-five hun- 
dred prisoners, five pieces of artillery, and nine battle-flags. 
The losses on both sides were heavy. During the next two 

remarkable. The Union general officers, alumni of tlie college, were I\Iajor-Gcns. 
Alfred H. Terry, Cassius M. Clay, H. W. Cenliam,-A. S. Williams, Frank P. Blair, and 
T. Runyon; aiid Brigadier-Gens. James S. Wadsworth, W. II. Noble, L. B. Parsons, 
William Birncy, 0. S. Ferry, C. H. Crane, W. B. Woods, J. A. Wilcox, J. W. Noble, 
A. W. Bishop, Edward Harland, J. C. Rice, Stewart L. Woodford, Wager Svvayne, 
J. T. Croxton, C. L. Fitzhugh, C. C. Dodge, Horatio Jenkins, and L. M. Dayton. 



SHEEIDAN IN PUESUIT OF EARLY. 723 

days, the pursuit was eagerly pushed ; and, wherever the dis- 
pirited rebels, bivouacked to get a little food and rest, they 
found Sheridan's victorious host upon them. Early did not 
pause in his retreat until he reached Fisher's Hill, near Stras- 
burg, thirty miles from Winchester. Here he seized a very 
defensible position, and fortified it. Sheridan arrived in front 
on the morning of the 22d, and prepared for immediate attack. 
The First, under Major Marcy, went around to the rear of 
the position, with two divisions of cavalry. The infantry 
corps were maneuvered for some hours ; and the Twelfth and 
Thirteenth, and Second Artillery, were brought under heavy 
fire several times during the early part of the day. At last 
an attack of cavalry was made upon the right, under cover 
of which the 8th Corps crept up, and at a dash plunged over 
the works, and drove the rebels out. An impetuous attack 
along the line completed the victory ; and again Early fled, 
leaving sixteen pieces of artillery and several hundred 
prisoners. 

Sheridan pushed on after the disorganized fugitives. 
Roads and fields were strewn with muskets, provisions, bro- 
ken wagons, wounded and exhausted men. The flight and 
pursuit were continued through Hawkinstown, Woodstock, 
Edinburgh, Mount Jackson, New Market, Harrisonburg, and 
Mount Crawford. Early had lost half his army ; and Sheri- 
dan retired at his leisure to a position behind Cedar Creek, 
near Strasburg, less distant from his base of supplies. On 
his return, he laid waste the valley, so as to render it 
untenable for the rebel army. He destroyed over two 
thousand barns filled with hay, wheat, and farming imple- 
ments ; burned more than seventy mills of flour and grain ; 
and killed or drove away over seven thousand head of cattle 
and sheep.^ 

These were weeks of hard service for the First Connecticut 
Cavalry. They had ridden to Harrisonburg, where rebel 
recruits had been ordered to rendezvous ; had fought and 
been driven at Waynesborough ; had fought and driven the 
enemy at Bridgewater ; had escorted a train to Martins- 
burg ; enjoyed an interview with the paymaster ; and sent 

3 Vide Sheridan's dispatch from the field. 



724 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

home to Connecticut twenty-five thousand dollars. On Oct. 
17, the regiment met with misfortune. Chaplain Holmes 
thus narrates it, " While a squadron were on picket at a 
place called Spring Hill, they were, just before daybreak, 
surrounded and attacked by a force of over two thousand 
rebels, two brigades of infantry, and one of cavalry under 
Gen. Rosser. Of course, resistance to such a body was vain ; 
and the whole squadron — two officers, Capt. Uriah N. Par- 
melee and Lieut. William H. Havens, with forty men — were 
compelled to surrender. Unfortunately, Major George 0. 
Marcy was with them at the time, and was taken with the 
test. He has, in the absence of Col. Blakeslee, commanded 
the regiment since Sept. 16, through the severest part of 
this Shenandoah campaign. He will be greatly missed as 
a beloved comrade and an esteemed commander. He and 
many of the others taken with him, after three years of 
faithful service, were about to leave the army for home." 

For three weeks, Sheridan's army rested at Cedar Creek. 
The men were so inspirited by repeated victory, that Early 
was not inclined to force further fighting in open field. But 
be resolved on retrieving his fortunes, and selected the night 
of Oct. 18-19 for an attack on the tlank under cover of 
darkness. Sheridan had gone to Washington, leaving Gen. 
Wright in command. The 8th Corps was on the Union left ; 
the 19th in the center ; and the 6th on the right. Early, 
re-inforced by twelve thousand fresh troops, was supposed 
to be at Fisher's Hill. 

He now gave orders for a division of his army to divert 
our right wing; while, before midnight of the 18th, he had 
begun a flank march around our left, which was admirable 
alike for the boldness of its plan and the rapidity and suc- 
cess of its execution. 

The division of the rebel Gen. Gordon was marched a 
short distance along the Manassas-gap Railroad, then turned 
westwardly around the furthest extension of the Union flank ; 
when it crept cautiously, with light steps and whisi3ered 
orders, straight up to the rear of the 8th Corps ! A heavy fog 
aided the movement as at Drury's Bluff! Artillery was 
wheeled noiselessly into position ; Gordon's division extended 



THE SUEPEISE AT CEDAR CEEEK. 725 

its right to overlap the rear of the 19th Corps ; and other 
divisions of Early's twenty thousand closed silently in upon 
the left and front. The movement was a sublime stroke of 
genius, recalling the brilliant exploits of Stonewall Jack- 
son. 

At a given signal, they rushed in and captured the Union 
j)ickets, and sprang upon the sleeping host. Across the vast 
encampment swept the rebel line, hedging in and turning to 
the rear masses of prisoners, capturing battery after batter}^, 
and wheeling the guns upon the terrified and retreating 
masses. The surprise and triumph was complete. As many of 
the hapless soldiers as had escaped instant capture charged 
through the camp of the 19th Corps, where the sleepers 
dropped the thread of their dreams, and sprang bewildered 
from their tents. Those who were not overwhelmed and 
borne away in the torrent got into line. The Twelfth Con- 
necticut, under Lieut.-Col. George N. Lewis, was one of the 
first regiments to rally, in a brigade which almost imme- 
diately thereafter was struck by the masses of Gordon's 
division in the rear. Col. Sprague says, " Most gallantly 
did that noble sister regiment uphold the honor of the State 
on this as on every other occasion. They fired three 
volleys ; but the far superior weight of the enemy crushed 
them, as an elephant would trample down a bull-dog." 
Other brigrades and divisions shared the same fate. Moli- 

o 

neux' brigade, containing the Thirteenth, rallied in the 
trenches, and made a brief resistance ; but they were soon a 
part of the general chaos. The Ninth had turned out earl^^ 
and reported at the breastworks ; but the battalion was soon 
ordered down the hill. "As we reached the foot of the 
hill," says Col. Healy " an aide of Col. Birge ordered us back 
np the hill, and we returned in good order, and delivered 
another volley at the advancing enemy." To stand long 
was impossible ; and the surging masses fell back fighting. 

Wright was now pushing the 6th Corps towards the Win- 
chester Pike to secure the line of retreat. Early struck the 
pike about the same time ; and a brief and desperate strug- 
gle ensued for the right of way. Says the narrative of 
Capt. T. F. Vaill of the Second Connecticut Artillery (in the 



726 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

6th Corps), " Our brigade Avas formed in line, filed to the 
left, and moved on a double-quick to a position where we 
were posted to check the victorious advance of the enemy, 
now in full pursuit of the routed 8th and 19th Corps. We 
lay down for shelter behind the remnants of a fence ; but it 
afforded next to no protection, and many of our men were 
killed and wounded while thus lying down. Col. Mackenzie 
was wounded in the foot, and his horse was shot dead under 
him. Some of our men, and other portions of the brigade, 
began to fire ; but it was worse than useless, for we were 
surrounded on three sides, and the rebels were marching 
upon our left, not more than thirty rods distant, with firm 
and unbroken line. In three minutes more, they would have 
been in our rear. Col. Mackenzie gave the order to retreat ; 
and it was made at first in tolerably good order, but soon 
broke into an utter rout." 

Day began at this time to dawn. The shattered frag- 
ments of the dismembered army surged back five miles 
to Middletown. Here the pursuit lost much of its vigor. 
Wright was everywhere active, directing movements of de- 
fense, and evoking order from the confusion. The rebels 
stopped to ravish the abandoned camps and to plunder the 
dead. The 8th Corps had attained the rear; and portions of 
the 6th and 19th Corps rallied at a road running across the 
valley, where the fugitives collected and re-organized. Early 
found some difficulty in rousing his men from their pil- 
laging ; and, before he was ready to charge the new position, 
Wright, resolved to contest, the passage, had established 
a firm line, and thrown skirmishers to the front. The 
Twelfth was here in order again ; and the two wings of the 
Thirteenth united, and went to the skirmish-line under Col. 
Blinn. The Ninth and the Second Artillery had also gath- 
ered compactly. 

At this pivotal moment, Sheridan, alarmed by the firing, 
came dashing in from Winchester, his black horse flecked 
with foam; and, as he rode down the ready lines, he was 
hailed with cheers and screams of welcome. At last, a part 
of Early's army paused in their depredations, and advanced 
in solid columns to the charge. They came on impetuously. 



CASUALTIES AT CEDAR CREEK. 727 

They were beaten, broken, routed, and driven wildly back- 
ward in a terrible stampede. The victors became the fugi- 
tives. The pursued were now the pursuers. Down the 
road to Cedar Creek, through the camps of the morning, 
the Confederates were driven by the angrj^ army of Sheri- 
dan ; Gen. Birge leading his division in the advance, 
and moving quickly upon the heels of the foe. The rout 
was total. 

The casualties of the Second Connecticut Artillery had 
been very heavy again ; footing up, — killed, seventeen ; 
wounded, one hundred and twelve ; and missing, sixty. The 
latter w^ere mostlj^ comprised in Company L, captured entire 
v,'hile on picket at the right front. Many of the wounded 
died of their injuries. Capt. B. F. Ilosford of West Winsted 
was among the killed • Capt. A. H. Fenn and Lieut. J. M. 
Gregory lost each an arm ; and four other officers were 
wounded. 

The Ninth had lost two killed, eighteen wounded, and ten 
missing. Among the wounded were two officers. Capt. 
Healy said in his report, — 

" I desire to make particular mention of Sergeant W. Perry and Pri- 
vate John J. Morrow, who, after the color-sergeant had been wounded, 
seized the colors, and pushed forward. These men were always in the 
advance, few if any color-bearers being able to keep up with them. 
The colors of my battalion were the first on the recaptured Avorks from 
where the 8th Corps were driven in the morning. In less than five 
minutes, no less than a dozen stands of colors were around us." 

The losses of the Twelfth had been terrible ; no less than 
twenty-two being killed outright, fifty-five wounded, and 
ninety-two made prisoners ; total, one hundred and seventy.* 
The casualties were mostly suffered in the attack at day- 
break, when it changed front, and plunged into the thickest 
of the fight to defend the assailed position. During the 
repulse, the regiment was exposed to an enfilading fire, caus- 
ing many to seek refuge in a ditch, where they were made 

* "In the course of a few days, the bodies of all the men of the Twelfth who had follen 
on the field were collected, and'decently buried within a neat little inclosure, — a substan- 
tial head-board at each gjrave, the whole sodded smoothly, and inclosed by a cedar rail- 
fence, and, a little later, by young trees planted along the fence. "We could do no more for 
them. That little mound has been visited by thousands, attracted to the spot to honor 
the regiment that honor tdeir dead. Every company is rcprescut< d there, — a monument to 
the valor and courage of the Twelfth Connecticut, — two officers and twenty men, who 
heroically gave their lives for their country." — Narrative by Chaplain J. H. Bradford. 



728 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

prisoners. Among the killed were Capt. John P. Lowell of 
New Haven, and Lieut Horace E. Phelps of Windsor Locks. 
Among the wounded were Lieut. George M. Benton, Lieut. 
William Berry, Lieut. E. W. Bushnell, Lieut. John Mullen, 
Lieut. Francis Smith, and Lieut. Alexander Cohn. Lieut. 
Benton suffered amputation of a leg, and died two weeks 
thereafter. He was a generous, noble-hearted, brave man, 
and was sincerely and widely mourned. 

Capt. Lowell was a very efficient officer. He had been 
promoted from a lieutenant. In Louisiana, after eight hours' 
labor, he put in running order a locomotive which the rebels 
thought they had entirely disabled. He and Lieut. Phelps 
led their companies fearlessly at Cedar Creek, and died " in 
the high places of battle." 

Serojeant Charles E. McGlaflin of Hartford received a mor- 
tal wound in this campaign. A Minie-ball entered near his 
left eye, and lodged in his head, beyond reach of the surgeon. 
He returned home ; but the wound induced a paralytic shock, 
of which he died. He was a member of Hawley's three- 
months' company, and one of the first volunteers of the 
w^ar. 

The Thirteenth, under Col. Blinn, had lost two killed, 
eighteen wounded, and nine missing. "Among the killed," 
says Col. Sprague, " was our brave color-sergeant, George A. 
Winslow of Killingly. He fell, pierced through the fore- 
head by a rifle-ball, beneath the folds of the flag he bore so 
gallantly and loved so well." Among the wounded was 
Major Comstock, whose hand was badly cut by a fragment 
of shell. Capt. Frank Welles of Litchfield received honor- 
able notice for his conduct at the battle. 

The First Connecticut Cavalry had an honorable part in 
the battle of Cedar Creek. The regiment participated in 
the disaster of the morning and the subsequent successes; 
and at four o'clock, under Capt. E. W. French, was ordered by 
Custar to charge the rebel cavalry on the flank of the retreat- 
ing artillery. Chaplain Holmes says, " The regiment charged 
up the hill, with an ardor and a spirit that were warmly com- 
mended by the general and his staff, who watched with some 
anxiety the result ; but when they reached the top, and drove 



LIFE OF THE SEVENTEENTH IN FLOEIDA. 729 

the enemy flying before them, their shout of exultation was 
taken up by the division waiting below." Custer instantly 
wheeled his division over the hill, and captured the rebel 
battery, which was thus uncovered. , . 

During the pursuit, the artillery lost in the morning was 
recaptured, and twenty-three pieces in addition. The Con- 
federates lost two thousand killed and wounded, and fifteen 
hundred prisoners. Our cavalry followed the victory with 
rapid steps and ready sabers ; and Early, in despair, lied from 
the Shenandoah, with the wreck of an army, never to re- 
turn. 



After Col. Joseph R Hawley left Florida with his brigade 
for the Army of the James, in April, 1864, Col. William H. 
Noble moved down from Jacksonville, and took command of 
the post at St. Augustine, supported by the Seventeenth, 
and the rest of his brigade. 

Already Major Allen G. Brady of Torrington (lieutenant- 
colonel of the Third in the three-months' service) had been 
transferred from the Seventeenth to the Invalid Corps, and 
Capt. Henry Allen of Norwalk had succeeded him; while 
Capt. Albert H. Wilcoxson of Norwalk, who served as first 
adjutant of the regiment, was promoted to be the third 
lieutenant-colonel, in place of the gallant Douglass Fowler. 
The appointments proved the very ones to be made. 

The Seventeenth led no holiday life in Florida. Most of 
the troops of the department had gone North ; and the few 
that remained had increased burdens in picket and flxtigue- 
duty. On April 25, Col. Noble started on a foraging raid 
w^itli a large part of his brigade, including the Seventeenth, 
to Volusia, seventy-five miles up the St. John's River. 
Straight south through the State they went, through the 
picturesque scenery of the everglades, through vast piney 
woods and immense cypress-swamps and lagoons all day. 
They marched twenty miles, and bivouacked as the ^^ellow 
light of sunset played through the oaks, and turned to gold 
the changeful foliage and the swaying tassels of long moss. 
Ten minutes after the halt, officers and men were uproarious 



92 



730 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

with excitement over the discovery of shad in the river. 
Squads went eagerly at the pastime of anghng, and through 
the evening plied their seductive arts. There was more 
fishing thai) fish; but the boys caught an appetite if not 
a supper, and retired with somewhat modified merriment to 
their banquet of pork and coffee. 

The next day, by a forced march, they arrived at their 
destination, captured a large amount of property, and re- 
turned to St. Augustine in three days more ; driving before 
them a thousand head of cattle, and bearing much other 
valuable spoil. 

The officers and men cultivated amicable relations with 
the citizens of the ancient town of St. Augustine. Col. 
Noble won the esteem and respect of the peoj)le, while per- 
forming his duty strictly and faithfully. 

Early in May, there was another memorable raid under 
Gen. William Birney, commanding the district, in which six 
thousand cattle were brought in. Picket-posts were estab- 
lished by Birney at Walaka and Saunders, on the St. John's, 
about eighty miles from St. Augustine ; and Capt. Charles 
A. Hobbie of Darien, and Lieut. John Harvey of Stamford, 
with a portion of Company B, were placed there on duty. 
The rebel cavalry soon dashed down upon them, and cap- 
tured the whole, after a short fight, — thirty-nine men in all. 
Another picket had been established at Volusia, under Capt. 
Enos Kellog of New Canaan, and Lieuts. Albert W. Peck of 
Bridgeport and George B. Ruggles ; and it was supposed to 
be lost: but communications were re-opened. The picket 
owed its safety to the precaution of the officers in setting 
the camp on an open field where they could not be sur- 
prised. They were soon withdrawn, leaving many Union 
citizens without protection. 

Although the regiment was nominally in garrison at 
St. Augustine, a raid somewhere was made almost every 
week. 

On June 1, Col. Noble, with his brigade of about twelve 
hundred men, marched from Jacksonville towards St. Mary's, 
to attack the formidable rebel earth-works on McGisto Creek. 
The force crossed quietly in boats ; and the position was as- 



A COMPANY OF FLORIDIAN CAVALRY. 731 

saulted in the rear. The men were led to the attack in 
column by companies, and, on coming near, were deploj'ed 
in double lines of battle. A few of the skirmishers were 
wounded, and the rebel skirmish-line was driven in. The 
enemy, taken in flank and rear, fled without firing a gun 
from the fort, leaving many arms, and extensive earth-works 
three miles lono-. The works never could have been taken 
by attack in front, except by a very large force or a regular 
siege. The bridges in the vicinity were destroyed ; the cap- 
tured property gathered, and sent to the rear ; the buildings 
burned ; and the place evacuated next day. The brigade 
returned to Jacksonville greatly fatigued with the long 
march and considerable privation. " I do not think," says 
Col. Noble in a letter, " that our whole march for a month 
after Lee was more exhausting and enervating than the six- 
days' raid of last week." 

The Fourth of July was duly celebrated : the bells were 
rung, a cannon was fired upon the plaza, and the national 
flag floated from the ramparts of Fort Marion, the oldest 
fortress in the United States, — the ancient Spanish " Cas- 
tillo de San Marco." Citizens and soldiers assembled; and 
the Declaration of Independence was read by Lieut.-Col. 
"Wilcoxson. 

On July 18, Capt. William L. Hubbell of Bridgeport, with 
three companies, marched to Picolata, on the St. John's, 
eighteen miles from St. Auorustine, and remained until Aug. 
29, when he returned with Company D to headquarters; 
leaving C and K under Capt. Wilson French of Stratford. 
On July 22, Lieut.-Col. Wilcoxson went to Jacksonville with 
Companies A, E, F, and H, and joined an expedition organ- 
izing under Gen. Birney. Col. Noble commanded the entire 
infantry force, and a light battery, and a company of home 
cavalry, in the expedition. " The cavalry," said Col. Noble 
in a letter, " were a body of mounted Floridians, commonly 
called 'crackers; ' and Falstafl^'s men in buckram could form 
no comparison to them in appearance. They were of all sorts 
and sizes, and arrayed in all kinds of homespun disuniform, 
from gray-back to butternut, and all intervening shades, 
mounted on horses ranging from the pony, weighing about as 



732 COFNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

much as his rider, up to a sizable animal. Modern times have 
seen few such cavalcades." Moving up the St. John's and 
Black Creek, the force landed near Middlebury ; and by 
three days' rapid marching reached a point in rear of 
Baldwin, a stronghold of the rebels. The enemy fled 
on the approach of the Union troops, after a short skirmish 
between the cavalry. The detachment of the Seventeenth 
remained at Baldwin, without tents or a change of clothing, 
until Aug. 5 ; and then returned to Jacksonville, and went 
by boat to Magnolia, a point twenty-five miles up the river, 
where Col. Noble assumed command. 

On Sept. 1, Companies A, C, I, and K, constituted the gar- 
rison at Picolata, commanded by Major Allen. Lieut.-Col. 
Wilcoxson was with the rest of the regiment at St. Augus- 
tine. 

Early in December, Col. Noble, hearing that the rebel 
conscription officers had headquarters at Enterprise, one 
hundred and fifty miles south, determined on capturing the 
place. He made a rapid raid, dashed on them in the 
evening, and captured them assembled in a militia meeting. 
Twenty-nine rebels were tal^en prisoners, including the bold 
guerrilla chief, Col. Watson. Forty horses and other spoils 
were also taken back to camp. But the rebels had speedy 
revenG[;e for the audacious achievement. 

On Dec. 22, Col. Noble left Jacksonville, where he had 
been attending a general court-martial, to return over- 
land to St. Augustine. He refused to take a guard, on 
account of the supposed safety of the route. When he 
had ridden about half the distance, three rebels dashed out 
of the woods in front and rear, and made him prisoner. He 
was taken to Andersonville and other prisons, and finally 
released in March, 18G5. He was 'deeply impressed by the 
horrors of that place ; and, on the way home, he lectured in 
Vicksburg, Miss., on behalf of the tortured prisoners re- 
leased with him. 

It was now proposed to send the Seventeenth to Hilton 
Head; but at the earnest request of Gen. Hatch, then com- 
manding the district of Florida, it remained. 

On Feb. 3, 1865, the rebel guerrilla, Capt. Dickinson, 



CAPTUKE AND DEATH OF LIETJT.-COL. WILCOXSOX. 733 

dashed across the St. John's River, and captured an out- 
post nine miles from St. Augustine, and made prisoners 
of Capt. Henry Quien and Lieut. George B. Ruggles, and 
eleven enlisted men of the Seventeenth, near the house of 
one Salana. 

Of another unfortunate affair next day, Major Henry 
Allen reports to the adjutant-general from St. Augus- 
tine : — 

" An expedition under command of Lieut. -Col. A. H. Wilcoxsou 
started from this post on the 3d of February, with four officers, including 
himself and thirty-six men (all belonging to the Seventeenth Connecticut 
Volunteers), and ten wagons, for the purpose of procuring some cotton 
belonging to a rebel colonel, which was stored in a house near Dunn's 
Lake, about seventy-five miles from here. 

" He had got the cotton, and was about seven miles from there on his 
return, when he was attacked by Capt. Dickinson, Avith some eighty men. 
The colonel was wounded, and taken prisoner ; the adjutant, Lieut. H. 
"Whitney Chatfield, was instantly killed in a hand-to-hand encounter with 
the enemy ; and Capts. Wilson French and Frederick C. Betts, and thirty- 
two of the men, were taken prisoners. The brave young Chatfield fell, 
shot through and through the body. He was in the act of cutting his way 
through the rebels when he received the mortal wound. He died as he 
had lived, a courageous soldier, and an honor to the State and our country." 

It appears, that, when Wilcoxson was ordered by the 
general commanding to send a force for the cotton, he 
regarded it as an imprudent and hazardous expedition, and 
so resolved to lead it himself The attack was so sudden, 
and by such an overwhelming force, that little effective re- 
sistance could be made. The 'mounted oflicers in the rear 
were first attacked. Lieut.-Col. Wilcoxson fought with his 
pistols, and received two severe wounds. He would not 
surrender ; but, when his horse was shot dead and fell upon 
him, he was captured. The brave man could not walk ; but 
was taken to a rebel hospital in Tallahassee, where, away 
from friends, and lacking the presence of his loving wife, 
who waited for him at St. Augustine, he died alone, and in 
the night. There seems to have been avarice and possibly 
cruelty practiced towards him in his last hours. He is 
believed to have had money about him ; and the rebel 
surgeon. Dr. Miner, still sports a valuable Masonic ring taken 
from the finger of his deceased patient, and refuses to sur- 
render it to the aflflicted widow. 



734 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Albert H. Wilcoxson was born in Huntington, in 1834, 
and passed his youth in the rough country near the bounda- 
ries of Seymour and Oxford. He was athletic and vigorous 
— first in all boyish games. He was also an apt scholar, 
and was studying for the ministry when the war called him 
to the field. He enlisted as a private soldier; was made 
adjutant, then captain, of Douglass Fowler's company ; then 
lieutenant-colonel over all officers intervening. He had ease, 
self command, and dignity as an officer ; and was enthusiastic 
in the performance of every duty. He was cheerful and 
genial in his disposition, fluent and often witty in conversa- 
tion, in character upright and honorable, firm in conviction, 
prompt and energetic in action. When the second call for 
three-years' troops came, he quietly said, '• That call is for 
me;" and straightway ended the course of theological study 
he was pursuing with Rev. Dr. Mead of Norwalk, bade adieu 
to his wife, and went at once. Before leaving the State, he 
prepared a brief, frank, and half-playful but truthful auto- 
biography, in which he made grateful recognition of the 
loving-kindness of God in keeping him from being " the 
slave of appetite or of any vice or licentiousness." 

Adjutant Henry Whitney Chatfield of Bridgeport, went 
out as a private in the Seventeeth at the age of eighteen. 
Being a young man of education, he was detached for service 
under Adjutant Wilcoxson, and afterwards at the head- 
quarters of Adjutant-Gen. Meisenburg, where he was a great 
favorite. He was promoted to be adjutant for his distin- 
guished gallantry at Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg, Lieut.- 
Col. Fowler was shot dead by his side : Chatfield's horse was 
killed, his haversack torn in pieces, and a Revolutionary 
sword at his side broken into' fragments ; yet he was un- 
harmed. While on Morris Island, he volunteered with the 
other officers of the brigade to storm Fort Sumter, when 
its defenders were bewildered under the first crash of Gil- 
more's batteries. In Florida, he was adjutant of the 
brigade. Gen. Noble writes of him, " The loss of young 
Chatfield was sadly felt by a large circle of friends in and 
out of the army. He was a true man and a brave soldier, 
who served from convictions of duty and patriotic devo- 



THE SEVENTEENTH IN GARKISON AT ST. AUGUSTINE. 735 

tion. With a heart as true as steel, and brave as the brav- 
est, there was a charm of genial gentleness which attracted 
all, and made him friends wherever he went." 

Albert 0. Seeley of Darien died Jan. 5, 1865. He was 
captured at Gettysburg, released, captured again in Florida, 
and dragged out long and dismal months at Andersonville. 
No rations whatever were issued to his party for three days 
after release from prison; and the privation brought him 
very low. Notwithstanding the care he afterwards received, 
he sank steadily, and died. He was a man of correct habits 
and high character, and a faithful and uncomplaining 
soldier. 

From the 1st of March, 18G5, until the 7th of June, the 
headquarters, and the largest portion of the Seventeenth, 
remained at St. Augustine ; the regiment having garrisoned 
the town and its fort more than a year. About the middle 
of May, Companies G and I, under Lieut. Charles Smith of 
Ptidge field and Lieut. Henry North of Bridgeport, were 
ordered to garrison Tallahassee, the capital of the State. 
At the same time. Companies C, F, and H, under Capt. Enos 
Kellogg of New Canaan, were detailed to hold Lake City, 
a considerable place near the Olustee battle-ground ; the 
second in command beins; Lieut. WilHam L. Daniels of Dan- 
bury. " The conduct of these companies," says Col. Noble 
in his final report, " separated so far from the regiment, at 
towns lately captured from the enemy, was most admirable 
for discipline, military bearing, and decorum ; while they 
commanded good order in these communities, and respect 
for the authority of the Union and her soldiers. The de- 
portment of these detachments is but another proof of the 
o;ood character of the regiment." 

Major Allen had now become lieutenant-colonel,^ and 
Capt. William L. Hubbell was promoted to be major. On 
June 9, the regiment was relieved at St. Augustine, and 

^ Lieut. -Col. Allen was born in Nonvalk in 1842. He sensed in the three - months' 
campaign as a private in the 71st New- York, and re-entered the service as lieutenant in 
the Seventeenth Connecticut Volunteers. On transmitting his promotion to lieutenant- 
colonel, Col. Noble said, " Your good conduct and soldierly bearing alone have secured 
your advancement." His only brother was killed in front of Petersburg, and his lather 
commanded the steamer Hussar during the war. On muster-out, Col. Allen was exam- 
ined by a board of officers, and recommended for a captaincy in the regular army, a posi- 
tion which he declined. 



736 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

ordered to Hilton Head, via Jacksonville. Arriving at the 
latter place, it was detained by Gen. Vodges, and kept at 
work for weeks in the reconstruction of the Tallahassee 
Railroad. About the 7th of July, Lieut.-Col. Allen succeeded 
in getting all but one hundred and twenty-five recruits 
transported to Hilton Head. Col. Noble received the brevet 
rank of brigadier-general. 




CHAPTER XLII. 

Prison Experience of our Soldiers. — Testimony of a Confederate Surgeon. — Experience 
of Weston Ferris on Belle Isle. — Great Privation and Suffering. — Condition of Pris- 
oners at Camp Ford, Tex. — Gen. E. M. Lee in Libby. — Capture of Major Sanford 
and Men of the Seventh. — Adventures of Three Oflieers of the Sixteenth. — Fidelity 
of Surgeon Niekcrson. — Thrilling Narrative of Lieut. Bailey. — Deaths at Anderson- 
ville. — Incidents of Martyrdom. 

E have already narrated something of the prison- 
experience of the soldiers of Connecticut. They 
occupied at one time or another every military 
duugeon and stockade of the South, and shared, 
as has been seen, their starvation, exposure, and 
death-laden atmosphere. The world has shuddered at these 
pictures of wretchedness, — the hopeless prisoners wandering 
wearily across the dead-line, and askiug to be shot rather 
than longer endure the torture ; the invalids, their feeble 
bodies made the home of thousands of writhing worms, while 
yet the tenement of an immortal soul ; the skeletons crawling 
northward to Annapolis like so many graveyard specters. 

Shocking to contemplate, all this, even when we remember 
the utter exigencies of the rebels thenxselves ! It is probably 
true, that while these prisoners were on half-rations, or less, 
the rebel soldiers were on half-rations, and came flocking 
through our lines by thousands, — a squalid throng, — because 
they could not get enough to eat ; that the Confederate armies 
were always in such a strait, that so few soldiers were left to 
guard the prisons, that a discipline inhumanly rigid seemed' 
to them the only resource ; that starvation resulted as much 
from the coarse quality as from the meager quantity of the 
food served. 

Many will believe that the destruction of prisoners entered 
into the Confederate plan of warfare for the reduction of tlie 

93 7.37 



738 CONNECTICUT DUPJNG THE REBELLION, 

Union army ; that starvation, killing without cause, and the 
introduction of fatal diseases, was the deliberate purpose of 
the leaders ; and that this unexpressed wish was instinctively 
excuted by the subordinates. Many others will now and 
always hesitate to believe any thing so diabolical of Ameri- 
cans, — a complication of dastardly and cowardly crimes, from 
which even the most barbarous nations would recoil. 

We have only to deal with facts. Prof Ellerslie Wallace 
of Philadelphia has made an official report of the condi- 
tion of Southern prisoners, in which he states that the maxi- 
mum average amount of solid food given per day was eigh- 
teen ounces, and the minimum average five ounces: whereas, 
it requires thirty to forty ounces to keep the system of an 
adult male in proper condition. Prof Joseph Jones of 
Augusta, Ga., made to the Confederate authorities an official 
report, dated Oct. 19, 1864, presenting a loathsome picture 
of the sanitary condition of the prisoners at Andersonville. 
From this we extract : " More than thirty thousand men 
crowded upon twenty-seven acres of land, with little or no 
shelter from the intense heat of a Southern summer, or from 
the rain and dew; with coarse corn-bread, from which the 
hull had not been removed ; with scant supplies of fresh 
meat and vegetables ; with little or no attention to hygiene ; 
with festering masses of filth at the very doors of their rude 
dens and huts ; with the greater portion of the banks of the 
stream flowing through the stockade, a filthy quagmire of 
human excrements, alive with working maggots generating 
by their own filthy exhalations and excretions an atmosphere 
that so deteriorated and contaminated their solids and fluids, 
that the slightest scratch on the surface, even the bites of 
small insects, were frequently followed by such rapid and ex- 
tensive gangrene as to destroy the extremities, and even life 
itself. ... In this state, the muscular strength was rapidly 
diminished, the tissues wasted ; and the thin, skeleton-like 
forms moved about with the appearance of utter exhaustion 
and dejection." 

Major Charles Farnsworth and twenty-four of his men, 
captured in Virginia on July 14, 1863, were detained for 



CRUEL TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 739 

many months in prison <at Richmond. One of these, Weston 
Ferris of New Canaan, has furnished us with a record of his 
experience, some extracts of which we subjoin : — 

"The rebels hurried us on to Charlestown, fearing that 
our cavahy would recapture us. We here turned over our 
horses, each rebel claiming the one he captured as his 
private property. After a disagreeable march of six miles 
through the mud to Gen. Jones's headquarters, we were all 
ordered to lie down as closely as possible on the ground. 
The major and I shared our small blankets, and the rebels 
lent us another. The major took a quart cup for a pillow ; 
I a canteen. It rained hard almost all night. We made 
a breakfast of the rations we still had. In the mornins;, we 
walked to Winchester, eighteen miles.- Here we were quar- 
tered in the old Court House, and staid a week, until it was 
crowded with prisoners. By this time, there were three 
hundred of us; one-half being sick or wounded. Our 
rations were a pound of flour and a pound of fresh beef 
a day. We made the flour into dough, and cooked it in the 
ashes. This was the programme for the rest of the way, — 
march all day, and cook all night or go hungry. 

"Arrived at Culpeper, we were put into cattle-cars, Avitli- 
out any thing to eat that day, and hurried forward. 
At Gordonsville, we each received five pieces of hard-tack 
and one-third of a pound of bacon, and sped to Richmond. 
On our arrival, boys came around with cakes, pies, &c., which 
the guard would not let us purchase ; but demanded oiir 
watches and money, and threatened that if any thing was 
kept it would be confiscated. Much was given ujo ; but 
considerable money was concealed and retained. They 
even robbed us of most of our cups as we passed over to 
Belle Isle. 

" Belle Island is in the James River, opposite Richmond. 
It is approached from Manchester by a bridge ; from Rich- 
mond, by a scow pushed with poles. The upper part of the 
island is broken and rocky : the lower part comprises 
about twenty-five acres of sandy plain ; and here the famous 
prison-pen was set. This was merely a patch of ground 
inclosed by an embankment of earth, with a ditch inside of 



740 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

it. At this time, the inclosuue was one hundred and thirty- 
five yards long, and eighty-five yards wide. About four 
hundred old tents and eighty Sibley tents were pitched here. 
We were all counted off into squads of ninety men in a 
mess. I was placed in charge of mess No. 40. We found 
the tents all full ; so we had to occupy the streets, where 
we were alternately soaked by the rain, and blistered by the 
hot sun. The nights were always damp and chilly. In the 
daytime, the sand was like an oven. The shades along 
the bank were forbidden us. 

"We drew rations twice a day. Our breakfast was for 
each a quarter of a loaf of bread, and two ounces of fresh 
beef; and for supper we had the same quantitj^ of bread, 
and half a pint of bean or rice soup. This last consisted 
of a few table-spoon fills of beans or rice to a pailful of 
water; and the men used to call their soup 'James- 
river water.' The cooking was all done outside by detailed 
prisoners ; and those who had kept any money gave it to the 
officers for the privilege of going to cook. About the first 
of August, a thousand of the sick were exchanged, and 
there was much plotting to get upon the sick-list that day. 
Next day, we were all driven out, and again searched for 
money. A rebel sergeant of the name of Samuel Hyatt 
had immediate charge of the prisoners. He was a fiend in 
human shape, and spent much of liis time contriving means 
of torture. Commissary Roe was also a mean and cruel 
m'an. I have seen him knock men down for picking up 
crumbs from the flour of the cook-house. He used to 
sweep up tlie crumbs, and sell to the prisoners. 

" What we received seemed only to aggravate our hunger ; 
and even then, if we were not there at the moment, the 
whole squad would lose their rations. Men would stand 
for hours and watch the cook-house, so painfully were the 
pangs of hunger felt. We were at last driven to extremities. 
Hunger haunted our dreams. Men would often lie down at 
night naming over the choice dishes they would have 
when they got home again. Alas ! how few of them ever 
reached home — except that home where hunger never 
comes. 



IN PRISON AT BELLE ISLAND. 741 

"We counted the hours before the next scanty allowance. 
Nothing was wasted. Men wotdd chew up the bones 
like dogs. If a bofle was by any chance flung into the street, 
it would be greedily seized by some hungry man, who would 
crush it with a stone, and suck it to extract more nourish- 
ment. Some would keep the corpse of a dead comrade in 
their tents for several days for the purpose of drawing his 
rations. 

'• Dogs we came to consider a luxury. If one visited 
the inclosure, he was a gone dog. The lieutenant had a 
nice, fat bull-dog which he prized highly. One morning all 
that could be found of the dog was his hide. The owner 
said, if he could find out who ate it he would shoot him. 

" There were now three thousand of us on the island. We 
suffered greatly for water. Our only supply was from bar- 
rels sunk in the sand of the prison-pen. These were fed 
very slowly ; and sometimes I have seen twenty at each 
barrel, the foremost waiting for the water to run in, and the 
rest waiting their turn. We used to get up in tJie night 
w'hen the barrels were full, and pour water on each other 
to wash. In the same way, we washed our clothes. Soap 
was a luxury not often indulged in. We bought all we had. 

"After a while, a brisk trade was carried on with the 
guard. They stealthily brought food across in boats at night, 
landing on the back part of the island ;■ then watched their 
chance to bring it over to us. If they were caught, they lost 
their goods, and were punished. There were sotne houses 
on the island, and they drove a business in making pies and 
biscuit for us. The pies were made of dried apples, and the 
crust without shortening; so they were not liable to smash 
by being flung over the fence. They cost about a dollar 
apiece. The rebel sergeant, Hyatt, caught a fellow trading 
with the guard one day, and took him out to search him for 
his money. The prisoner had a ten-dollar bill, which he put 
in his watch-pocket, and crammed a wet quid of tobacco in 
atop of it. The sergeant, when he came to the fresh quid, 
searched no farther, but snapped his fingers, and said, ' Go 
into camp, you nasty rascal!' Rations grew worse and 
scantier. Our numbers increased. Thomas Carver, a tent- 



742 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

mate, and myself, drove for a time a tb riving trade with 
a gold ring and set of studs ; but these gave out, and our 
last resource was gone. I grew weak from want of food, so 
that I could walk with difficulty. Men died rapidly. At 
last, new clothing came from our government; and again we 
were protected from the weather. But many would ex- 
change their clothes for food, then die for want of clothing. 
A few boxes came from home ; but the rebels finally refused 
to deliver them, and hundreds lay in storehouse. 

"By January of 1864, the whole number in j^ri^^on was 
swelled to nine or ten thousand ; and the camp was packed 
full. The small bundle of wood that had been allowed to 
each squad was now cut off; and a great many had their 
feet frozen, while several froze to death. 

"About this time, Major Farnsworth, confined in Libby, 
sent me five dollars, which was a great relief I bought 
bread, and distributed to the members of the First Cavalry. 
He afterwards sent us two boxes containing coffee, sugar, 
tea, crackers, cheese, codfish, fruit, books, and soap. The 
box was sent him from home, and he generously transferred 
it to us. That unselfishness, doubtless, saved some of our 
lives. Major Farnsworth came over on Jan. 27 with the 
officers, dealimi; out clothino;. How much arood it did us to 
look again upon his cheerful, kindly face ! He told me se- 
cretly of the tunnel they were digging, and gave me a map 
of the route to our lines, in case I should get a chance to 
escape. Occasional attempts were made, and many poor 
fellows were shot or drowned. 

" About the 1st of February, our meat-rations — three or 
four mouthfuls a day — were stopped. The men grew weak 
very fast in consequence. I felt the change very sensibly. 
Considerable of our time was occupied every day in search- 
nvj- our clothes for the natives of the island. The cold did 
not seem to trouble them much. The ground of the prison 
was alive with them. Examininu; our clothins; for these 
' gray-backs,' as the boys named them, was called going 
skirmishing. . If brisk skirmishing was not kept up every da}-, 
they increased very fast. I have seen men completely 
covered with them ; so that you could not jDut your finger 
on them without touchiniJ: vermin." 



TREATMENT OF PRISONERS IN TEXAS. 743 

During February, these men were most of them (includ- 
ing the Connecticut men) taken to Anclersonville, where 
they shared the starvation, exposures, and tortures of that 
horrible pen. 

Some facts have already been given concerning the cap- 
ture of a part of the officers and men of the Twenty-third, 
and their imprisonment at Camp Ford, Tex. A few of 
the Twelfth and Twenty-fifth were confined at the same 
place. A correspondent writes from New Orleans, on the 
return of the prisoners, — 

" The stockade at Tyler, or rather at Camp Ford which is somewhere 
about four miles from Tyler, consists of an inclosure made of pine-trees, 
cut some seventeen feet in length, split in half, and set upright in the 
ground ; making a stockade some fifteen feet in hight. The size originally 
was an area of about two acres, which was, however, enlarged after the 
Red-river expedition to embrace some seven acres in extent. There, in 
that pen, some four thousand five hundred of our men have been cooped in 
hunger, nakedness, filth, and wretchedness, for months past ; and until the 
last of June no means were allowed to the men for removing the filth 
which had during the time accumulated inside their inclosure. 

" During all last winter, our men were barefooted almost to a mau ; 
many had no shirts ; scarcely any one had any blanket at all in which to 
wrap his shivering limbs from the winds ; Avood was doled out in quantities 
insufficient even to cook their scant rations of corn-meal and hard corned 
beef. To be explicit, two sticks of cord-wood were issued per week to 
cook the rations of a mess of twelve men ; and this was packed in on the 
men's back, from the adjacent forests, under strict guard. Not even straw 
was permitted to the shivering men. 

"• It would be absolutely impossible in words to express to your readers 
the abject squalor, destitution, and Avretchedness of these noble sokliers, as 
they filed up past the headquarters of Gen. Cauby, on St. Charles Street, 
on their way Irom the boat, to the quarters assigned them in the Alabama 
and Factors' cotton-presses. With scarcely an exception, they Avere bare- 
footed ; ragged to a degree that can not be conceived of; many were abso- 
lutely destitute of sufficient rags to fulfill the requirements of common 
decency ; large numbers were without shirts or hats of any kind, infested 
with vermin, their dingy rags fliUtering in the wind, and bound upon their 
persons wilh strips of bark and strings ; but they marched into New 
Orleans proudly, in spite of their squalor ; and with stout loyal hearts 
cheered tlie old flag iu defense of which they have so cruelly and need- 
lessly suffered." 

Gen. E. M. Lee of the Michigan cavalry, a native, and now 
a resident, of Guilford, Conn., wrote from Libby Prison in 
December, 1863, "The authorities here have ceased to re- 
ceive stores from associations or private individuals at the 



744 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

North, so I am now reduced to the inconsiderahle rations is- 
sued by the South to its soldiers and prisoners. Hunger stares 
us in the face, but does not frighten me. Better men than I 
have suffered ; better men than I have died. The last fate 
may not necessarily be mine, however ; for the rations sup- 
plied will keep soul and body together. My health, too, is 
excellent ; so you see I am well qualified for the experience 
which will go to make up a part of the great problem of 
life we are all trying to solve. Never believe that I am dis- 
heartened ; for ' none of these things move me.' No human 
misfortune can swerve me from the purpose to live or die 
for the Union." 

Major 0. S. Sanford was captured with a company of the 
Seventh, in the summer of 1864. A correspondent relates 
some incidents that followed: — 

" Col. Rutletlge, of one of the North-Carolina regiments, ordered the 
guard to take oil' Major Sanford's overcoat, and bring it to him. There 
being no alternative, the major gave it up ; but, upon arriving at the liead- 
quarters of Gen. Bushrod Jolinston, they stated the case to Major Watts, 
Gen. Johnston's adjutant-general, a very gentlemanly officer, and a former 
graduate of West Point, whom they had met several times by flag-of-truce. 
He reported it to Gen. Johnston, whereupon the general sent down to 
Col. Rutledge, and ordered the coat given up immediately ; and it was 
brought back and returned to the major. About one hundred of the 
enlisted men of the regiment were captured at the same time they were ; 
and on the march from Bermuda Hundred to Petersbm-g, as they were 
resting by the side of a brook, Gen. Wise (Ex-Gov. Wise) rode along and 

stopped «to give his horse a drink, and accosted the men with, ' You d d 

white niggers and d d black abolitionists, don't you tliiuk you ought 

to be ashamed of yourselves, down here lighting to get our niggers away 

from us? D n you ! every one of you ought to be sold like niggers, and 

sent into the field ! " 

The escape and recapture of several officers of the Six- 
teenth, including Capts. Thomas A.' Burke, T. B. Robinson, 
and A. A. Dickerson, has been referred to ; also their final 
escape from Camp Sorghum, near Columbia, S.C. Of this 
last adventure, Capt. Dickerson writes, — 

" Upon the evening of the 3d of November, 18G4, a large number of 
officers were paroled lor the purpose of bringing wood for cooking and 
building purposes. Three of us — Capts. Burke, Robinson, and myself — 
finished getting Avood, saAV our paroles destroyed, returned to camp, and, 
alter a shoit time, recrosscd tlie guard-line, and, unsuspected, made our 
way to the woods. We kept slowly through the woods, uutil we were 



ESCAPING FEOM CAPTIVITY. 745 

safely beyond the reach of the rebels. Night coming on, "\ve traveled 
through the fields and woods, until we struck a road which ran parallel 
with the Congaree River ; and traveled southward about twelve miles. We 
then left the public road, and traveled through the woods, toward the 
river, which was about eight miles distant. Upon the afternoon of the 
4fh, we fell in Avith five other of our escaped prisoners fiom the same 
camp, who escaped two nights previous to ourselves by bribing the guard. 
They had been in the swamp two days, and had made an arrangement 
with the negroes for provisions, and information where two boats could be 
found. We joined our parties ; and in the evening the negroes met us, and 
furnished us with the promised necessaries. Proceeding to the river, 
which was about two miles distant, we found the boats, which accommodated 
all of us. At about eleven o'clock, all things being ready, we embarked 
in our boats, and paddled down the river. Early in the morning, wc lauded, 
having secured a hiding-place for our boats and ourselves, and devoted the 
day to cooking and sleep. Darkness again found us upon the river ; and 
we soon passed the bridge of the South-Carolina Railroad, which was 
guarded by sentries ; paddled all night ; and again secured ourselves for 
the day. 

" While engaged, some in cooking, others in sleep, our attention was 
attracted by loud talking ; and soon we discovered a boat below us, upon 
the river, being poled up the river by negroes. One of our party posted 
himself upon the bank of the river, wliere he could hail the boat without 
discovering the presence of the rest of the party, and, hailing the negro in 
charge of the boat, informed him that he was in want of provisions. The 
negro replied that he had no time to stop, and persisted in keeping on his 
course. When all entreaty failed, the captain told him that he was a 
'Yankee' officer, escaped from rebel prison, making his way North, and 
needed provisions, and information regarding obstructions in tlie river. 
The negro no sooner learned his true character than he immediately 
landed, secured his boat, staid with us all day, cooking rations, and giving 
very valuable information. lie claimed, in return for his service, a sight 
of the rest of the party, whom he had instinctive shrewdness to know were 
concealed close by. Night again found us upon the river ; and after a few 
hours' sail we landed at a farm, of which we had been informed by the 
negroes, where we succeeded in capturing a goat, which supplied us with 
meat to our journey's end. 

" Monday and Tuesday nights nothing occurred to delay our progress 
toward the desired goal. Wednesday evening, we had been going down 
the river but a short time, when we reached a ferry, where we made 
the acquaintance of four negroes, who furnished us with a large quan- 
tity of sweet-potatoes, salt, and meat. Upon parting with them, they 
bade us God-speed and a safe journey. Elated and happy with oursuc- 
cess, we kept steadily forward ; and soon after we landed to again consult 
the negroes, who told us we were but five miles from a battery, mounting 
two pieces, upon the right bank of the river, guarded by rebel soldiers. 
After receiving other inl'ormation and provisions, we parted company with 
the last of our negro friends, and proceeded down the river, passed the 
battery in safety, and, landing, waited for the darkness of the night to 
finish our journey to the coast. Thursday night, i'uU of hope, we again 
took to our boats, and, meeting no interference, reached the coast safely. 

'•The light of Friday morning, Nov. 11, revealed to us the spars of a 
ship, which we isoon made out to be one of the United-States blockade. 

04 



746 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

It was the Canandaigua, Capt. Harrison ; aud after sundry attempts we 
succeeded iu getting safe on board,- under the protection of the star- 
spangled banner. We came North on the, Fulton." 

When the Sixteenth was captured at Plymouth, Dr. Nehe- 
miah Nickerson of Saybrook stood by his comrades in their 
extremity, and rendered great service. The officers of the 
regiment, in prison and camp, united in resolutions from 
which we extract, — 

"With a constitution weakened by a long sickness, from the effects of 
which he was still suffering, and while other surgeons, availing themselves 
of the opportunity for immediate exchange, left for the North, Dr. Nick- 
erson voluntarily remained with our suffering wounded, laboring night and 
day for a month, until nearly worn out himself, arriving at Macon, Ga., 
some time after, only to suffer an extended imprisonment of five months. 
But here also were his professional services cheerfully rendered, with skill 
and success, amidst the greatest difficulties. 

" While we claim that a soldier should do his duty under all circum- 
stances, we can not but admire the noble self-sacrifice which prompts him 
to volunteer and render his services, when, if disposed, he might shrink 
from those duties, to his own advantage, and without incurring censure ; 
and we take this method of acknowledging with pride and admiration the 
manliness of character, professional skill, and patriotic zeal which he has 
exhibited in discharging his duties to his country and to his suffering fellow- 
soldiers." 

Lieut. G. W. Bailey, aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. 
M. L. Smith, was captured in the battle of Peach-tree Creek, 
and escaped from rebel hands after several weeks' wan- 
derino; throufjli the Southern States. He was a native of 
Bridgeport, Conn. ; and gave to the Standard a graphic ac- 
count of his experience, a portion of which we subjoin : — 

''I was taken to Atlanta, where the utmost joy existed at what tliey 
termed a ' Confederate victory.' Some of the rebel soldiers amused them- 
selves aud tlie citizens of Atlanta by trailing our captured banners — the 
old 'stars and stripes ' — through the streets behind their iiorses. Every 
rebel was jubilant. The troops going to or from either flank, passing 
through the city, were cheered lustily. The women tantalized us with 
'Ah, boys ! you've got into Atlanta at last, haven't you? ' &c. We were 
marched through Atlanta on exhibition, and the same night to East Point, 
some six miles below Atlanta. During the march, a major and myself 
attempted to escape ; but we narrowly escaped being shot, as we were de- 
tected. At East Point, we were corralled, like mules, iu an open place, 
without rations, or blankets to sleep upon. AVe were without food for over 
twenty-four hours ; and, when we were furnished with some, few could eat 
it. Being very hungry, I ate my twenty-four hours' allowance at once. 
I put my bacon down to break my unbolted wheat-flour ' hard-tack,' and 
brush away the worms and cobwebs from it ; and, after clearing my bacoa 
in like manner, I shut my eyes, aud ate u hearty meal. 



ESCAPING FEOM CAPTIVITY. • 747 

" I closely watched every possible chance to escape ; but found it would 
be certain death to attempt it there : so I anxiously bided my time. At 
last it came. We were corralled near Griffin, Ga. I found a favorable 
gully in a blackberry-patch ; aud two hours before day lay in the narrow 
place, and got some of the officers to cover me with pine-boughs, grass, 
&c., and cut blackberry-briers, aud stick into the ground around me. This 
was nicely done, as I discovered upon my exit. My friends put some 
' hard-tack ' at the head of my hiding-place. Every thing was lively : at 
length the ' fall in ' was ordered ; aud the ' Yankees ' marched out into the 
road, en route for Audersonville. I was stepped upon twice ; but was not 
discovered. The lot being clear of Yankees and rebels, the negroes, and 
some white children from a near plantation, wandered about me ; and a 
hog discovered my hidden ' hard-tack,' and coolly ate it above my head. 
I dared not make known my serious objections to such proceedings. At 
last a shower of rain cleared the coast for me ; and after carefully peeping 
in every direction I ventured forth ; and although my right arm was 
much paralyzed (as it is at present), caused by lying upon it, I immedi- 
ately struck upon a double-quick for tlie woods near by. Here I fell iu 
with a soldier, — a cavalry boy, — who had also escaped in the same man- 
ner ; and, as 'misery loves company,' I consented to his accompanying me 
on my journey through Dixie northward. The rain now fell in torrents; 
and the swamp I had chosen to be our hiding-place was overflowed : so 
there we stood ankle-deep in water, like two drowned rats. . . . Nio-ht 
came at length ; and we approached the road, just dodging a patrol of 
rebel cavalry. We stealthily weut near a plantation-residence ; passed 
around to the negro-quarters, avoiding the dogs ; stopped at a fence near 
one of the huts ; and threw a small stone against the door. It was slowly 
opened with, ' Who dar ? ' — ' Me, aunty,' said I ; ' come out here ! ' After 
some hesitation, she came out; and I told her who we were. ' We are 
Yankees,' said I. ' Is you, sah? De Lord bress you ! ' Telling her we 
were hungry, she gave us some wheat-bread ; and when it became late we 
went into her hut, dried ourselves nicely ; and, filling our haversacks, she 
bade us God speed. Soon we were off again. Avoiding roads, and goino: 
north-eastward, avc traveled until daylight. The rain had made the corn- 
fields through which we had to pass almost impassable ; but, encouraging 
each other by turns, we trudged slowly along through the dark, dreary 
forests, ascertaining the direction by letting lightning-bugs crawl on my 
little pocket-compass, which I had procured, with maps of the country, 
from some of the officers among the prisoners. By day, we took turns on 
watch. I consulted my maps, intending to round Stone Mountain, and 
follow the Northern Georgia Railroad into Decatur. Finding the fields 
impassable, after two or three nights' journeys, I resolved to try the roAds. 
We made belter time, of course ; but had to be continually on the qui vive ; 
hiding several times behind trees or bushes to let rebel cavalry pass us, 
squads of which were incessantly hunting conscripts and deserters. We 
passed several picket-posts with much danger. 

" The roads being traveled considerably, I again took the fields, mak- 
ing northward slowly, living on blackberries, and the bread always cheer- 
fully furnished by the negroes. Occasionally a meal was made from some 
old planter's melon-patch. We could easily tell whore plantations were at 
early morn by the crowing of chickens. We were always warmly wel- 
comed by the negroes, who, most of them, never saw a Yankee before, 
and who were our means of escape. They would come from their huts, 



748 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

each laden with some good things for us. Of course, the first point of 
inquiry was regarding their freedom, which I explained to them as best I 
could. . . . Twice did we hear hounds yelping on our track ; but we 
avoided them by running through swamps, down streams, &c. Over two 
weeks we were thus making very slow headway through deep swamps and 
almost impenetrable foi'ests, wet through every night, drying out our 
clothing every day. I became, I must acknowledge, very down-hearted 
for the first time ; was taken sick twenty-five miles from Atlanta, and lay 

in the woods near Mr. S 's plantation ; the negroes taking excellent 

care of me. ' Aunt Mary,' an experienced nurse in tlie sick-room, took 
especial interest in me, insisting upon my remaining there, and recovering 
from my fatigues and hardships. I did so ; and under her kind care soon 
recovered my strength and spirits. ' Aunt Mary ' brought our meals to 
us as regular as clock-work. About tliis time, our cavalry was raiding 

through the country near S 's plantation ; and, after I recovered, I 

was induced to remain there over a month, in hopes that our raiders would 
reach me. Three times they came near me ; once within three miles, but 
in broad daylight : and the rebel cavalry were too thick for me to under- 
take to reach our forces. 

" While waiting here for the blue-coats to make their appearance, we 
amused ourselves by fishing in Cotton River, near by ; and, by setting 
fish-baskets, we obtained frequent messes of fish, which were very accepta- 
ble after passing through ' Aunt Mary's ' hands. At last my companion 
started with a negro guide for our lines ; but his awkwardness was fatal 
— he was retaken. 

"I now determined to try it myself; and, in company with the negro 
Jim, pulled out on my journey. We crossed South River, in a dug-out, 
safely ; replenished our haversacks at a plantation on the east side of the 
river; and the next night struck Conger Station on the Northern Georgia 
Railroad ; passed through it at midnight, resting at daylight on the railroad 
between Congers and Lithouia. I disguised myself in Jim's clothes as a 
rebel soldier, and went to a citizen in a neighboring cornfield, represented 
that I was taken by the Yankee raiders, but escaped ; and was trying to 
reach the Confederates, but was afraid of Yankees. He sympathized 

with me hugely ; said there was ' not a d d Yankee east of Atlanta : ' 

they had all left, and gone west, preparatory to falling back to Chatta- 
nooga. I thought it was one of Sherman's tricks ; but our rations had 
given out, and the negroes had all fled to the Union lines : so I concluded 
to wait at a neighboring plantation. I resolved to try the whites; and 

made myself known to a white man, F , said to be loyal. I found it 

safe, and tarried two weeks. Rebels often took meals at the house ; and 
relatives of the family often stopped over night in an adjoining room to 
mine. I was never introduced to them, but saw them all from my hiding- 
place. He was a member of the oOth Georgia, but declared that he 
would never fire upon the old flag. I wrote him an extension of his fur- 
lough, which was accepted by the conscripting ofilcer as genuine. 

"The roads being clear, I resolved to go again for the Yankee lines. 
Having secured a carbine left in South River by one of our raiding parlies, 
and making some cartridges, filling the large haversack the girls made for 
me, and taking a change of underclothing which I confiscated from an old 
rebel's trunk, and my rifle, I bade an affectionate farewell to those who 
had risked their lives and property for me. Pulling out for Lithonia, on 
the Northern Railroad, we marched partly through fields the same night, 



ESCAPING FROM CAPTIVITY. 749 

witliin three miles of the place ; halting at daylight. We went to a poor 
woman's house : she was Union, and welcomed me, hut had heard so much 
about the Yankees being such horrible ci-eatures, she hardly believed I was 
a 'Yank,' even after I had removed my gray cape, and exposed my uni- 
form to view. We safely passed several rebel cavalry posts. 

" AVhen within a mile of Decatur, we selected a spot by the side of a 
small stream as headquarters during the day ; and Jim and I watched and 
slept alternately. My feet were so sore, I could hardly remove my boots 
from them. As we had marched nearly thirty miles, we were very tired. 
Jim went to sleep ' on picket.' . . . When I awoke, a man stood over 
Jim, and another over me, demanding surrender ; taking care before this 
to remove my carbine beyond my reach. I inquired if I was to be treated 
as a prisoner of war. He replied, ' most assuredly ' I should. I saw no 
alternative (but instant death) ; so I surrendered. We talked and chatted 
gayly about matters and things in general. My captor was the spokesman ; 
the other said little. He proceeded to search me, omitting to tind a small 
ring and my compass, which were concealed on my person. My maps 
being on cloth, I easily presented the wrong side, and passed them as hand- 
kerchiefs. I had given my watch and other valuables away to those who 
took care of me. He then mai'ched us off ' to turn me over to the cavalry.' 
Going through the woods, I remarked that my feet were completely raw. 
He coolly replied, I wouldn't want to use them much longer. . . . 

'• We halted. The spokesman, setting my carbine against a stump, and 
coolly cocking his rifle, remarked to me, ' My friend, this is as good a 
place to die as any man could wish. Soon, sir, you will be no more. 
You have done all the damage to our cause you ever can.' . . . ' Well,' 
continued the .spokesman, ' if you wish to say any thing, or to pray a little, 
you have just exactly two minutes to do it. I shall then put you out of 
the world without any more cei-emony.' 

" Just then a thought struck me : it was to take the last chance for my 
life, — to run. 

" They said my two minutes were about up, and I must hurry. I bent 
my knees as if to kneel again ; but, instead, I gave a sudden .spring back- 
Avai'ds. turned, and was fairly flying from them. Of course, my spring 
was the signal for them to fire. They did so. The three rifles were fired 
in rapid succession ; and one of them was reloaded and fired. The first 
shot missed me ; but I imagine the bullet came very near my head. The 
second shot took cfiect in the right shoulder, passing tlirougli tlie shoulder- 
blade, and shattering the upper rib in passing out. Tiie ball knocked me 
flat ; and a deadly quiver passed over my right side as my arm fell useless 
by my side. No sooner down than up. As I rose, the third shot took my 
cap from my head. It being an old one, I didn't stop to pick it up. Away 
I went like the wind, holding my right arm* up with the left one. The 
fourth shot scattered the leaves beside me, evidently intended to hit me in 
the legs. As soon as the villains emptied their pieces at me, the negro 
ibllowed after at double-quick. The traitors followed a very little way, 
and gave it iip. concluding, no doubt, that I was an ' iron-clad ■ Yankee. 
I ran over a mile, the blood spirting out fitfully at every pulsation. Not 
feeling safe so near the villains, I continued at a walk two miles and a 
half lurther south, Jim helping me over the fences. All this while the 
blood was flowing freely, literally filling my boots. I now sank down ex- 
liausted, hardly expecting to recover ; but thankful to die away from such 
blood-thirsty fiends. As I grew dizzy and Aveaker, I felt as though ray 



750 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

moments on this earth were few. I told Jim who I wished to have 
written to ; and fell asleep, hardly doubting that it was to be the sleep of 
death. 

" But I lived ; and Jim took ray compass, and succeeded in reaching 
Atlanta, whence a body of Kilpatrick's cavalry was dispatched, and I was 
taken within the Union lines." 

The general experience of Connecticut soldiers in Ander- 
sonville has already been given. Almost every regiment 
was represented there. We add some accounts of personal 
experience : — 

Edward T. Abbott of the Twentieth was captured before 
Atlanta. In his narrative, he speaks of having witnessed the 
escape from the gang of prisoners of Lieut. Bailey, whose 
story is given above. Abbott shared for two months the 
horrible experience of Andersonville. He writes, " The 
drinking water is got as near the dead-line as the prisoners 
dare go ; and some, venturing too far for clear water, get 
shot. One instance I saw. A man was reaching after the 
water when a guard fired at him, missing him, but hittiug 
another man farther back, in the heafl. He fell backwards 
into the water, his blood mingling with the stream ; while 
hundreds were near by washing, and thousands of men in 
sight, unable to avenge his death. I tell you it made my 
blood boil ; and I should certainly have shot that guard as 
he stood coolly loading his gun afterwards, had I had my 
rifle in hand. Day after day we waited, watched, and prayed 
for deliverance ; and at last thought our prayers were heard, 
for we learned that Stoneman was on the way to set us free. 
We had some reason to believe the story ; for the rebels imme- 
diately began strengthening their works, setting three hun- 
dred slaves at work to b.uild another stockade around the 
one already built. But we were soon discouraged again by 
hearing of Stoneman's capture." 

Edward Smith and Elbert Sutliff*, members of the Bristol 
company of the Sixteenth, survived their Andersonville 
captivity, were exchanged, and, when returning, both per- 
ished ; the former when the Black Diamond went down, 
and the latter at the burning of the ill-starred vessel. Gen. 
Lyon. There were many Bristol soldiers in Anderson- 
ville. 



CRUEL TREATMENT OF PRISONERS IN ANDERSON VILLE. 751 

Among those who escaped from Andersonville was 
Andrew J. Spring of the Sixteenth, from ColUnsville. Pie 
and two comrades were five days in reaching our lines ; 
living on sugar-cane, green corn, and persimmons. They 
traveled in the woods mostly, guiding themselves by the 
moss, which always grows heaviest on the north side of trees. 
They had to pass three lines of rebel pickets. The first one 
they passed without difficulty. The next line they came 
upon about four o'clock in the afternoon, and hid" in the 
woods until evening, when a thunder-shower came on ; and 
in the thick darkness, and by crawling about a quarter of a 
mile in the wet grass on their hands and knees, between the 
picket-posts, they got safely through. The next line was 
a cavalry picket ; and the fugitives got through by caution 
and some smart " flanking " operations. They soon struck 
the railroad, and afterwards our picket-line, and were safe 
once more under the flag of the Union. He said of the 
prison, — 

" Before Stoneman's raid, the rebels had a chain-gang in the stockade, 
made up of sncli as had attempted to escape. Thirteen poor fellows were 
chained together by the ankles in a line on one side ; each man having a, 
32-pound ball attached by a chain to the leg. A short chain ran from one 
leg to the other, giving each man a step of eight inches. On the other leg, 
every fourth man had a G4-pound ball chained to his leg. When the gang 
moved, each man carried his 32-pounder on one side ; and on the otiier side 
a rod was run through rings in the balls, and four men carried each of the 
G4-pounders. And so the poor soldiers were kept day after day. When 
one must go to the swamp, among the filth of that horrible place, all must go, 
in their eight-inch step, and lugging the terrible weight of iron with which 
they were encumbered. This chain-gaog was released when Stoneman 
was making his raid ; the rebels not caring to have that general find such 
an evidence of barbarity, in case he surprised them at Andersonville." 

Peter J. Smith, on being released, made affidavit that the 
following barbarity was practiced upon himself and others 
by Major Allen of the 2d Virginia Cavalry : — 

" At one time he took eight of us, myself amongst the number, all non- 
commissioned officers ; and upon our refusing to take the oath, and to 
persuade the privates to do so, tied each of us, our hands and arms to our 
sides, and our feet together, so that we could not use them ; laid us on our 
sides ; and then took a loaded pistol, and, resting it on our ears, fired it off, 
causing us the greatest agony, and the blood to flow from our ears. He 
caused the pistol to be thus tired on my car twelve times, saying, 'I will 
make you so you can't hear the command of another Yankee general or 



752 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

commanrler.' The hearing of my right ear has been destroyed in conse- 
quence of this treatment." 

Color-Corporal Charles E. Lee of Guilford was one of three 
sons of James E. Lee, all of whom enlisted in the army. 
Charles was captured with the Sixteenth, and taken to 
Andersonville. The following are extracts from his 
diary : — 

May 9. — Our rations to-day are reduced ; the whole being only enough for 
a very scanty meal. lu the evening sang together till nine o'clock. 

June 5, Sunday. — Spent the day principally in reading my Testament. 
For rations, some bread so sour that we could not* eat it. 

JuJu 4. — To-day is the anniversary of our National Independence, and 
instead of celebrating it in old Connecticut, as I have been wont to do, I 
am held in the most disgusting captivity ; yet I am perfectly willing to 
suffer it all, if I am thereby doing any thing towards saving our glorious 
Union. 

Aug. 11. — Two years ago to-day, I enlisted in the glorious cause of 
freedom ; and, though I am now suffering so much for my country, I still 
rejoice that I enlisted when and where I did. 

At the close of the year, reviewing his sad experience 
during the months of imprisonment that had passed, he 
writes as follows, " Again I am called to bid adieu to the 
passing year; but under very different circumstances from 
any in which I have ever been. During the year 1864, I 
have passed eight months in the most degrading imprison- 
ment. In that time, our inhiunan captors have not furnished 
shelter of any kind ; and we have repeatedly been for two 
and three days at a time without a morsel of food; and even 
that we have received would at home have been generally 
thought unfit for swine. We have not had a particle of 
meat for forty-two days, and but little molasses, or any 
thing to take the place of it. Our rations chiefly consist of 
about a pint and a half of coarse corn-meal, and half a tea- 
spoonful of salt daily. Now and then we receive a few 
beans or sweet-potatoes. Many a night have I lain awake 
because I was so hungry that I could not sleep." At last, 
emaciated from exposure and lack of food, he was exchanged ; 
and arrived at Washington, N.C., only to die under tlie flag 
for which he had foiio;ht and suffered. 

Sergeant Frederick Beardsley of Orange narrates the 
trials of himself and Corporal P. M. Barnum of Middlebury 



SERGEANT JOHN S. JAMESON. 753 

at Andersonville. Bearclsley says of his comrade, " Like the 
rest of us, he became thin and weak ; our only rations being 
one pint of coarse cob-meal jDcr day, with occasionally a 
small piece of rusty bacon. We had no shelter whatever : 
our clothes were very poor, the bare ground our couch, and 
the cold dews of heaven our only blanket. About the first 
of August, 1864, poor Barnum was taken sick with scurvy. 
Could he have had a small quantity of vegetables daily, 
with which the country in the neighborhood of the stock- 
ade abounded, he might have been spared ; but, as it was, 
his disease stole rapidly upon him in its very worst form. 
His teeth became so loose, he could take them from his 
mouth with his fingers ; and his lower limbs, from gangrene, 
became useless. He was not removed to the hospital, had 
no medicines, and no addition or change of diet, — nothing, 
in fact, did he have to put into his mouth but what made 
him absolutely worse. On the twenty-third day of August, 
Mr. Barnum died, — died like thousands of others in the 
stockade, as no brute in a civilized land would be j^ermitted 
to die." 

Sergeant John S. Jameson was another worthy martyr to 
the cause of nationality. Family restraints withheld him 
from entering the war at an early period ; and it was 1864 
when he entered in the First Cavalry as a recruit from West 
Meriden. In all the subsequent engagements of that regi- 
ment he fought, and was finally captured in the battle at 
Reams's Station. He was kept at Libby till midsummer, 
when he was transferred to Andersonville, where he died on 
Aug. 31 in the prison hospital, in the dawn of early man- 
hood, and with a love of country that knew no abatement. 
He was a native of Hartford, and a young man of high 
attainments and unusual promise. He was a 'protecjt of the 
artist Church, who often spoke of his rare qualities, and pre- 
dicted for him great success as an artist. His talents 
were highly versatile ; for he was proficient in music, and 
possessed a poetic turn of mind. A friend wrote, " He was 
honored by all who knew him, for his intelligence, generous 
impulses, and cheerful performance of duty ; was beloved as 

95 



754 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELJilON. 

a companion ; and was tenderly thoughtful and affectionate 
as a son." 

Amono' others from Connecticut who died at Anderson- 
ville, almost literally starved to death, were James M. Kieth 
of Manchester, C. Wallace Woodford of West Avon, John 
W. Crabtree of Hartford, and Robert K. Reid of Waterbury. 
The last-named died in the arms of his father, a fellow- 
soldier, and a prisoner at the same time and place. A full 
roll of our Andersonville martyrs will be found in the 
appendix. 



il 




CHAPTER XLIII. 

Affairs before Richmond. — Grant and Sherman of Connecticut Stock. — Genealogy. — 
Location and Organization of Connecticut Regiments. — The First Cavahy returns 
to Petersburg. — Whitaker captures Major Gilmor. — Twelfth and Eighteenth Regi- 
ments. — First Artillery. — Death of Lieut.-Col. Trumbull. — Second Artillery. — 
First, Second, and Third Batteries. — Sixth and Seventh. — Death of Chaplain 
Eaton. — Eighth, Eleventh, Twenty-first, and Twenty-ninth. — Ninth and Thirteenth. 
— Tenth and Fourteenth. — Sherman's Great March Northward. — The Fifth and 
Twentieth. — Incidents of the Campaign. — Battles and Victories. — Casualties. — 
Disaster of the Fifteenth Connecticut. — The Sixteenth. 

ULYSSES GRANT was not the man to relax his 
grip on Richmond. When the spring of 1865 
stirred among the sentient roots of grasses, 
and woke the beauty latent in the hills, he had 
strengthened his chain of redoubts, tightened 
his cordon of rifles, and reached farther outward and for- 
ward with his armored left, in the death-clasp that was to 
encircle the enemy's citadel. The materiel of war was re- 
newed. Every regiment was put in the best fighting-trim. 
He felt that this was the head of the Rebellion ; and, with 
Sherman and Terry working steadily at the giant's limbs, 
he knew that his adversary would soon become an amor- 
phous monster, — a mere torso, easily enough dispatched. 
As the people of our State looked on at the struggle, they 
recalled with pardonable pride the fact that these three 
soldiers, — Grant, Sherman, and Terry, — who had become 
the supreme hope of the nation in its hour of agony, had 
all sprung from a long line of ancestors, who were born 
upon the soil, and trained in the district-schools, of Connec- 
ticut.^ 

1 J. Hammond Trumbull of Hartford, and Richaru A. Wheeler of Stonington, have 
ascertained and arranged the genealogical record of Gen. Grant. He is descended from 
an ancient and worthy Connecticut family. The immigrant ancestor was Matthew Grant, 
who, with his wile Priscilla, came over in the ship Mary and John to Dorchester, Mass., 



756 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Lee was on the defensive ; but he was weak, and appealed 
earnestly for re-inforcements. Mr. Davis saw the peril of 
the situation, and again he roweled with fiercer spur the 
flanks of the jaded Confederacy. No response came. 
The South was utterly exhausted, — not in men, but in 
motive ; not in strength, but in effective will. Its master 
passion was worn out ; for a majority of the promoters of 
secession were dead. Its body was rent sore ; and the 
devils of State supremacy and slave chivalry had been 
expelled. Lee in front of Grant, and Johnston again in the 
path of Sherman, had barely eighty thousand soldiers ; while 
a hundred thousand men hid in the mountains, avoiding the 
officers of conscription. From the regiments of Lee, a hun- 
dred men deserted every day. The end was drawing nigh. 

The location of most of the Connecticut regiments was 
essentially the same as at the beginning of winter. The 

in 1G30. He and his nei.uhbors came in 1G35 to Connecticut, and founded a town, which 
for the first year they called Dorchester, and subsequently Windsor. Grant became an 
active and prominent citizen of Windsor; being for many years town-clerk, and surveyor 
of lands, and also deacon of the church. Says Dr. Stiles in the history of ancient Wind- 
sor (published before Gen. Grant had attained any distinction), "Few men filled so large 
a place in the early history of Windsor, or filled it so well, as honest Matthew Grant. His 
name figures in almost every place of trust." In the diagram of the "palisado plot," a 
fortification which inclosed "the first houses of the settlement for defense against the 
Indians, the residence of Matthew Grant is posted, like a sentry-box, at the single gate 
of entrance. In Windsor, Priscilla died, leaving four children ; and Deacon Grant after- 
wards married widow Susanna Rockwell. 
The following is the family pedigree : — 

1. M.VTTHKW Grant m. Priscilla — — , jS'ov. 16, 1626; he d. Dec. 10, 1081. Chil.: J'liscilla; 
(2) Samuel, h. Nov. 1-', HBl ; Tuhan; John. 

2. Sajiuel GitAN'i' of Windsor m. Mary Porter, May 27, 1058. Chil. : (3) Samuel, J):, b. April 
30, 1059; John; Matthew; Josiah; Nathaniel; Maj-y ; Sarah; Ahir/eiil. 

3. SAMUKL Gkant, Jr., ol Windsor, m., 1st, Hannah Filley, Dec. fl, ICSH, by whom he had a 
dau., Hannah, who d. youTg; m., 2d, Grace JMiner, dau. of John of Woodbury, April II, 1088. 
Their chil. were: Hannah; Samuel; (4) Noah, b. Dec. 10, 10'J2; Abigail; Jiphraim ; Grace; 
David ; Ebenezcr. 

4. NoAii Ghant located in Tolland, Conn., poon after that town was settled. Me ni. jM.nrtha 
Huntington, duu. of John of Norwich, and a descendant of the second wife of Matthew Grant. 
They had the following chil. : (5) Noah. b. July 12, 1718; Adoniram; Solomon ; M'irtha. 

5. Noah Gkant removed Irom Tolland to'Coventry about 1750. He and his broiher Selonion, 
who was also a resident of Coventry, joined the expedhion to Crown Point in 1755, and wire both 
killed the same year. He ni. Susannah Delano, Nov. 5, 17-10; and had chil. : (6) Noali, b. June -^0, 
1748; Peter. 

6. NoAii GitANT was a captain, and served with distinction in the Revolutionary U ar. He 
removed from Coventry to Pennsylvania about 1787. He m., 1st, Mrs. Anna Kich.irdson in 
Coventry; she d. before he emi<4:rated; he m., 2d, in Pennsylvania, Itaihel Keiley in 171)1. Chil. 
by 1st wife, b. in Coventry: I'eter; Solomon. Chil. by 2d wile, b. in Pennsylvania: Susan; 
(7) Jesse. Hoot, b. Jan. 17i)4; Margaret; Noah; John; liosicell; lluchel. 

7. Jesse Hoot (ir.ANT, father of Gen. Grant, was named for Hon. Jesse Koot of Coventry, 
the learned and able Chief Justice or Connecticut during a former generation. He settled in 
Ohio; and m. Miss Hannah Simpson, June 24, 1S21. Their chil. were: Gen. Ulysses Simpson, 
born April 27, 1822, and others. 

It will be seen by the above record, tliat Gen. Grant is a descendant in the eighth gene- 
ration from Matthew Grant of Windsor; the line being as follows, — 1, Matthew; 2, 
Samuel ; 3, Samuel, jr. ; 4, Noah ; 5, Noah ; G, Noah ; 7, Jesse Root ; 8, Ulysses Simpson. 

Besides the Grant blood, there is intermingled in the veins of the general, by suc- 
cessive marriages, tJie blood of some of the best Connecticut families, — the Ilnnting- 
tons, the Lathrops, the Porters, the Miners, the Putnams, — all strong names, and 
significant of good training and sturdy growths. 



THE FIRST CAVALRY UNDER SHERIDAN. 757 

First Cavalry was still under Sheridan in the Shenandoah. 
The regiment had been engaged in raids and skirmishes all 
winter. On the 20th of December, 1864, under Major E. W. 
Whitaker, it formed a part of the division of Gen. Custer, 
bivouacked at Lazy Springs, Va. Before daybreak, a divis- 
ion of rebel cavalry dashed in among the slumberers. 

Major E, W. Whitaker says, " Though some regiments 
did not stand firmly under the excitement of the sudden 
charge, and a temporary confusion ensued, the First Connecti- 
cut was firm among dazzling camp-fires, facing the flashes of 
the enemy's rifles. The enemy was driven from our bivouac 
by the dawn of light; and we were assigned the important 
duty of covering the rear and left flank in the retrograde 
movement decided upon by Gen. Custer. In this affair, 
the officers and men of the regiment deserve especial credit 
for the remarkable coolness and firmness with which they 
stood the charge of the enemy under the peculiar disad- 
vantages. Neither the recent arousing from an icy bivouac, 
the dazzling of fires in the darkness of the storm, the 
demoralization witnessed in other commands, nor the 
fiendish yell of the enemy, nor all combined, could shake 
for a moment the solid ranks of the First Connecticut, 
formed and moving to a charge under the enemj^'s fire." 

Col. E. Blakeslee resigned at the end of three years' 
distinguished service, and received the brevet rank of 
brigadier-general. Lieut.-Col. Brayton Ives became colonel; 
Major E. W. Whitaker, lieutenant-colonel; and Capt. John B. 
Morehouse, major. 

On the 4th of February, Lieut.-Col. Whitaker, promoted 
vice Ives appohited colonel, achieved a brilliant exploit. 
The fixmous rebel raider, Harry Gilmor, had charged 
through Maryland, destroyed the Baltimore and Washing- 
ton Railroad, captured a major-general and many officers on 
the train,^ and escaped across the Potomac. Col. Whitaker 
was designated by Sheridan's chief of staff to lead three 

'■' Amonjj the passengers on the trahi tliat was stopped and burned hy Gilmor was 
Lieut.-Col. M. B. Smith of the Eighth. He slipped his wateh and poeket-book into his 
boot-leg ; and, when a soldier demanded his boots, he saved them by appealing to an 
officer. Col. Smith was made prisoner ; but, while the raiders were busy with plunder, he 
sauntered off to a neighboring house, concealed himself, and escaped that night to our 
lines. 



758 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

hundred picked men, and capture the bold rider. lie 
straightway chased and captured Gilmor, and dehvered him 
over to the Federal authorities. Of this adventure, we onl-y 
learn the following from his report : " A dithcult march of 
all day and night over the AUeghanies, of seventy miles, 
thirty of which were within the enemy's line, enabled me to 
reach and surprise Major Gilmor in vicinity of his camp. I 
returned successfully, having accomplished the object of the 
expedition ; making a march of one hundred and forty miles 
in a little over forty-eight hours." 

Col. Whi taker acknowledged his great indebtedness to 
Lieut. Elias S. Brown of Ledyard, and Lieut. Lester W. 
Cowles of Hartford; also to surgeon George A. Hurlburt 
of Glastenbury, who accompanied the expedition. In 
February, Lieut.-Col. Whitaker was detached as division 
inspector to Gen. Custer; and Col. Ives took a short fur- 
lough. 

About the first of March, Sheridan started to return to 
Grant's army, via the valley and Lynchburg. The First 
Connecticut started from Winchester, commanded by Major 
Leonard P. Goodwin. The enemy was met at Waynes- 
borough, March 2. Says Col. Ives in his report, — 

" The First Connecticut, with two other regiments, was dismounted by 
Gen. Custer, and put upou the rebel flank [the three regiments being led 
by Col. Whitaker]. Although the men could move but slowly, owing to 
the depth of mud, still they advanced with so much enthusiasm, that the 
enemy broke ; when the rest of the division charged, mounted, and put them 
completely to rout. In this affair, our side lost but nine in killed, wounded, 
and missing ; while our captures consisted of thirteen hundred prisoners, 
one hundred and fifty wagons, eight hundred horses and mules, eleven 
guns, and eighteen battle-flags ! " 

It was evident that the Rebellion was waning ; that the 
soldiers had lost their spirit and hope. The column moved 
to Chcirlotteville, when Sheridan abandoned his plan of 
crossing the James, and pushed eastward, via New Market, 
Columbia, King William's Court House, to the north of Rich- 
mond. Lieut.-Col. Whitaker says, — 

" March 13, as Gen. Sheridan neared Richmond, I was given the 
command of my regiment in advance, and routed Gen. Early with his 
escort of two hundred and forty men, scattering all not taken prisoners 
to the Avoods. Passing to withiu nine miles of Richmond, we moved north- 



DOINGS OF THE FIRST ARTILLERY. 759 

ward to Ashland, when the 2d New-Yoi'k Cavalry was sent to re-inforce 
me while destroyinjf railroad depot, &c. On the next day, the regiment 
was in line, confronting the enemy, who was feeling us at Ashland. G(y3. 
Sheridan, desiring to learn the force of the enemy about to intercept his 
column, ordered an attack to develop his strength. Gen. Custer directed 
me to charge his lines to discover, if possible, any infantry. Leaving a 
greater portion of the regiment as reserve, and taking Capt. E. M. 
Neville's squadron, I succeeded in pressing in the enemy's cavalry to their 
reserve, and on to a strong infantry command of Longstreet's corps. I 
regret to report the loss, in this last charge, of Lieut. J. W. Clark, killed ; 
a brave and faithful officer, who was loved and respected equally by subor- 
dinates and superiors." Sergeant Frank Newbold and John Geiger, 
valued soldiers, also fell here at the extreme front of danger. 

When the army crossed the James, Col. Ives returned, and 
resumed command of the res-iment. 

The First Artillery still manned the long line of guns in 
front of Petersburo". The casualties of the res-iment durins; 

O DO 

the year had been one officer and twenty-nine enlisted men 
killed, and four officers and forty-four enlisted men wounded. 
Sixty-eight had died Of disease and exposure. 
Col. Abbot's report says, — 

" To Lieut.-Col. Nelson L. "White I am indebted for cordial support and 
gallant service. Acting as inspector-general on my staff, and for a time 
as commanding otHcer of the batteries in front of Petersburg, he has been 
the model of a high-toned gentleman. After serving until the end of the 
campaign, about six months beyond Iiis original term, he left the army 
regretted by all. Lieut.-Col. Tiiomas S. Trumbull has highly distinguished 
himself for ability, courage, and devotion to duty. Entering upon the cam- 
paign with health much impaired, and placed at first in command of Fort 
Anderson, where he was under fire night and day, he seemed to throw off 
disease by determined will. Transferred to the comnyand of the most im- 
portant line of batteries in front of Petersburg, his only fault was in labor- 
ing beyond his strength. In October, when recovering from a severe attack 
thus engendered, he gave energetic attention to getting into position, and 
organizing the artillery on the lines of City Point. Few officers have the 
energy and ability to accomplish wliat he has done. Major G. B. Cook,' 
during most of the campaign, has been in charge of the artillery on the lines 
of Bermuda Hundred, and has well performed his duties. Major Albert 
F. Brooker and jNIajor George Ager, after gallant and distinguished ser- 
vices during the summer as battery commanders, have been promoted, and 
have energetically entered upon their new duties. 

" Where all the company commanders have so faithfully done their duty, 
it seems almost invidious to select names for special &eution. Almost all 
have at different times had command of independent batteries ; and none 
have failed to efficiently serve them. Some, however, have been more 
fortunate than others in having rare opportunities for performing conspicu- 
ous services : of this number are especially Capts. H. li. Pierce, ^V'ilbur 
F. Osborne, and William G. Pride, also E, C. Dow, F. A. Pratt, E. A. 
Gillette, C. 0. Brighaui, John IL Burton, W. A. Lincoln, John A. Twiss, 



7G0 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

G. D. Sargeant, C. R. Bannan, and George Dimock, and Lients. L. 
W. Jackson", 11. A. Pratt, E. P. Mason, II. D. Patterson, John O'Brien, 
T.^. Cashin, John Odell, G*. F. Bill, S. A. Woodruff, T. J. Beers, and 
C. N, Silliman. Surgeon S. W. Skinner, Assistant Surgeons John S. 
Delavan and Nathaniel Matson, and Chaplain Samuel F, Jarvis, all merit 
my thanks for their faithful care of our sick. 

" Lieut. Eben P. Hall was killed by a sharpshooter, while, regardless of 
personal safety, he was skillfully directing the fire of his mortar battery. 
Lieut. J. II. Cummings and Lieut. G. L. Turner, refusing to leave their 
exhausting labors under fire until too late, died in consequence of their 
devotion to duty. The regiment may well be proud that these names 
appear upon its rolls." 

Major-Gen. W. F. ("Baldy") Smith wrote to Col. Abbot 
at this time, — 

"■ I saw much of the services of the First Connecticut Artillery during 
the campaign of 1862, and was then delighted with the skill and gallantry 
of the officers and men. During the time I commanded the 18th Corps 
before Petersburg, I called heavily upon you for siege guns and mortars ; 
and never before during the war have I witnessed such artillery practice as 
I saw with your regiment. The practicability of holding my position there 
after the .21st of June was due in a great measure to the skill displayed by 
your regiment. I trust every effort will be made to fill up a regiment 
which has not its equal in artillery firing, and which can not be dispensed 
with without great injury to the service." 

The organization of the siege artillery brigade, command- 
ed by Col. Abbot, remained unchanged ; consisting of 
eighteen companies, with an aggregate of twenty-seven 
hundred men and two hundred and six ^uns. Eiijfht com- 
panics were serving on the lines in front of Richmond, and 
ten in front of Petersburg. This command constituted the 
entire siege artillery of the two armies. On March 3, Col. 
Abbot received the brevet rank of major-general. 

Lieut.-Col. Thomas S. Trumbull died at Washington, March 
3, 186-5, of disease contracted in the Chickahominy swamps. 
When the war broke out, he was practicing law in New- 
York City, and immediately volunteered to join the Seventh ; 
but that regiment was full. He telegraphed to join Haw- 
ley's company in the First ; but was again too late. He 
declined a commission in a New-York regiment, and came 
home to Hartford in time to enlist as a piivate in the Third. 
When Col. Wood house was transferred to the Fourth, he 
took young Trumbull along as his adjutant ; and the 
officer made such rapid progress in the attainment of mili- 
tary knowledge and practice, that Col. Tyler, on being 



LOCATION OF BATTERIES AND PwEGIMENTS. 761 

appointed colonel, procured his promotion to the majority. 
it was a long step from adjutant to major; but Col, Tyler 
said he made the recommendation solely for the good of 
the service, as Adjutant Trumbull exhibited extraordinary 
capacity as an artillery officer. Major Trumbull shared the 
perils and honors of his regiment, as is seen in its history. 
Before Petersburg, he acted as Gen. Baldy Smith's chief of 
artillery. So high was his reputation, that, before being 
promoted to the lieutenant-colonelc}^, he was offered the 
position of chief of artillery in two corps of the army. Before 
his constitution was broken down by the insidious fevers of 
the Peninsula, he w\'is noted for his strength and his athletic 
accomplishments ; few excelling him in those manly sports 
requiring cool nerves, trained muscle, and a quick eye. He 
was a man of geniality and ready wit in society, of unusual 
promise in his profession, and of ardent patriotism. To this 
were added a high sense of honor, purity, sincerity, a 
straightforward manliness, and a tone of refinement that 
impressed all society in which he moved. Col. Abbot said 
of him, " Brave to excess ; possessed of an energy which 
seemed able to overcome not only outward obstacles, but 
even disease itself when danger called ; well qualified by 
natural ability, by a fine education, and by studious habits, 
to perform the responsible duties of his high rank in the 
artilleiy, — Lieut.-Col. Trumbull was every thing that I 
could desire as an assistant and as a friend." 

The Second Artillery had returned to the Petersburg 
front after the decisive battle of Cedar Creek, and now lay 
with the 6tli corps towards the left. Col. Mackenzie had 
been promoted to be brigadier-general ; and Lieut.-Col. 
James Hubbard accepted the commission of colonel, which 
he had previously declined. Major Ells had resigned ; Major 
Jeffrey Skinner had become lieutenant-colonel ; and Capts. 
Edward W. Jones, Chester D. Cleveland, and Augustus H. 
Fenn were promoted to the majority. 

The. First Battery was in front of Richmond, the Second 
Battery in the Department of the South, the Third Battery 
before Petersburg. 

The Sixth and Seventh Eegiments had participated in the 

96 



762 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

advance on Wilmington from Fort Fisher. On the promo- 
tion of Col. Hawley to be brigadier-general, Capt. Seager S. 
Atwell ^ was promoted to be colonel of the Seventh. Gen. 
Hawley, left in command of a division north of the James 
when Terry moved on Fort Fisher, had been ordered to 
resume command of his brigade under Terry. 

As soon as the fort had fallen. Gen. Terry threw out 
Payne's division of colored troops towards Wilmington ; and 
withdrew it on finding the enemy strongly intrenched. 
Schofield now arrived with his 23d Corps. On Feb. 11, 
Terry moved forward with his whole force from his works, 
which stretched across the island, drove in the enemy's 
pickets, and selected and intrenched a new advanced posi- 
tion, so close as to hold Hoke in force at that point ; while 
Gen. Cox took two divisions of Schofield's corps, and made 
a rapid flank movement by land south-west of the city, 
driving the enemy everywhere before him. On the 22d, 
our forces entered Wilmington "^ in triumph; and Terry 
drove the Confederates in confusion across North-east River. 

In the Seventh, Lieut. Austin of New Haven was wounded. 
Capt. Thompson reports, — 

"I take pleasure iu commending Adjutant Al'oert M. Holdea, who per- 
formed bis duties on this trying; occasion with marked ability and courage. 
Adjutant Iloldeu is a young officer of much promise, and deserves honor- 
able mention for gallant and meritorious conduct in this as well as previous 
eu"-a"'ements. Justice to the deserving leads me also to commend the 
action of Lieut. Willard Austin of my command, who performed with 
greatest acceptance a most difficult and dangerous duty ; being instructed 
bv Gen. Abbott to advance with a detachment of men considerably 
bevond our main line, in order to draw the enemy's fire." 

The Union losses had been slight, while the Confederates 
had lost at least a thousand killed, wounded, and prisoners ; 

3 Chaplain Jacob Eaton wrote at this time in the Meriden Recorder, " Mcridcn is 
honored in the promotion of Sea.Lcer S. Atwell to the position to which his gallantly, 
good condnct, and efficiency entitle him. He served with credit to himself, and with 
acceptance to his snpcrior otticers, in the three-monihs' campaign. He enlisted as a pri- 
vate soldier in Capt. By.xl)ee's company. He re-entered the service for three years as 
second lientenant in Capt. Sanford's company of the Seventh. He has taken part in 
thirty battles and skirmishes, and has l)ecn slightly wonnded three times. He has 
always borne himself with great coolness and credit nnder tire, and is beloved for his 
manly qualities and true bcniivolence. He commanded the Seventh in the fiercely-con- 
tested battle of Chaffin's Farm; ;ind for his gallantry and good judgment in handling 
the regiment in that action was higlilv commended in a letter from Major-Gen. Terry. 
He is'much esteemed by both the otKcers and enlisted men of his regiment; and we all 
rejoice in his promotion " 

* The first Union flag raised in Wilminuton was unfurled over his store by J. F. 
Neflf, formerly of llocky Hill. He bad been expelled for his " Northern " sentiments, and 
returned in the fleet of Admiral Porter. 



CHAPLAIN JACOB EATO]^. 763 

and, since Terry first lander! above Fort Fisher, there had 
fallen into our hands two hundred and twelve pieces of 
artillery. 

Chaplain Jacob Eaton of the Seventh died on March 20 
at his post, — one of the most fearless and devoted men the 
State furnished to the war. He was a graduate of Harford 
University in Pennsylvania, and of the Yale Theological 
School. His first and only pastorate was over the Hanover 
Congregational Church ; and there he labored four 3-ears 
with zeal and much success. He was an earnest antislavery 
man ; and, when the challenge of secession came, he saw 
that civilization on this continent was at stake. In 
September, 1861 (after Bull Run), he wTote on the records 
of his church, " The darkest hour has come. . . . After 
mature reflection, I have asked of my people leave of 
absence for one year, that I may enlist in the grand army 
of freedom. May God be with those wdiom I shall leave 
behind ! may he save me through his grace ! and may he 
save our beloved country, our government, from anarchy 
and dissolution!" The leave was granted; and he immedi- 
ately enlisted as a private in the Eighth. He shared the 
fortunes of the regiment at Roanoke Island and Newberne, 
and was promoted to a lieutenancy. He was wounded on 
the bloody field of Antietam, and resigned to recover from 
his injuries. Again he preached to his people, earnest in 
kindling brighter the fires of patriotism. But again the stir 
of battle was in his ears ; his heart was at the front ; and 
after preaching a year he again enlisted as a private in the 
Seventh, and was made chaplain. Here he did valiant ser- 
vice. For more than two years, through failing health, he 
still pressed on to do all that might be done for the brave 
men whom he had bound to himself as brothers in a com- 
mon cause. His health was at last fiitallj^ impaired ; and 
his friends besought him to resign, and save himself No: 
he shared all the perils and exposures of the Fort-Fisher 
and Wilmington campaign, where new scenes opened before 
him, and new work taxed his strength. Our poor, starved, 
dying prisoners were brought in by thousands, and ex- 
chano-ed ; and he could not see their suflerini2:s unmoved. 



764 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION, 

Warned by a friend not to sacrifice himself, he said, " They 
ought to be and must be cared for by some one ; and I will 
do all that lies in my power for the poor, emaciated, and 
helpless creatures." He died in tlieir midst. Chaplain 
Eaton was a true soldier and a model chaplain. He was 
tender in sympathy, firm in conviction, bold and impulsive 
in action, and was respected as a man, and beloved as a 
friend, both at home and in the army. He fell with his 
armor on, in the midst of the strife, just as the day was 
breaking ; but he saw the end by faith, and gave his life 
joyfully in exchange for the life of the republic. 

The Eighth, Eleventh, Twenty-first, and Twenty-ninth 
still held the lines north of the James. Capt. William M. 
Pratt of Meriden was now lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth ; 
arid Capt. Charles M. Coit was again commissioned to be 
major, and again declined, as he had done the previous year. 
Lieut.-Col. Randall H. Rice had become colonel of the 
Eleventh ; Major Charles Warren had succeeded him as 
lieutenant-colonel ; and Capt. Henry J. McDonald of Dan- 
bury was commissioned major. All these officers had 
mounted, by their own merit, from the ranks. 

On March 1, the Eleventh was formally presented, by 
Miss Julia A. Beach of Wallingford, with a stand of hand- 
some and richly-wrought national colors, " in memory of the 
pure and valorous commander," Col. Griffin A. Stedman, 
killed before Petersburg. It bore upon its folds the names 
of eleven battles ; and upon a silver ferrule was inscribed 
the memorial dedication. 

Lieut.-Col. J. F. Brown, in command of the Twenty-first, 
thus reports an expedition in which his regiment was en- 
gaged at this time : " March 4, the 3d Brigade, in which my 
regiment still remained, was detached under command of 
Gen. S. H. Roberts, and, embarking at Deep Bottom, pro- 
ceeded down the James, and up the Rappahannock River, as 
far as Fredericksburg, which we reached without opposition 
on the morning of the 7th. Here were captured a number of 
the enemy's scouts and pickets, and a large quantity of tobac- 
co, cars, wagon-train, &c. After destroying such of the cap- 
tured property as could not be brought away, the expedition 



LOCATION OF THE EEGIMEXTS. 765 

I'eturnecl to Fortress Monroe, and thence jDroceecIed on a 
raid into Westmoreland County, which was attended with 
few incidents of importance. Eeturning, vm Point Lookout, 
we received orders to proceed np the York and Pamunkey 
Rivers to White House, which we reached on the 14th, and 
estabhshed a base of supphes for the command of Gen. 
Slieridan, v/ho soon joined us. Waiting here a few days, 
we proceeded across the Chickahominy, via Harrison's Land- 
ing and Malvern Hill, and rejoined the Army of the James 
on the 25th." 

In January, the Ninth and Thirteenth Battalions (reduced 
from regiments) were transferred from the Shenandoah Val- 
ley to the Department of the South, — headquarters at Sa- 
vannah, which had been captured by the grand army of 
Sherman. On the 8th of March, the Thirteenth moved 
northward to Morehead City and Newberne to guard pro- 
visions to Sherman's army. Col. Blinn had resigned ; and 
the battalion was commanded by Lieut.-Col. Homer B. 
Sprague. It now formed a part of the 10th Army Corps, 
commanded by Major-Gen. Terry. The Ninth remained in 
Savannah under command of Lieut.-Col. John G. Healy. 
Almost all of the other officers had resigned ; Col. Thomas 
W. Cahill leavinof the service with the same rank he held at 
first, after three years of honorable and arduous service, 
two-thirds of the time in command of a brigade, and once 
leadina: a division in battle. 

The Tenth remained in the trenches north of the James. 
Its field-officers were now Col. Edwin S. Greeley, Lieut.-Col. 
E. D. S. Goodyear, and Major Frank Hawkins of Derby. 

Lieut. George Northrop of Bethel died at Fortress Mon- 
roe on Friday, March 11, of wounds. He was in the three- 
months' service, then enlisted in the Tenth, and re-enlisted. 
His commission reached him after he was prostrated with 
four wounds. He was a faithful, brave, and patriotic sol- 
dier, unspotted in character, honored and beloved through- 
out the regiment. 

The Fourteenth was with the 2d Corps upon the left of 
Grant's line. Col. Theodore G. Ellis was still detained as a 
member of a general militar}' court at Washington, organ- 
ized by Judge-Advocate-General Holt. Capt. John C. Broatch 



766 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

had been promoted to be major. The Thirtieth was also on 
the left flank. 

The Twelfth battalion was at Summit Point, under Col. 
George N. Lewis and Lieut.-Col. Sidney E. Clark. Capt. 
L. A. Dickinson declined a major's commission. The Eight- 
eenth had headquarters at Halltown ; and the men were 
never more comfortably situated. Two companies were on 
detached duty at Duflield Station, and one company at Har- 
per's Ferry. Lieut.-Col. Henry Peale was again in command 
of the regiment, after an unpleasant absence, and w\as a 
great favorite with the men. He labored zealously, and not 
in vain, to sustain the previous reputation of the regiment. 
Suro-eon Lowell Holbrook was faithful and efficient in hi;-? 
department; and the sanitary condition of the regiment 
was never better. 

The Fifteenth remained in the vicinity of Newberne. 
On Dec. 9, 1864, Col. Upham started at the head of a bri- 
gade of fifteen hundred men; the object of the expedition 
being to ford the Neuse River, and capture Kinston, and de- 
stroy the rebel ram lying in the river at that point ; also to 
make a diversion in favor of an attempt by Grant to extend 
his left towards Weldon. The command started ; but a heavy 
rain came on, swelled the river, and rendered a crossing im- 
possible. Col. Upham drove the rebels from the crossings 
at Jackson's Creek ; and, when the enemy advanced from 
Goldsborough, he retired to Newberne. The men suffered 
terribly ; the cold storm terminating in freezing weather. 

In February, several thousand recruits for Sherman's army 
arrived, and five hundred of them w^ere temporarily assigned 
to the Fifteenth. By this time, the following members had 
left to accept commissions in colored regiments, — Henry G. 
Marshall, John B. Willett, George W. Allen, George W. Bun- 
nell, Edwin A. Thorp, Edwin A. Kinney, Augustus Bodwell, 
John Hill, Richard K. Woodruff, Thomas Dunlap, jr. 



Gen. Sherman ^ had learned before he started on his great 
march, that moderation in war is imbecility. Pie did not 

^ G^en. ■William Tecumseh Sherman is a descendant of the family to which the Revo- 
lutionary statesman, Roi:er il. Sherman, belonged. His srrandfather, Hon. Taylor Sher- 
man, was for a long time a judge in Connecticut; and his father, ILm. Charles R. 



SOUTH CAROLINA SWEPT. 767 

rest long at Savannah. He touched th^ ocean, received 
some necessary supphes, and began another campaign, 
equally memorable, through South and North Carolina, to- 
wards the center of the Confederate power. 

The Fifth Connecticut was in the 1st Brio-ade of the 1st 

o 

Division, and the Twentieth in the 3d Brigade of the 3d 
Division, 20th Corps. Henry W. Daball had become colonel 
of the Fifth, and William S. Cogswell, major. The Twen- 
tieth was commanded by Lieut.-Col. P. B. Buckingham. 

The column left the vicinity of Savannah about the mid- 
dle of January, and pushed northward in the face of diffi- 
culties which the rebels proclaimed to be insurmountable. 
During the first week, the Fifth w^as in charge of the supply- 
trains of the division. On Feb. 5, the Twentieth was 
deployed in line of battle ; and, after brief skirmishing, the 
enemy retired precipitately, and the division bivouacked in 
line of battle. For six weeks, the army pressed forward, 
constantly menaced and harassed, but constantly advancing 
across swollen rivers, through almost impenetrable sw^amps 
and wide-growing rice-fields crossed by dikes and cause- 
ways, through the inland towns of Georgia and South 
Carolina; the soldiers foraging with peculiar unction after 
they crossed the boundaries of the fiery Palmetto State. In 
South Carolina, they reveled, indulging a terrible joy at the 
thought that the Rebellion was in its last gasp, and resolved 
to collect principal and interest of the debt long due to jus- 
tice. The pestilent State was swept with a besom of flame ; 
little was left that could be used ; and tall blackened chim- 
neys, where plantation-houses had been, became monuments 
to mark the track of the broad scourge. Every few miles, 
our army came upon long intrenchments of the enemy, 
which the occupants deserted, and the pursuers overran. 
Sometimes the men marched in cold and stiffening mud ; 
sometimes they waded for miles through water a foot or 

Sherman, was a lawyer, practicing? in Norwalk. After the British desolated Fairfield 
County, the family removed to Ohio, and settled the town of Sherman. Judirc Taylor 
Sherman was one of the orij^inal commissioners of the Fire Lands ; and Charles R Siier- 
man, durinsi: the last six years of his life, occupied a seat on thehench of the su]ierior 
court of Ohio. lie died in 1829; and of his eleven children Charles T., a prominent 
lawyer in Washin;:ton, was the eldest, William Tccumseh was the sixth, and Senator 
John Sherman the seventh. 



753 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

two deep; sometimes they pushed on all day, many bare 
and sore feet tracking frozen ground. Sherman shared the 
hardships of his soldiers. " His staff is smaller than that of 
any brigade commander in the army. He has fewer ser- 
vants and horses than the military regulations allow ; his 
bao-o-age is reduced to the smallest possible limit; he sleeps 
in a fly-tent like the rest of us, rejecting the effeminacy of a 
house; and the soldier in the ranks indulges in luxuries 
which his chief never sees." ° 

From every group of cabins and on every crossroad, the 
nescroes came with their wild shouts of welcome. Uncouth 
but sigrnificant were their salutations, "Tank the Lord 
Almighty, Mister Sherman has come wid his company ! " 
" I bin a prayin' fo' ye boys ; de blessin' ob Jesus is on ye. 
I know'd ye'd come. Bress de Lord, you uns '11 have a place 
in heaben : you go dar, sure ! " All the regiments were 
engaged from time to time in laying pontoon-bridges and 
corduroying the roads through swamps. By the middle of 
February, the head of the column struck Columbia ; and 
Beauregard retreated northward, falsifying a thousand sav- 
age prophecies. Charleston had fallen, and the stars and 
stripes waved over Sumter. Again forward pushed the 
irresistible " iron-clads " into North Carolina. 

Rev. Cliarles N. Lyman of Canton Center, chaplain of the 
Twentieth on this march, wrote, " For two or three days in 
succession, our march has been through pine-forests which 
were on fire, sending up huge masses of thick, black smoke, 
which the winds would take and waft into our faces, cover- 
ing us all with a thick coat of lampblack ;. so that we 
appeared like a vast army of chimney-sweeps marching 
through the land. Durino; this time also, we have known, 
like the apostle Paul, 'both what it was to abound, and to 
be in need.'" 

On March 13, the 20th Corps crossed the Cape-Fear River ; 
and next morning the Tw^entieth Connecticut was out upon 
a reconnoissance, the enemy being reported in front. After 
marching five miles, the command was divided ; Lieut.-Col. 
Buckingham taking three regiments, and advancing towards 

•* Nichols's Story of the Great March. 



THE FIFTH AND TWENTIETH AT AVEHrBOEOUGH. 769 

Raleigh, vvhile the rest of the force turned off to the right. 
Buckingham pushed on five miles farther, and drove the 
rebel skirmishers and a piece of artillery into works, where 
they made a stand. Having exhausted instructions, Col. 
Buckingham rejoined his brigade, and marched back to camp 
that night. During this expedition, Capt. Ezra Sprague com-' 
manded the regiment. Lieut. Edward J. Murray of New 
Britain, a promising young officer lately promoted fron% 
sergeant, was severely wounded in the thigh on the skir- 
mish-line. 

It now became evident that the Confederates were con- 
centrating in front. Kilpatrick had a sharp fight with Wade 
Hampton, in which he wrested victory from defeat, and 
swept the field. Sherman had communicated with Terry, 
Avho now commanded the lOtli Corps at Wilmington, and 
who started immediately northward to join the great expe- 
dition at Goldsborough. Sherman's men felt the approach- 
ing battle. They knew of it by a sort of military instinct, 
as soldiers always foresee a fight. When they stopped at 
night, they threw up a slight breastwork against the menace. 
Rebel infantry and cavalry now pressed everywhere in front. 

On March 16, the enemy was found in line of battle near 
Averyborough. The 1st Division of the 20th Corps was 
in the advance. The Fifth Connecticut relieved a force 
of cavalry, and dashed forward to the rebel works. The 
fiiirhtino; was severe ; but the Confederates were driven from 
their position, and they retired to heavier intrenchments in 
the rear. The Twentieth was also sharply engaged at this 
point, the 3d Division having hurried forward to participate. 
Both regiments were deployed as skirmishers along the 
advanced front, and continued under fire until after dark. 
The enemy was defeated at all points ; and many prisoners 
and some guns were captured. The Fifth had lost four 
killed, eleven wounded, and eleven missing. Among the 
killed was First Lieut. James P. Henderson. He had but 
recently been promoted, and, during his brief career as an 
officer, had proved himself fully w^orthy of the position he 
filled at the time of his death. 

Surgeon Andrew J. Gilson of Bridgeport wrote of him, 

97 



770 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

" He had recently been promoted from orderly sergeant to 
first lieutenant, and recommended for captain. He was gener- 
ous, brave, and noble-hearted, gallant, and patriotic. . When 
assured by me that his wound was mortal, and that he could 
not live but a few moments, he turned to me, and said, 
''Tell my mother I die like a soldier.' He had become 
endeared to me. I had learned to respect him and to love 
iiim, and now "I am called to mourn him." The Twentieth 
lost two (Sergeant Seymour N. Smith and John Gossman) 
killed, and nineteen wounded. Of the latter, three died, 
among whom was Lieut. Wellington Barry of Haddam. 
Adjutant C. Myron Talcott of New Britain, and Lieut. W. 
H. H. Jolnison of New Haven, w^ere wounded, the latter 
severely. 

Next morning, the march was resuVned ; Johnston having 
fallen back on Bentonville, On the 19th, he massed his 
forces, and made a vigorous assault on Sherman's exposed 
left, held by Slocum. The Fifth Connecticut went into 
position, and constructed works, but was not engaged. The 
Twentieth was called to participate. Lie-ut.-Col. Bucking- 
ham reported, " We were ordered to advance, and relieve 
a brigade of the 14th Corps, supposed to be in our imme- 
diate front. The re(>:iment advanced with the briy:ade-line 
through the woods for twenty or thirty rods, then across a 
swamp, when we emerged into an open wood of heavy pine- 
timber ; and some twenty rods from the swamp was a thick 
growth of underbrush directly in our front. After moving 
forward nearly to the edge of the heavy pine-forest, we re- 
ceived a tremendous volley from the enemy (whose lines lay 
concealed not more than a dozen rods from us, behind the 
underbrush), which we immediately returned. 

" Our line was estaljlished, and held till after dark without 
assistance. Although the enemy brought up another line of 
battle against us, and made the most determined efforts to 
drive us from the field, yet the men stood as firm as a rock, 
never flinchintr under the murderous fire, or trivino; an inch 
of ground. Soon after dark, the enemy retired, leaving 
his dead and many of his wounded in our hands; when we 
threw up a temporary line of works, and bivouacked on 



DISASTER TO THE FIFTEENTH. 771 

the battle-fielcl, after assisting in removing our dead and 
wounded. 

"The regiment in this engagement, remarkable both for 
the obstinacy with which the rebels fought and for the 
terrible fire which they maintained, kept its reputation for 
courage and valor, which it had already established on many 
a hard-fouu:ht battle-field." 

The regiment had lost ten killed and thirty wounded. 
Among the slain were Sergeant Edward W. Stanwood, and 
Corporals Abner C. Smith and Elliott W. Nettleton. During 
the battles of the succeeding days, the Connecticut regiments 
were not engaged. Terry with the 10th Corps had now 
come up. 

Schofield had gone to Newberne, whence he advanced, 
March 6, with the 23d Corps, on Kinston and Goldsborough. 
Gen. Edward Harland commanded a division on the rischt. 
The Fifteenth Connecticut was divided into two battalions, 
under Lieut.-Col. Tolles and Major E. Vf. Osborn, and was 
in a brigade commanded by Col. Charles L. Upham. This 
brigade was placed in the advance, on the Dover Road, 
to- the left. The road most of the way lay through swamps, 
and was heavily blockaded by felled trees, which had to be 
cut through to allow the passage of the artillery and trains. 
Of the disaster that befell the Fifteenth, Col. Upham gives 
the following account in his report : — 

"No enemy ^vas found until near South-west Creek, when 
it was evident that they intended to dispute the passage 
of that stream ; and held the crossings with artillery and 
infantry well intrenched. About two, p.m., of the 7th, I was 
ordered to the left to relieve a portion of the 2d Brigade, 1st 
Division, then at Jackson's Mills. Arriving there, Companies 
A and 1 of the 1st Battalion were deployed as skirmish- 
ers; the remainder of the battalion, furnishing the supports 
and the picket-line connecting with the troops on our right, 
three-fourths of a mile distant. The other brigades of our 
division went into camp at Wise's Forks, a mile and a half 
in our rear. Our left was covered by cavalry, wh-o were 
directed to picket as far as the Upper-Trent Road, wbich 



772 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

would preclude the possibility of the enemy's passing our 
left unknown to us. There were occasional firings on both, 
sides, from artillery and on the skirmish-line, until dark. 
During the night, the skirmish-line, under Lieut.-Col. Tolles, 
was pushed forward to within one hundred yards of the 
enemy's works, and mtrenched. About ten, a.m., of the 8th, 
the enemy opened upon us with artillery, which was returned 
by our guns ; and the skirmishers became briskly engaged. 
Receiving information that a body of the enemy were raov- 
mg upon a road on our left, I ordered the 27th Massachusetts 
Volunteers into the woods to our left, forming across the 
British Road, with skirmishers thrown out on both flanks. 
About noon, the enemy made a sudden and hiipetuous attack 
upon the 27th Massachusetts. Directing that the 2d Battalion 
of the Fifteenth change front to meet it, and the artillery 
report to me at the crossing of the British Road, I proceeded 
in that direction, and found the enemy to have possession of 
that part of the field; and, advancing rapidly, gained the 
roads, thereby preventing communications with Lieut.-Col. 
Tolles and Major Osborn. At the same time, the enemy 
advanced on our right, and, cutting our picket-line in two, 
almost completely surrounded the troops, who were soon 
compelled to surrender. The only [line] officer escaping was 
Lieut. Charles F. Bowman, who with a few men ran the 
gfintlet of a hot fire to make their escape. From an 
aide-de-camp of Gen. Bragg, who was present on the 8th, and 
afterward taken prisoner, I learn that the rear attack was 
made by Hoke's (rebel) division, six thousand strong." 

About nine hundred men were captured. 

The Fifteenth did not surrender without an earnest strug- 
gle ; and in this fell some of its noblest officers and men. 
Major Osborn was struck down at the head of his battalion, 
receiving a wound that proved mortal. Capt. Julius Bas- 
sett dropped upon the skirmish-line, — a bullet through his 
body from hip to hip. Lieut. E. W. Bishop fell in the midst 
of the fight. Capt. George W. White, Capt. Robert 0. Brad- 
ley, and others, were also wounded. No official list of 
casualties was published ; but it is estimated that at least a 
hundred of the regiment were killed or wounded. Corporals 



THE DEAD OF THE FIFTEENTH. 773 

Matthew Brown, F. Phillips, G. W. Manville, and Charles 
Beardsley were killed. 

Major Eli Walter Osborn was born in New Haven, and 
was thirty years old at the time of his death. At an early 
age, he had a fondness for military hfe, and was with diffi- 
culty dissuaded from entering at West Point. He was for sev- 
eral years captain of the '' Grays ; " and at all times was an 
enthusiastic and active mem.ber of that popular organization, 
which he commanded at the first battle of Bull Run, in the 
Second Regiment, Col. Terry. When the Fifteenth, or 
" Lyon Regiment," was formed, he accepted the position of 
major, in which capacity he had nearly served out the three 
3'ears of enlistment. His equable and generous temperament, 
his unselfishness, and his kindly manner, joined with high 
manly attributes, attracted the love and confidence of his 
comrades ; and his death was sincerely mourned by the brave 
men who had known him in battle and bivouac. He was 
on detached service when the regiment moved to battle, and 
applied for and obtained leave to join his command. He 
died at Danville, after being one month in the hands of the 
enemy, 

Capt. Bassett of Meriden died on the field. He was a son 
of Jared Bassett, and was born in Humphreysville in 1818. 
His educational advantages were limited ; but he studied 
industriously, and became a ready writer and speaker. He 
early developed the characteristics which marked his man- 
hood, — an unbending will, great courage, utter truthful- 
ness, strong personal attachments, and hatred of cant and 
afiectation. In 1862, he raised a company in Meriden, and 
led it in the Fifteenth, and was the senior captain in the 
reoriment at the time of his death. 

Lieut. Edwin W. Bishop of New Haven died ten days after 
the battle, in the hands of the enemy. Private Enoch E. 
Rogers of Orange says of him, " His genial, jovial nature, and 
kirjd treatment of the men, made him a universal favorite 
in the reuriment." 

The prisoners were marched to Kinston, thence taken by 
cars to Goldsborough, thence to Weldon. The officers went 
to Libby Prison. The enlisted men were marched arDund 



774 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

the State a few weeks, and then exchanged, and sent to 
Annapolis. 

The portion of the regiment not captured — a hundred 
men in the aggregate, including Company K absent from 
the fit'ht — was under Col. Upham in the succeeding action 
of the lO'th, where the assault of the enemy was repulsed 
most signally. Subsequently, when Kinston was. captured, 
the Fifteenth was a part of the provost-guard. 

Lieut. William A. Bowns of New Haven, acting-quarter- 
master, was killed by an accident on May 21. Endeavoring 
to get on board a railroad-train at 'Newberne, his foot slipped, 
and the cars ran over both his legs. He was a capable 
officer, and was buried in New Haven with military honors, 

Schofield advanced successfully on Kinston, and thence 
to GoldsboroLigh, where his corps and Terry's joined the 
army of Sherman. Gen. Harland was left in command of 
the post at Kinston ; and when the war was ended he 
resigned, after more than four years of trying and constant 
service in the field. 

The Sixteenth, as has been seen, suffered a long, disinal, 
♦ terrible imprisonment. The remnant that escaped capture 
remained on Roanoke Island under Capt. Barnum, re-inforced 
.now and then by a few officers, or a squad of men ex- 
changed, Lieut.-Col. John H. Burnham was exchanged 
during xVugust of 1864 ; and about the 1st of September 
he started for his command, and on the 9th was recaptured 
while on the steamer Fawn, passing through the Chesapeake 
and Albemarle Canal, and in sight of the steamer that ran 
to Roanoke Island. The rebel force consisted of seventy 
men. The colonel was soon after again paroled. During 
December, the detachment of the Sixteenth proceeded to 
Plymouth, and went thence on an expedition to Foster's 
Mills, about ten iniles ; destroying the mills and a large 
quantity of grain, and returning with various spoil. In 
March, when Schofield moved out from Newberne, the de- 
tachment evacuated the snug camp on Roanoke, and went 
across to the city, where it was quartered as provost-guard 
until the end of the Rebellion. 



CHAPTER XLIY. 




Spring: of 1865. — The Beginning of tlic Entl. — Petersburg. — Rebel Assault on Fort 
Stodman. — Repulse. — Service of the First Connecticut Artillery. — The Second 
Artillery and the Fourteenth on the Left. — The Tenth and Thirtieth. — The First 
Cavalry at Five Forks. — The Tenth at Fort Gregg. — Unsurpassed Gallantry. — 
Advance of the Whole Line. — Lee evacuates Petersburg and Richmond. — The 
Retreat and Pursuit. — First Cavalry at Sailor's Creek. — Lee surrounded. — The 
Surrender. — In Xorth Carolina. — The Capitulation of Johnston's Army. 

VERY sign was ominous of the speed}- downfall 
of the Confederacj', when in March, 1865, Grant 
and Sherman met President Lincoln at City 
Point; and the three chiefs decided to launch 
the final blows fast and heavy, and make ^hort 
work of it. 

Before the middle of the month, Lee had determined to 
abandon Richmond and Petersburg. The Union lines had 
been constantly strengthened, while his own army had become 
weaker and weaker every month. Moreover, his right was 
hard pressed by Warren and Hancock, who had gradually 
extended their works so near the Cox and Boydton roads 
as to make them unsafe as a line of retreat. 

In this dilemma, Lee ordered a sudden and impetuous 
assault on Fort Stedman near the Appomattox (where the 
gallant Geu: Stedman had fallen) ; hoping thereby at least 
to relieve his menaced right. On March 25, the blow was 
struck. The system of fortifications to be attacked consisted 
of a series of field-works, each capable of containing a battery 
of artillery and an infantry garrison of two or three hundred 
men. These works Avere closed at the gorge ; well protected 
with abatis and palisading ; supplied with numerous bomb- 
proofs ; and placed, at intervals of about six hundred yards, 



776 CONKECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

on such ground as to sweep the line in front with artillery- 
fire. They were connected by strong inflmtry parapets, and 
had obstructions in front. Gen. Abbot of the First thus 
reported the situation, " Hare Hill was located near the right 
of our Petersburg line, about a mile from the Appomattox 
River. It was protected by Fort Stedman, with Battery No. 
10 on its right, and Batteries Nos. 11 and 12 on its left. The 
next work, closed at the gorge on the side of the Appomat- 
tox River, was Battery No. 9, situated near the foot of the 
hill. The next work on the left of Hare Hill and its collec- 
tion of batteries was Fort Haskell, situated on another hill, 
with a small creek between. Fort Stedman was one of the 
weakest and most ill-conditioned works of the line ; being 
unprotected by abatis in rear ; being masked on its right — 
just in rear of Battery No. 10 — by numerous bomb-proofs, 
rendered necessary by tTie terrible fire which habitually took 
place in this vicinity ; and being only about two hundred 
•yards distant from the enemy's main line. The parapet had 
settled greatly during the w^inter ; and, in fine, the work was 
much exposed to sudden assault. Company K, FirsC Con- 
nectiCVit Artillery, served mortar batteries in Batteries 9 and 
10 ; and Company L of the same regiment, in Battery 12 
and in Fort Haskell." 

Fort Stedman was commanded by Major Randall of the 
14th New-Jersey Artillery, acting as infantry with a light 
battery. Batteries 8 and 9 were commanded by Lieut. Azro 
Drown of East Haddam ; Battery 10 by Capt. John M. 
Twiss of Hartford; Batteries 11 and 12 by Lieut. Robert 
Lewis of East Berlin — all of the First Connecticut. The 
9th Corps was in the rear as supports. 

At about four o'clock, a.m., three divisions of the enemy, 
under Gen. Gordon, made a desperate and well-arranged 
attack upon these defenses. It was a complete surprise, and 
was successful. Their columns simultaneously swept over the 
parapet between Stedman and Battery 9, over Battery 10 
and over Battery 11, joined in rear of the fort, and carried it 
almost without opposition. From that time to daylight, a 
hand-to-hand fight raged among the bomb-proofs, and on the 
flanks of the enemy's position. As the rebels swarmed over 



DESPERATE REBEL ASSAULT. 777 

the parapet of Battery No. 10, First Lieut. John Odell of 
New London shouted out, " Fall in to the guns, boys ! " when 
a rebel shot him dead. He w^as a young otficer, and noted for 
his bravery and good soldierly qualities, much loved and re- 
spected by all. Gen Abbot says, " Lieut. Odell was a natural 
soldier ; possessed of bravery of the highest character, enthu- 
siastic devotion to duty, and a fine power of command over 
men. He died as he would have wished, with his face to the 
enemy, bravely rallying his men to meet overwhelming 
odds." "• It was so dark that a man could hardly distinguish 
friend from foe, and the enemy had nearly gained possession 
of the batteries before the men knew of the movement. At 
one time, the rebels were firing part of the mortars in 
Battery No. 10, and our men firing the rest. The enemy 
made a spirited charge on Batteries 8 and 9 ; but Lieut. 
Drown used his mortars with such effect, that they had to 
retreat, losing heavily. At one time, the rebels were within 
two hundred yards of Battery No. 9, and five hundred yards 
of Battery No. 8. Their loss at this point was very heavy, 
while our loss was slia:ht." ^ 

Gen. Abbot reported, " The Confederates assaulted Fort 
Haskell again and again, but failed to carry it or Battery 
No. 9. As soon as the light would admit, all my own artil- 
lery from Batteries 4, 5, 8, 9, and Fort Haskell, and all the 
light artillery which Gen. Tidball, chief of artillery, 9th Corps, 
could concentrate upon the position, opened and maintained 
a terrible fire upon the enemy. No re-inforcements could 
join him from his own line, owing to this'fire. His captured 
position was entailing deadly loss upon him. Our reserves 
were rapidly assembling ; and finally, about eight, a.m., they 
made a gallant charge, which resulted in the recovery of 
our works, of all our artillery (even including my Coehorn 
mortars), and in the capture of over eighteen hundred 
l^risoners. The following extracts from the rebel papers 
show the effects of our artillerj'-fire. ' It was found that the 
inclosed worlvs in the rear, commanding the enem^^'s main 
line, could only be taken at a great sacrifice.' ' The enemy , 
massed his artillery so heavily in the neighboring forts, and 

^ Narrative of Private Walter F. Sage of Berlin. 
98 



778 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

was enabled to pour such a terrible enfilading fire upon 
our ranks, that it was deemed best to withdraw.' ' The 
enemy enfiladed us from right and left in the captured 
works to such an extent, that we could no longer hold them 
without the loss of many men,' &c." 

'• The rebels did not have time to spike or otherwise harm 
any of the guns or mortars. They now commenced retreat- 
in"" towards their own lines ; but this was not so easy a 
matter for them, as some of our forces had got between them 
and their lines. Now commenced the real work of the 
fight. Our troops charged them, and they broke and scat- 
tered like sheep. They finally succeeded in their escape, 
but with only a remnant of their forces. A heavy and con- 
tinuous fire was kept up on their columns as they retreated, 
doing great execution." ~ 

Gen. Abbot continues : " The loss in" the two companies of 
the First Artillery was heavy, amounting to sixty-five men. 
Company L, after bravely fighting in Battery No. 12 (open 
at the gorge) until nearly surrounded, was then marched by 
Lieut. Lewis, commanding, to Fort Haskell, where it partici- 
pated in the gallant defense of that work. When the charge 
was made to recover our lines, this company was the first to 
re-enter Battery No. 12 ; capturing one lieutenant and twelve 
privates of the 26th Georgia, with their battle-flag. The 
latter was taken by Private G. E. McDonald, who has received 
a medal of honor for its capture. Lieut. Lewis deserves great 
credit for handsomely commanding his company. He speaks 
in high terms of' Lieut. Ansel II. Couch of Danbury, and 
Sergeant James B. McNamara of Killingworth, for coolness 
and decision during the engagement. Lieut. W. H. H. 
Bingham of East Haddam, commanding a detachment of 
the company permanentl}^ stationed in Fort Haskell, also 
merits commendation. I have received a letter from Capt. 
J. M. Deane, 21)th Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers, written 
to call attention to the gallant conduct of Private James T. 
Murphy of Company L, who volunteered to s^rve a light 
, gun in Fort Haskell when its officer and all but two of its 
detachment were killed or wounded, and the gun was 

" Narrative of Private Walter F. Sage of Berlin. 



GALLAXT DEEDS OF AETILLERYMEN. 779 

silenced. Private Murphy served at the piece with gal- 
lantry during the rest of the fight. The loss of the com- 
pany was two enlisted men killed, five wounded, and 
thirteen missing.^ The portion of Company K stationed in 
Battery No. 10 suffered severely. Capt. Twiss was wound- 
ed, and Lieut. Odell killed, while gallantly fighting against 
overwhelming odds. The command of the company de- 
volving on Lieut. James H. Casey of East Haven, he 
bravely led the remnant forward with the charging column, 
and recovered his mortars. The loss of the company was 
one officer and four enlisted men killed, one officer and two 
enlisted men wounded, and thirty-six enlisted men missing. 
Lieut. Drown, commanding a detachment of the company in 
Battery No. 9, served his pieces with skill, causing great 
havoc among the columns of the enemy, distant about two 
hundred yards. Lieut. Frank D. Bangs of Derby, with 
Company E in Battery 5, maintained a well-directed fire 
upon the enemy in Fort Stedman, although himself sub- 
jected to a very severe concentric fire from the batteries 
around him. One shell exploded in the magazine, killing 
Private James Smith, but, fortunately, not igniting the 
barrels of powder." 

Capt. William C. Faxon of Stonington, commanding in 
Fort Avery, Lieut. H. D. Patterson of Naugatuck, command- 
ing in Fort Morton, and Sergeant Collins Richmond of Glas- 
tenbury, commanding in Battery No. 8, are mentioned for 
creditable participation in the fight. 

The Third Connecticut Battery, Capt. Thomas S. Gilbert of 
Derby, occupied the following fortifications : Craig, two guns, 
Lieut. Henry Middlebrook commanding ; Lewis 0. Morris, 
two guns, Lieut. Nelson B. Gilbert commanding; Gould, two 
guns, Lieut. AVilliam C. Beecher connnanding ; Porter, two 
guns, Lieut. Richard E. Hayden commanding. Capt. Gil- 
bert w^as instructed by Gen. Benham to hold all the redoubts 
hi readiness to o-pen fire in case the enemy made an irrup- 

3 " Two men of Company L, seeing that the guns of Battery Haskell were silent, took 
sole possession of the hattery, anil eommeneed firing one of the guns. They kept up a 
fire on the rebels all through the action ; firing in all one hundred and twenty-five shots. 
When it is considered that it takes six men to woi'k a gun, the difficulty of this feat will 
be seen. Their names are James INIurphy and William Huntington, the latter from 
Hartford." — Narrative of Private W. F. iiage. 



780 CONNECTICUT DURING THE BEBELLION. 

tion through our main lines, and attempted to destroy our 
base of supplies. 

When the assault was made, the brigade which included 
the Second Connecticut Artillery was hurriedly aroused, and 
moved to the point of danger, three miles to the right ; but 
by the time it arrived the works had been recaptured, and 
it marched back. 

Lee's assault had not only been wholly unsuccessful, but 
had entailed a loss of at least four thousand men in killed, 
wounded, and captured, — a loss which he could illy afford. 
Moreover, its effect upon his right had been just the reverse 
of what he had anticipated : instead of recoiling, Grant had 
sprung suddenly forward upon the left, crowding his antago- 
nist still nearer to the Appomattox. 

When the Second Artillery was recalled from the right, 
instead of returning to camp, it was sent directly against 
the enemy's weakened front. Capt. Theodore F. Vaill 
wrote, " We were immediately marched to the front of Fort 
Fisher, the largest work on the Petersburg line, and about 
a mile west of our camp, and there formed near the right 
of the line of attack, composed of the 1st and 2d Divisions 
of our corps, except such parts as were on picket, or in sup- 
port of batteries. We had about one hundred men on 
picket that day in front of the camp. The attack was made 
at half-past four, p.m. ; and little trouble was experienced in 
accomplishing our object. The rebel picket-line was cap- 
tured almost entire ; and our own line was established a 
long distance in advance of its original position. The detail 
on picket had its share in the work and success of the day; 
occupying the rebel pits that night, and capturing more than 
their numbers in prisoners. The regiment was relieved at 
midnight, and returned to camp." 

The loss of the re2i;iment duringr the eno;ao^ement was five 
killed and sixteen woLuided. Among the killed was Ser- 
geant-Major E. Goodwin Osborn, shot through the heart; 
and among the wounded were Capt. Yaill, severely, in the 
thigh, and Lieut. Admatha Bates in the foot. 

The Fourteenth had participated in the advance still fiir- 
ther to the left. Lieut.-Col. S. A. Moore, commanding, re- 



THE FOUllTgENTH IN A SKIRMISH. 781 

ported as follows : '' I have the honor to report, that, upon 
the 25th instant, I was detailed by Gen. William Hayes, com- 
manding the 2d Division, 2d Corp3, to take a force of five 
hundred men, and make a demonstration near the left of 
the line held by the corps, for the purpose of drawing the 
attention of the enemy from movements which were taking 
place farther to the right. The regiments assigned to me 
for this purpose were the Fourteenth Connecticut, the 12th 
New-Jersey, and 69th and 106th Pennsylvania Volunteers. 

" On our way out to the picket-line, several shells were 
thrown at the column by the enemy, without, however, 
doing any harm. Upon reaching the picket-line near the 
Armstrong House, I deployed four companies of the Four- 
teenth as skirmishers, under the command of Capt. Mur- 
dock. One company, under Lieut. Russell, was also de- 
j^loyed upon the left as flankers. The remainder of the 
command being formed in line of battle, we advanced for 
about half a mile, most of the way through thick woods; 
when we found an intrenched skirmish-line of the enemy 
strongly posted on the opposite side of Hatcher's Run. 

" We attacked them ; but for a time it seemed impossible 
for the men to ford the run, it being wide and deep, and the 
trees from both banks being felled into the stream, so that 
their branches presented a very serious obstacle to crossing. 
At length, however, our skirmishers effected a passage, cap- 
turing the enemy's works, with about seventy prisoners, one 
of whom was a commissioned officer. Another commis- 
sioned officer was taken at a house ^bout half a mile far- 
ther on. At about eleven o'clock, p.m., the object for which 
we were sent out having been accomplished, we returned to 
camp, after having destroyed the bridge across the run." 

The casualties of the regiment were six wounded, — 
Lieut. John T. Bradley severely in the arm, and Sergeant 
Russell Glenn severely in the breast. Capt. Y/illiam Mur- 
dock of Middletown, Capt. J. Frank Morgan of Middletown, 
and Adjutant William B.. Hincks of Bridgeport, received 
complimentary mention. Like all the other line-officers of 
the regiment they had been promoted from the ranks. 

The followinur enlisted men distinn-uished themselves, beino; 



782 CONNECTICUT DURING TH^ REBELLION. 

the first to cross the rim under a heavy fire; some of them 
wading inwater up to their necl^s : — 

Sergeant Russell Glenn, Sergeant Everett L. Dudley, Cor- 
poral Hiram II. Fox, Privates Pierce Barron, Edward Hiley, 
George W. Smith, Patrick Moore, James Kerns, George W. 
Sanfbrd, and Pierre Morell. 

On the 27th of March, two divisions of the 24th Corps, 
including the Tenth Connecticut under Lieut.-Col. E. D. S. 
Goodyear, and the Thirtieth (colored) under Col. Henry C. 
Ward, crossed the James to Bermuda Hundred, and the Ap- 
pomattox at Point of Rocks, and pushed around to the left 
of the army. On the 30th, about noon, they advanced with 
the army, closing in upon the right of Lee. The Fourteenth 
was also in this movement. The rain was falling heavily ; 
and roads and streams were flooded. Three hundred and 
fifty men of the Tenth were detailed for picket, under Capt. 
Henry A. Peck of Bristol. Brisk skirmishing ensued all 
day ; and the reserves slept on their arms at night behind a 
I02: breastwork. 

The Tenth was destined to important service within the 
next three days. On the morning of the 31st, the regiment 
advanced with the brigade, and after a severe skirmish 
drove the enemy within his w^orks. It pressed forward to a 
point within four hundred yards of the hostile fortifications, 
and was constantly engaged until dark. Its losses during 
the day were Capt. George H. Brown, killed at the head of 
his company ; Lieut. Julius Neidhart and eight enlisted men 
wounded. 

Intrenchments were now commenced ; and before three 
o'clock, A.M., a formidable line of defense, without abatis, 
stretched along the front, rifle-pits being also dug for the 
pickets. The posts of the latter were thirty yards in ad- 
vance of the main line, and on the edge of a deep ravine, the 
opposite side of which was occupied by the enemy. The 
position was such as to render any further direct advance im- 
practicable without a severe engagement; but the command 
was shortl}^ turned out under arms, and ordered to the left 
of the brigade, to follow the 11th Maine. During some de- 
lay of that regiment, the rebels charged our outposts ; and 



THE riP.ST CAVALRY AT FIVE FORKS. 783 

the Tenth was advanced again to the works, where it ar- 
rived just as the enemy came to the opposite side of the 
parapet. A short but sharp fight took place on the parapet 
of the work, which resulted in a complete repulse of the 
enemy, who was compelled to fall back in confusion. The 
picket-line, which had been driven in, was promptly re- 
established ; and the enemy was forced back to his old posi- 
tion with severe loss. The casualties in the Tenth were only 
one enlisted man killed and five wounded ; whiJe it had 
inflicted severe loss on the enemy, and captured fifty pris- 
oners. During the day, an attempt was made to strengthen 
the line of works, and construct abatis ; but, as the working- 
parties suffered severely from the enemy's sharpshooters, it 
was deemed best to discontinue the work until after d(irk, 
at v/hich time the line was materially strengthened, and a 
good abatis constructed in front. 

On the same day, April 1, Sheridan fought the great bat- 
tle and won the decisive victory of Five Forks. The First 
Connecticut Cavalry was here heavily engaged. At sunrise, 
the regiment started out under Col. Brayton Ives, with Cus- 
ter's division. The force was dismounted, and advanced 
against the enemy. The Confederates retired slowly until 
they reached that junction of roads knofv^n as Five Forks, 
where they made a desperate stand. The First was on the 
extreme riij^ht of the division. About noon, the reojiment 
halted, in line of battle, at a ravine in a narrow belt of 
woods, just in front of which lay a broad open field, and 
beyond that a large peach-orchard with its trees in full 
bloom. Every thing was quiet ; not a shot had been fired 
for some time. The enemy was near, and maintained a sus- 
picious silence. In a few minutes, one of Custer's staff 
dashed up in front of the od New-Jersey, which was on the 
left, and shouted, " There's a rebel battery over in that or- 
chard, entirely unsupported ! " The Jerseymen gave a shout, 
and dashed ahead pell-mell. Col. Ives restrained the First ; 
but they were clamorous to charge. 

Col. Ives says, " Otficers and men entreated me by looks 
and words to allow them to go forward ; and I think I was 
persuaded by Capt. Parmelee. I sat on my horse near him ; 



784 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

and I never shall forget his eagerness to advance, nor the 
appeahng look he gave me. Unable to resist longer, I cried, 
•Forward!' and with a yell the First Connecticut charged 
' on the run.' But no sooner had we reached the outer 
edge of the woods than the peaceful-looking peach-orchard 
assumed a different character. The bright pink blossoms 
were blown into the air by bullets, shells, canister, and grape- 
shot. Every man who had gone into the open field was 
shot dowa. Fortunately, another staff-officer rode up with 
an order for the line to retire. Just at this moment, a shell 
struck Capt. Parmelee in the breast, killing him instantly." 

In his official report. Col. Ives gives an account of the 
succeeding battle, "During the afternoon, our line charged 
the, enemy's breastworks three successive times. Tw^ice" we 
were repulsed. The thick woods, the long march, the lack 
of rations (we had been without food .for thirty-six hours), 
the heavy and incessant fire to which we were exposed, all 
united to test severely the bravery and discipline of our 
troops. But they bore all without flinching, and charged 
for the third time so vigorously, that the rebels threw down 
their arms, and fled or surrendered. In addition to many 
prisoners taken by the First Connecticut at this time, two 
guns were captured by Major Leonard P. Goodwin and Lieut. 
Aaron S. Lanfare. These were the only pieces of artillery 
taken by Custer's division in the battle of Five Forks. After 
a short pursuit of the flying enemy, we went into bivouac 
for the nio'ht." 

The rei>:iment had lost one of its most valued officers in 
Capt. Uriah N. Parmelee. He was a native of Guilford, and 
entered Yale at the age of eighteen. Rev. H. H. Murray, a 
colleij-e-mate of the deceased, savs of him, " I always res^ard- 
ed him as the most promising of all my friends of his age. 
His scholarship was good, his reading had been varied and 
extensive, his memory tenacious, his understanding clear. 
His mind was of a high order. His candor and love of truth 
were remarkable. I do not think he could equivocate." 
But he asked, " What is knowledge worth to me without a 
country?" and in his junior year he left college, and volun- 
teered in the New -York 6 th Cavalry. He was an orderly 



DEATH OF CAPT. PARMELEE, 785 

to Gen. John C. Caldwell at Chancellorsville, and received 
the rare compliment of the following mention : — 

" I can not close my report without at least a passing notice of my 
orderly, Corporal U. N. Parmelee. When a new regiment (148th New- 
York) broke under the first deadly fire, he rendered efficient and timely service 
ill rallyin'j: the men, and urging them on. I think him worthy of promotion, 
both for his gallantry and other high qualities." 

In the spring of 18G4, Gov. Buckingham commissioneYl 
him second lieutenant in the First ; and he was promoted, over 
all intermediate officers, to be captain, for gallantry at Ash- 
land. In October, 1864, his squadron, while on picket, was 
surrounded by a brigade of rebels, and compelled to sur- 
render. The captain was abused ; robbed of money, clothing, 
and even of personal effects of no use to his captors ; and 
forced to march barefoot over a stony road for many miles : 
but he succeeded in two days, by his adroitness and pluck, 
in effecting an escape, and rejoined the regiment to enter 
more heartily into the work than ever. 

Col. Ives wrote of him subsequently, " His body was car- 
ried to the rear, and laid under a tree till after the battle, 
when the men buried it ; placing a wreath of flowers upon the 
grave, and marking the spot with a head-board, upon which 
was written the name and rank of the deceased. Without 
injustice to any of the faithful officers who followed me 
through that severe closing campaign, and without undue 
laudation of the dead, I can say that I regarded Capt. 
Parmelee as the most valuable line-officer in my regiment. 
We all loved him; and our hearts were sad that pleasant 
Sunday morning as we marched past his grave in pursuit 
of the flying enemj'." 

Sheridan, by a most rapid and skillful combination, had 
surrounded the Confederates at Five Forks, beaten them, 
and captured more than five thousand. At midnight, a ter- 
rific cannonade was opened by the First Connecticut Artil- 
lery from all the guns bearing on the enemy; and Grant 
ordered a simultaneous advance on the morning of the 2d, 
by the corps of Wright, Parke, and Ord. At one point, the 
rebels were to make a most stubborn resistance, — in the 
vicinity of Fort Gregg, which inclosed the Weldon Railroad. 

89 



786 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION.* 

Early in the morning of the 2cl, Lieut.-Col. Goodyear, 
commanding the Tenth, was directed to strengthen his skir- 
mish-line, and make a demonstration in connection with the 
skirmishers of the 11th Maine and 100th New-York upon 
the enemy's works in front, for the purpose of ascertaining 
the strength of the enemy. The advance was immediately 
made, hut was met by so destructive a lire from the enemy's 
line of battle, that farther advance of the skirmish-line in 
that direction was impossible. At about nine o'clock, the bri- 
gade was moved by direction of Brig.-Gen. Foster towards 
the right, leaving the skirmish-line in position, A march 
of less than two hours brought the command in sight of a 
formidable line of earthworks, defended by two lines of pali- 
sading and abatis. Beyond and in sight of these fortifica- 
tions, the inner defenses on the right of Petersburg were 
visible ; the tall spires of the city looming up in the back- 
ground. In front of the inner line, and equidistant from 
each other, were inclosed forts armed with artillery, and the 
parapet manned with strong lines of infantry. From these 
works, the enemy commenced shelling our men as they 
advanced to take their position in front. The Tenth was 
deployed in line of battle on the right of the brigade, A 
portion of the 11th Maine Volunteers were deployed as skir- 
mishers; and, the skirmishers of the 1st and 4th Brigades 
being in position, the order to advance was given, and the 
enemy was driven within his works. The 1st and 4th Bri- 
gades being in line, and connecting, Gen. Foster ordered the 
works in front to be carried by assault. 

Capt. Francis G, Hickerson, commanding the Tenth after 
the engagement, thus reports, "The Tenth, supported by the 
lOOtli New- York, advanced in quick time to the assault of 
the work in its front (Fort Gregg), It was a completely in- 
closed work, stockaded in rear, with loop-holes for musketry 
through the stockade, and manned by a full garrison with 
two pieces of artillery. The regiment arriving at a dis- 
tance of four hundred yards from the works, the troops, 
taking the double-quick, pushed on without a halt, under 
one of the most terrific fires of musketry and artillery ever 
witnessed. Many of our brave men went down ; but the fort 



GALLANTr.Y OF THE TENTH AT FOET GREGG. 787 

was reached without faltering. Lieiit.-Col. Goodyear fell 
severely wounded in the face and shoulder, while gallantly 
leading his men in the charge ; and, although wounded early 
in the engagement, he would not allow himself to be carried 
to the rear, but remained where he fell until the fort was 
surrendered. The flag of Connecticut was the first on the 
parapet; and a desperate hand-to-hand fight took place 
there for the possession of the fort, lasting from twenty- 
five to thirty minutes. A portion of the 1st Brigade arriv- 
ing about this time, our line entirely inclosed the fort ; but 
the garrison, although surrounded, still refused to surrender, 
and continued to defend the work ; while from Fort Baldwin 
a destructive fire was poured in upon the backs of such of 
our men as were exposed in that direction. Further re-in- 
forcements, however, coming up at this juncture, the fort 
was at last surrendered. 

" The record of modern warfare rarely shows a more des- 
perate encounter than that upon the parapet of Fort Gregg. 
Union and rebel soldiers were found dead in each other's 
grasp. Thirteen rebels were found inside the fort, killed by 
bayonet-thrust; and scores were wounded by the same 
weapon. The new State colors, never before in a fight, 
were pierced by twenty-three bullets, while the staff was 
struck three times." " 

Chaplain Trumbull wrote of the assault and the attendant 
casualties, — 

" The blue flag of Connecticut was the first on the parapet of the fort. 
Nothing very strange in. that! The Tenth maintained its former good 
name in the hand-to-hand struggle ; losing well-nigh one-half of all it sent 
in, but never lowering its flag lor an instant, or giving back an inch once 
gained. Col. Greeley being at tlie North, Lieut. -Col. E. D. S. Goodyear 
— well known as from North Haven — Avas in command. Cheering the 
men by encouraging words and courageous bearing, he led them across the 
plain in the face of the deadly fire of grape, canister, and musketry, until he 
was struck in the face, and knocked down by a glancing bullet. Rallyinn^ 
again, he once more pressed forward ; but the second time he i'ell, wounded 
severely by a shot through the shoulder ; and during the remainder of the 
engagement he lay near the ditch, Avatching with closest interest the prog- 
ress of the fight, and feeling just pride in his brave boj-s who were doing 
their work so nobly. Capt. J. II. Liudsley of Northford was wounded, as 
twice before, having a ball in his hip, and narrow escapes from three bul- 
lets which passed tlirough his clothing. Capt. Brainard Smith of Milford 
was shot through the body, and died on his way to hospital. Coming out 



788 coisnsrECTicuT during the eebellion. 

as a private, Capt. Smith had worked his way up to the command of a 
compauy, and was a gallant officer of character and promise. Lieut. 
Walter P. Hovey of North Haven was hit in the leg by a grape-shot. 
Lieut. Julius Neidhart of New Haven lost his left leg. Lieut. Edward L. 
Smith of Branford received three wounds ; one in the head, and two in 
the left arm. Other officers who escaped injury were not less exposed or 
courageous than those whose wounds testify to their valor. 

" Neither were officers the only brave ones. There were many enlisted 
men whose deeds were worthy of special mention and praise. "When 
Sergeant Smith dropped exhausted on the march, the State colors were 
taken by Corporal Charles E. Northrup, and carried on in the charge until 
he fell wounded in the shoulder. Corporal Northrup is of Darien, a patri- 
otic young soldier of a patriotic household. His. father and older brother 
both died in the service ; the former while a prisoner in the gloomy stockade 
at Columbia, S.C. The care of his widowed mother's household thus de- 
volving on this son, application was made for his discharge from the army, 
which would have been doubtless speedily successful ; but, the battle 
coming on, he would not leave his post, and was stricken down while 
pressing forward in the extreme advance. 

" Young George Phillips, a New-Haven boy, was also conspicuous. He 
is but nineteen now, yet he has been nearly three years in service. He was 
twice taken out of the army by his father on the score of his age ; but the 
third time he managed to stay in. He was made a corporal, and put on the 
color -guard. When Corporal Northrup was wounded. Corporal 'Phillips 
took the State colors, and pressed forward in the advance. Into the ditch, 
through the Avater, up the steep bank, on to the top of the parapet, he made 
his way ; and there he stood a target for rebel bullets, holding up the flag, 
and counting his life as nothing in its defense. The new flag, never before 
in a fight, had twenty-six bullet-holes in it, and three more were in its staff. 
Young Phillips was made a sei-geant befoi-e he left the field that day. 
Has he not won his chevrons fairly ? When questioned about it, and 
praised for his gallantry by Lieut. -Col. Goodyear, who was witness to 
his bravery, he said dryly, ' I worried 'em with the flag. I'd shake it in 
their faces ; and then, when they'd grab at it, Parmelee Avould shoot 'em.' 
Joseph E. Parmelee was another color-corporal, a brave boy from Guil- 
ford. He stood defending the colors ; and Phillips says he saw him shoot 
five rebels through the head as rapidly as he could load and fire again. 
He was finally wounded, but not dangerously. Phillips was hit with a 
brick; missiles of that kind being freely used' in the latter part of the 
struggle. His escape from bullets was wonderful. 

" Corporal Samuel Bennett, one of the new substitutes, an Englishman, 
was wounded in the thigh. He had seea some service in the English 
marine force, and was firm and true in the thickest of the battle. Cor- 
poral Oscar Allen of New Haven, whose step-father was killed last August 
while on the same color-guard, and whose mother has died since his re-en- 
listment, received a wound which would have proved fatal but for the bul- 
let's being checked by his bi'eastplate. Corporal Dutton of Company B, 
who was one of the very first men on the parapet of the fort, was so 
delighted when he saw the blue colors come up, that, even in the excite- 
ment of the battle, he caught the hand of one of the color-guard, and called 
out cheerily, ' Oh ! I'm so proud to see that flag the first here !" and then 
turned to his woi-k of fighting, with all his heart in it. In a few minutes, 
he fell wounded, and was afterwards reported dead ; but he was taken to 
the hospital, and is in a fair way to recover." 



FLIGHT OF LEE. 789 

Three companies of the Tenth, under Capt. Hiekerson, 
being on the skirmish-hne in front of Fort Baldwin, ad- 
vanced under a severe fire from that and other works ; and, 
after the surrender of Fort Gregg, Fort Baldwin was carried, 
the skirmishers of the Tenth being also the first to enter 
that work. The regiment had never fought more gallantly 
than this day ; and that is superlative praise. It had lost 
one officer and ten enlisted men killed, and seventy-nine 
wounded. For its conduct in this enoi-ati-ement, the Tenth 
was presented with an eagle of rich gilt bronze, represented 
with extended wings and open beak, grasping in his talons 
arrows and olive-branch, and resting on a globe which was 
supported on a handsome cap to fit the staff of the State 
colors. The globe bears the inscription, '' Presented to the 
Tenth Connecticut Volunteers by Major-Gen. John Gibbon, 
commanding 24th Army Corps, for gallant conduct in the 
assault on Fort Gregg, Petersburg, April 2, 1865." 

The assault at this point had not been isolated. Upon the 
right the 9th Corps had moved forward, and upon the left 
the 6tli and 2d ; and each advance had been crowned with 
partial or complete success. ^yright with his 6th Corps 
had pierced the rebel line near Fort Gregg, overborne 
all opposition, and made his way straight across the South- 
side Eailroad to the Appomattox, soutli of Petersburg. Here 
the Second Artillery was again hotly engaged in obtaining 
the final success. 

Lee was beaten at every point. Scarcely anywhere did 
his troops retain a hold upon their intrenchments ; and flight 
was the only alternative. Once more our jaded heroes sprang 
forward. The enemy's retreat lay up the Appomattox ; but 
Sheridan was already in his path, and had swung the 5th 
Corps up to Sutherland's, ten miles west of Petersburg, and 
stationed his cavalry ten miles still farther west. All day (the 
2d, Sunday), preparations for retreat went forward rapidly; 
while Grant's host closed sternly in upon the east and south. 
All night, the evacuation went silently forward. Richmond 
was fired ; thousands of the panic-stricken people fled with 
the army ; and by dawn of the next day Lee was sixteen 
miles west, headed for the army of Johnston, which was still 
facing Sherman defiantly in North Carolina. 



•J-QQ CONNECTICUT DUr.ING THE EEBELLION. 

"Weitzel, pressing near Riclunond north of the James, with 
one division of the 24th Corps, and one division of the 25th 
(colored) Corps, was attracted by the conflagration, and in 
early morning hurried forward over the vacated Confederate 
breastworks towards the city. 

Lieut.-Col. David Torrance reported, '• At sunset of April 
2, we witnessed the last rebel dress-parade in Virginia, from 
the magazine of Fort Harrison. Early on Monday morning, 
April 3, 186-j, the picket-fires of the enemy began to wane, 
and an ominous silence to prevail within his lines. Very 
soon, deserters began to come within our lines, who reported 
that the works in our front were being evacuated. In a little 
while, we saw the barracks of Fort Darling in flames ; and 
tremendous explosions followed each other in rapid succes- 
sion. The earliest dawn revealed to us the deserted lines, 
with their guns spiked and their tents standing. We were 
ordered to advance at once, but cautiously. The troops 
jumped over the breastworks, and, avoiding the torpedoes, 
filed through the rebel abatis; and then began the race for 
PJchmond. 

'• Xo words can describe the enthusiasm of the troops as 
they found themselves fairly within the rebel lines, and 
tramping along the bloody roads leading to the capital. The 
honor of first entering that city was most earnestly contested. 
Many regiments threw away every thing but their arms, 
while this regiment ' double-quicked ' in heavy marching 
orders. Two companies of this regiment, G and C, that had 
been sent forward as skirmishers, reached the city close on 
the heels of our cavalry, and were, without the slightest 
doubt, the first companies of infantry to enter the city. 
Through the heat and dust the troops struggled on ; and at 
last, as we came in full view of the city, the air was rent with 
such cheers as only the brave men who had fought so long 
and so noblv for that citv could i»;ive." 

The Eleventh Connecticut was also here, under Major 
Charles Warren,"* and immediately pushed forward. Major 

* Charles Wnrrcn vas a native of the town of StaflFord, and joined the service as a 
private in Company B, Eleventh Ive.uimcnt, in O'etobtr, UOl. lie was promoted to be 
serj^'eant before leaving the State ; became tirst scr-eant in JNIarcli, 1S62 ; first licntcnant, 
October, 1SG2; and captain, July, 18G3. Here-signed in December, 18C4, at the expira- 



THE TEOOPS EXTER RICHMOND IN TEIUMPH. 791 

Warren reported, "The brigade (1st Brigade, 3d Division, 
24tli Army Corps) of which this regiment forms a part was 
formed in mass on the New-Market Road, and immediately 
advanced towards the rebel capital, preceded by a line of 
skirmishers. The first line of rebel works was cantiously 
passed without opposition. Lines of rebel works were passed 
at double-quick, until the spires of the city of which we 
had read for four yeavs came in view : the national banners 
were unfurled; bands struck up, 'Rally round the Flag,' 
when cheer upon cheer from our soldiers rent the air ; and 
the city of Richmond was entered in triumph by the national 
army about half-past eight o'clock, a.m. The men were 
received by the white people with a good deal of enthu- 
siasm ; but our reception by the colored people was a per- 
fect ovation. The rear-guard of the enemy passed up Main 
Street just ahead of our advance. Many prisoners have been 
picked up in the cit}'. After stationing guards over maga- 
zines, arsenals, and other important places, the Eleventh ^vas 
sent to aid in putting out the fire which the rebels had 
kindled, and which was fast sweeping the city to destruc- 
tion. The fire being checked, the regiment was detailed as 
provost-guard for the city, w^hich duty they continue to 
perform." 

Chaplain DeForest wrote, " Our reception was grander 
and more exultant than even Roman emperor leading back 
Iws victorious legions with the spoils of conquest could ever 
know. We brought government, order, and heaven-born lib- 
erty. The slaves seemed to think that the day of jubilee 
had full}' come. How they danced, shouted, waved their rag- 
banners, shook our hands, bowed, scraped, laughed all over, 
and thanked God for our coming ! Many heroes have fought 
for this day, and died without the sight. The heroes of this 
battle are those who broke the rebel lines yesterdaj', and 
forced Lee to send a telegram to Jeff. Davis, which cut. short 
his devotions, and called him out of- church to begin his 
flight. But by the fortunes of war we are permitted to see 

tion of his term of service ; havinp^ participated in every battle ami march of his resiment. 
Two weeks later he was commissioned from civil life to be major, and tlKTeatk-i- led the 
regiment ; being promoted to be lientenant-colonel in May, and colonel in December, 1865. 
He left the service with a record untarnished. * 



792 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

and feel the long-expected day. It is a day never to be for- 
gotten by us till days shall be no more." 

The First Connecticut Battery and the Eighth and Twenty- 
first Ret»-inients were also in this advance to the capital. 

Meantime the pursuit was pressed with unparalleled vigor. 
Swinton says that Lee, at the head of his twenty-five thou- 
sand fugitives, expected to be able to join Johnston, and '• his 
spirits w^ere unusually light and cheerful on the morning of 
the '3d." He was probably thinking of his escape from York- 
town and Antietam; but he was beset by a different adver- 
sary now. 

The pursuit was conducted along two lines, — Ord with the 
Army of the James, in which was the Tenth Connecticut, 
proceeding by the Southside or Lynchburg Railroad ; and 
Sheridan with the cavalry and the 5th Corps, followed by 
Meade with the 2d and 6th, along the northerly roads 
nearer to the Appomattox. Lee's retreat lay north of both ; 
but'he must cross both at Amelia Court House and Burkes- 
ville, to make sure of escape. With Sheridan was the First 
Connecticut Cavalry, and with Meade the Second Artillery, 
and the Tenth, Fourteenth, and Thirtieth Infimtry. 

Before Lee could pass AmeHa Court House, Sheridan was 
before it at Jetersville. Lee declined battle ; abandoned the 
hope of reaching Danville, except by detour, and moved 
rapidly westward towards Detonsville. Sheridan flung ' his 
cavalry forward : and early on the 6th, Custer attacked th"e 
wagon-train of the Confederate army at Sailor's Creek. 

The First Connecticut was in the advance of the division, 
and was the first to charge. The guard of the train was 
routed, and many prisoners taken. The regiment then be- 
came divided. Col. Ives led the right battalion into a piece 
of woods near the rear of the train, where the rebels had a 
number of guns supported by infantry. The dash of Col. 
Ives resulted in a capture by him of five pieces of artillery 
with their caissons, besides a hundred and forty prisoners and 
two battle-flags. These were the first captures of the day. 
One of the flags was taken from the color-bearer of the 1st 
Florida by Lieut. A. S. Lanfare of Branford. Major John 
B. Morehouse, with the left battalion, charged upon the 



SURRENDER OF SWELL'S CORPS. 793 

head of the train, took possession, and burned wagons, and 
captured men and horses. 

The rebel infantry soon came up, and after a spirited 
engagement forced the cavahy to retire ; after which they 
threw up intrenchments, and awaited a renewal of the 
attack. About three, p.m., Pennington's cavalry brigade 
was directed to charge the enemy's works. Col. Ives says, 
" It was a rash order. Not more than a third of the brigade 
was present ; men and horses had been on the move since 
daylight ;' the enemy was strongly intrenched ; and we could 
reach the works only by advancing over an open field. I 
had but a handful of my regiment with me ; the balance 
being in charge of captured guns, prisoners, &c., and other- 
wise detached. However, at the sound of the bugles, our 
men galloped forward bravely. When we got within easy 
range of the intrenchments, we received such terrible vol- 
leys, that both men and horses were cut down in squads. 
It was impossible to withstand the storm of lead ; and we 
were driven back. In less than three minutes after the 
' charge ' was sounded, one-fifth of the men and horses I led 
in were killed outright (my own horse among them), — all 
lying in one spot that could be covered by a radius of a rod. 
It is but just to say, that, when we subsequently went over 
the field to bury the dead, none were- found lying so near 
the hostile works as those who belonged ^o the First Con- 
necticut." 

The Gth and 2d Corps soon came up ; and about sunset 
the works were carried : and Ewell, finding himself sur- 
rounded, surrendered his whole corps. In this engagement, 
the Second Connecticut Artillery and the Fourteenth In- 
fantry had honorable part. 

On the night of the 6th, Lee crossed the Appomattox by 
bridges near Farmville; and in the morning was again 
closely pursued by the 2d Corps. The Confederates had 
but one ration on leaving Richmond ; and now lived as they 
could by foraging within the narrow limits allowed them by 
the Union cavahy. " Those men were fortunate who had 
in their pockets a few handfuls of corn which they might 
parch by the wayside ; but many had nought wherewithal to 

100 



794 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

assuage the pangs of hunger, save the buds and twigs of 
spring, that, with " its exuberant bourgeon, seemed to mock 
the desolate winter of their fortunes. The misery of these 
famished troops during the 4th, 5th, 6tli, 7th, and 8th of 
April, passes all experience of military anguish since the 
retreat from the banks of the Beresina."^ Grant's troops 
were also on diminished and irregidar rations; but they 
were sustained by that which supplemented scanty food and 
rest, — the flush of success, and the assurance of iinal 
victory. 

On the 7th, Grant demanded a surrender of the Army of 
Northern Yirg-inia. Lee asked for a meetins; lookins; to 
" the restoration of peace ; " but refused to surrender, and 
pushed on. Grant declined to confer for diplomatic pur- 
poses. The 2d and Gth Corps pursued on the north bank 
of the Appon^attox ; while Sheridan, with his cavalry and 
the Army of the James and the 5th Corps, pushed straight 
across the country, forty miles, to Appomattox Station. 
Here he arrived on the evenino; of the 8th, in advance of 
Lee ; captured four trains of cars with food for the lamished 
Confederates ; and flung his connnand across the narrow 
neck of land between the James and Appomattox, directly 
in their front. The First Connecticut Cavalry and the Tenth 
were present at this point, a hundred miles west of Peters-* 
burg*. • 

Lee resolved to cut his way through, and at dawn of the 
9th hurled Gordon's division impetuously upon Sheridan's 
horse. The latter gave ground, retiring to the line of the 
infantr3^ Then the rebels, in turn, recoiled. Sheridan 
instantly mounted his cavalry, and wheeled it along the 
enemy's left flank ; when, just as he was ready to sound the 
" charge," a letter from Gen. Lee was brought through the 
lines, appointing a meeting for surrender. A truce followed. 

About noon, on Sunday, April 9, in a farm-house at 
Appomattox Court House, sat the rival chiefs, and signed 
the death-warrant of the Confederacy. The Army of 
Northern Virginia, which had been so potential for harm, 
was no more. The following were — 

^ Tlie Army of the Potomac, p. 614. 



SUEEENDEE OF LEE. 795 

THE TERMS. 

Appomattox Coukt House, April 9. 
Gen. R. E. Lee, CoMMA^'DING C. S. A. 

la accordaace with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th 
instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia on the following terms, to wit : — 

Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy 
to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such 
officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual 
paroles not to take arms against the United States until properly ex- 
changed ; and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole 
for the men of their commands. 

The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, 
and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will 
not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or bag- 
gage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their 
homes, not to be disturbed by United-States authority so long as they 
observe their parole and the laws in force Avhere they may reside. 

Very respectfully 

U. S. Gkant, 

Lieutenant-General. 

THE SURRENDER. , 

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, 
April 9, 1SC5. 
Lieut.-Gen. U. S. Grant, U. S. A. 

General, — I have received your letter of this date, containing the 
terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by 
you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter 
of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the 
proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. 

Very respectfully 

Your obedient servant, 

R. E. Lee, General. 

Connecticut troops witnessed the capitulation. The First 
Cavahy, under CoL Ives, acted as an escort to Gen. Grant 
when he went forward to the conference with Lee. The 
Fourteenth, under Col. Moore, was hard by, within sight of 
the memorable house. The Second Artillery, under Col. 
James Hubbard, was with the 6th Corps, a short distance 
north ; and the Tenth was a mile west, where it had helped 
to resist and turn back the desperate charge of Gordon. 

The armies were foes no longer ; and the victors shared 
their rations with the vanquished. Among the paroled, 
there was, besides the mortification of defeat, a feeling of 
relief from a terrible and sanguinary combat. Among the 
Union troops there was, superadded to the delight of victory 



796 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE EEBELLION. 

and the joyful foreshadowing of peace, an exultant con- 
sciousness that the Army of the Potomac, often censured 
and always disparaged, had at last won a title to the nation's 
gratitude. 

Grant turned quickly towards North Carolina, where 
Johnston still held out, and whence Jefferson Davis was 
flying southward to be captured in ambiguous apparel, — 
the batfled leader of a lost cause. 

While Grant and Lee were conferring at Appomattox, 
Sherman's army was resting and refitting at Goldsborough. 
Twenty thousand men were furnished with shoes, and a 
hundred thousand with clothing. The two corps of Terry 
and Schofield joined the column ; and on April 10, Sher- 
man moved out from Goldsborough, at the head of the 
strongest army ever marshaled on the continent. North- 
westward he eagerly pushed, after Johnston's fugitive 
command. Next day, the Fifth and Twentieth Connecticut, 
with the 20th Corps, entered Smithfield in the advance of 
the army. On the 13th, while moving rapidly upon 
Raleigh, the soldiers were thrilled with the news of the sur- 
render of Lee's army. " Our troops gave cheer after cheer 
to express their joy ; and then, ^wheri cheers became too 
feeble an expression, uttered yell upon yell, until they waked 
the echoes for miles around. Then the bands burst forth in 
swelling strains of patriotic melody, which the soldiers caught 
up and re-echoed with their voices." ^ They joyfully saw 
the end. 

No other great battle was to be fought. Raleigh was 
occupied ; and the pursuers had moved out of the city but 
a short distance on the track of the fugitives, when Sherman 
received from Johnston a proposition of surrender. On the 
17th, a conference was had: terms of capitulation were 
drawn, and sent to Washington for approval while an 
armistice reigned. 

On this day came down upon the waiting army, like a 
thunderbolt, the intelligence of the brutal tragedy in the 
Washington theatre, wherein Wilkes Booth played his role 

6 The Story of the Great March, p. 293. 



ASSASSINATIOX OF PRESIDENT LrN'COLN. 797 

of atrocity/ The blow that convulsed the country nerved 
everysoldier's arm with a strange anger ; and they prepared 
to leap upon the foe in front, the only accessible represen- 
tative of a conspiracy which had showed itself capable of 
such a cowardly crime. But the armistice was practically 
unbroken. Grant came, and the amended stipulations were 
approved and executed ; and Johnston's army of fifty thou- 
sand men laid down their arras. 

National restoration was at hand ; and the great martyr 
who on Good Friday had laid down his life for republican 
^iberty was honored anew, the olive-wreath of peace shin- 
ing like a crown above the laurel-wreath of victory. 

" It is a notable coincidence that the sacrifice of tlie great martyr of liberty was on 
Good Frida}-, the anniversary of the sacrifice of the Great Martyr of Christianity ; and 
that Grant and Sherman received the propositions of snrrcnder from Lee and Johnston 
respectively, on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, the most prominent triumphal days 
in the life of Christ. 



CHAPTER XLV. 



Matters at Home. — General Assembly of 1865. — The Governor's Message. — Legisla- 
tion. — Number of Soldiers sent from the State. — Our Regiments after the Close of 
the Way. — Two Picture? from Richmond. — Terry and Hawley in Virginia. — Presen- 
tations. — i\Iustcr-out of Connecticut Regiments. — The Fourteenth. — Twentieth. 
— First, Second, and Third Light Batteries. — Twenty-first. — Eighteenth. — Six- 
teenth. — Fifteenth. — Fifth. — Seventeenth. — First Cavalry. — Sixth. — Seventh. — 
Twelfth. — Second Artillery. — Ninth. — Tenth. — First Artillery. — Twenty-ninth 
and Thirtieth. — Eighth and Eleventh. — Thirteenth. — Thanks of the Le^rislature. 



M^^M HE foreshadowing of peace was as cordially 
* ^^M li^il^tl by the patriotic citizens at home as by 
the soldiers in the field ; and neither inclined to 
ignore the fact that the hope was borne upon 
the point of victorious bayonets. 
On the first Monday of April, 1865, the troops of the 
nation entered Richmond ; and before noon the telegraph 
had conveyed the glad tidings to almost every voting 
district of Connecticut. Gen. Cuckino-ham was re-elected 
that day by eleven thousand and thirty-five majority over 
0. S. Seymour. The four members of Congress and every 
State Senator were Republicans ; and that party had chosen 
nearly three-fourths of the members of the House. 

When the General Assembly met, on the first Wednesday 
of May, every rebel army was crushed ; and nothing remained 
of the Confederacy but a band of traitors, fleeing for their 
lives throuu;h the forests of Geori>:ia. 

The House elected E. K. Foster of New Haven, speaker, 
and John R. Buck and John M. Morris, clerks. The Senate 
clerk was William T. Elmer. The payments during the year 
from the State Treasury had amounted to $4,705,685. The 
total indebtedness of the State was $10,523,000. 

In his Annual Message, Gen. Buckingham said, after 



r98 



EATIFICATIOX OF AMENDMENT TO CONSTITUTION. 799 

expressing gratitiide to God for the promise of peace restored 
and a government preserved, — 

" It is gratifying that our volunteers, from the gallant major-general, 
who distinguished himself by storming and capturing Fort P"'isher, down 
through the various grades of heroic officers, to the less conspicuous but 
equally meritorious privates, have not been surpassed by any soldiers in 
the service of any government, iu patient endurance on the field and in 
the hospital, in fortitude under imprisonment and starvation, and in 
valor and intrepidity in battle. Their record furnishes strong evidence 
that they entered the service under a deep conviction that it was a duty 
they owed to their country, to humanity, and to God." 

In the folio win g:; lana-uaij-e, he urored the immediate rati- 
fication of the constitutional amendment abolishing sla- 
very : — 

" As slavery has been the cause of our woes and our burdens, it is our 
duty to labor for its abolition. Au institution antagonistic to lil)erty, 
and opposed to the first elements of Christianity ; au institution, which, in 
its barbarous tendency, planned and perpetrated a cowardly, brutal, and 
murderous assault upon freedom of speech, and upon fidelity to truth, ia 
the person of a scholarly and accomplished statesman in the American 
Senate ; an institution which instigated the Rebellion, which seized and 
imprisoned our sons, and sent them by tens of thousands to the grave by 
starvation, and which, to crown its work of infamy, assassinated the Presi- 
dent, — has forfeited all right to protection and life, and merits our vigorous 
and undying opposition. ... If, during this struggle, we shall sustain 
the General Government in the performance of its proper functions, abolish 
the inhuman system of slavery, punish traitors, and adhere perpetually to 
the demands of truth, righteousness, and justice, we may hope that through- 
out an undivided nation our prosperity will be increased, our peace be 
uninterrupted, and our liberties be eternal." 

On the 4th of May, H. K. W. Welch of Hartford introduced 
into the House a resolution adopting and ratifying the loth 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolish- 
ing and prohibiting slavery. 

The Democratic leaders promiset^ that no opposition should 
be made to the passage of the resolution, provided the yea? 
and na3'S were not called. Under this agreement, the re- 
solution "was passed nem. con. ; the Republicans voting '* aye," 
and the Democracy maintaining the stipulated silence. In 
the Senate, the roll was called; and the twenty-one Republi- 
can senators voted " yes." So Connecticut cast her voice for 
the abolition of slavery without a dissentient vote. 

A day was set apart by each Flo use early in May for 
speeches and eulogies upon the death of President Lincoln ; 



800 CONNECTICtlT DURING TPIE EEBELLION. 

and by invitation of the Assembly, Col. Henry C. Doming, 
on the eighth clay of June, delivered an eloquent and im- 
pressive oration upon the same subject at Allyn Hall. 

But little letrislation was needed on war-matters ; and the 
time of the Assembly was almost wholly occupied by meas- 
ures of local interest. Provision was made for funding the 
floating indebtedness of the State by authorizing the issue 
of three millions of twenty-year six-per-cent bonds, which 
should be free from all State and municipal taxation. 

Laws were passed validating and confirming all votes, 
acts, and proceedings of towns, or their agents, for the pur- 
pose of aiding volunteers or drafted men, or for the purpose 
of filling the quota of the several towns. 

By the exertions of Gens. W. H. Russell and Stephen W. 
Kellogg, and Cols. Francis Wayland, F. St. John Lockwood, 
and others, the militia law of the State was further amend- 
ed, so that the quartermaster-general was authorized to 
. furnish uniforms to all members of ithe militia force except 
commissioned officers. The time for the annual encamp- 
ment was extended to six days; and thus the legislature 
finally ingrafted upon the statute-book the proposed law of 
1863. The militia force was rapidly organized after the 
adoption of this law, which passed into successful operation ; 
and, unless altered by some ignorant legislature, it will prob- 
ably secure to the State for many years to come a suffi- 
ciently large, well-disciplined force of men, who will at all 
times be in condition to take the field for active service 
upon twenty-four hours' notice. 

The legislature adjourned sine die on Friday the twenty- 
first day of July. 

When the war ceased, and it was ordered that no more 
men be enlisted, it was found that Connecticut had fur- 
• nished a large excess over all the calls of government, and 
had sent into the field more men, in proportion to her popu- 
lation, than any other State except Iowa and Illinois. 

The whole number of soldiers enli.ited was 54,882 ; and 
these, reduced to the standard of three years, left the ac- 
count of the State as follows : — 



STATE GOVERNMENT DUEING THE WAR. gQl 

equal to 195 

" 1,400 

" * 176 

" 16 

" 44,556 

" 34 

" say, 1,804 



Three-months' men. 


2,340, 


Nine-months' men, 


5,G02, 


One-year men. 


529, 


Two-years' men. 


25, 


Three-years' men. 


44,556, 


Four-years' men. 


26, 


Not known. 


1,804, 



54,882 « 48,181 

In giving this result, Adjutant-Gen. Morse says,^ — 

" It will be noticed, that in the above statement are given eighteen hun- 
dred and four men, term of service not known. This is the credit allowed 
by the Naval Commission ; and the term of service is to be determined by 
the Navy Department. In the statement, these men are counted as three- 
years' men. Should the average term of service prove to be for a less 
period than this, the credit to the State will be reduced in proper 
proportion. 

"Thus the State has furnished equal to 48,181 three-years' me7i, from 
which deduct the total quota, also reduced to the three-years' standard, — 
viz., 41,483, — and the State has a surplus of 6,G98 m three-year's' men, 
without reference to its quota under the call of December, 1864. Under 
this last call, no troops were required to be furnished from this State. In 
fact, no quota was assigned. Your Excellency was informed that the 
surplus under former calls more than filled the demand under this, and the- 
State was exempt." 

If Connecticut was eminently blessed in having her affairs 
directed throughout the whole period of the war by an 
officer so able, skillful, conciliatory, patriotic, and energetic as 
Gov. Buckingham, His Excellency was also fortunate in his 
official associates. His personal staff* was filled as follows : 
Adjutant-General, Horace J. Morse of Hartford ; Quarter- 
master-General, William A. Aiken of Norwich ; Commissary- 
General, Thomas Fitch of New London ; Surgeon-General, 
Henry A. Grant of Enfield ; Paymaster-General^ William 
Fitch of New Haven. 

Roger Averill of Danbury was lieutenant-governor from 
1862 to 18G5 inclusive ; and he brought to the chair of the 
Senate an old-school urbanity, and a rare combination of 
impartiality, dignitj^, and decision. He engaged in con- 
stant and unwearied service of the State far beyond the 
technical duties of his office ; and his heart and purse were 
always open to the calls of patriotism. 

J. Hammond Trumbull as Secretary of State gave through 

1 Report of 18G6. 
101 



802 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

the entire war the aid of his ripe calture, varied scholarship, 
and zeal in the clause for which his brothers were struggling 
at the front. 



When the main Confederate arm'ies had surrendered, and 
the war was deemed substantially ended, the troops were sta- 
tioned for a time in prominent cities and at strategic points 
to maintain the authoritj^ of government ; while a consid- 
era?ble force was dispatched to Texas and Mississippi to over- 
throw Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor, who still maintained a 
warlike attitude in those States. The 25th Corps (colored) 
embarked for Texas on June 10, and included the Twentj^- 
ninth Connecticut under Col. Wooster, and the Thirtieth 
under Col. II. C. Ward. They landed at Brazos de Santiago, 
Jidy 3, and marched to Brownsville on the Rio Grande. 

The Ninth, under Lieut.-Col. John G. Healy, embarked at 
Savannah in April, and proceeded to Dawfuskie Island, and 
drove off some guerrillas who were oppressing and mur- 
dering the blacks. On May L', the battalion returned to 
Savannah, and on the 24th was ordered to Hilton Head, 
where there was a larare mustering:: of resriments "homeward 
bound." 

The Thirteenth, about Jan. 1, was reduced from a regi- 
ment to a battalion of five companies ; 'and. Col. C. D. Blinn 
being among the supernumerary officers mustered out after 
long and gallant service, Capt. William E. Bradley assumed 
command. Early in January, the battalion was transferred 
from the bleak hills of Northern Virginia to warmer quarters 
m Savannah, Ga. Here Capt. Bradley enforced the dis- 
cipline and exhibited the admirable traits of a command- 
' er. On March 12, troops were transferred to North 
Carolina to co-operate with Sherman ; and the Thirteenth 
was included. They arrived at Newbeine on March 14, and 
steamed up the river to Kinston. Next daj^, the Thirteenth 
returned to Newberne, and went into camp. Here they had 
a brief experience in guarding rebel prisoners, and in pro- 
vost-duty. Gen. Henry W. Birge, the first colonel, of the 
Thirteenth, here commanded a division. He had received a 



CONDITION OF LEE'S AEMY. 803 

brevet commission as major-general, — a promotion recom- 
mended by Sheridan for conspicuous gallantry at Cedar 
Creek. On Aj^ril 8, the battalion proceeded to Morehead 
City; and four days later, Lieut.-Col. Homer B. Sprague, 
captured at Winchester, returned from a long and painful 
imprisonment, and resumed command. Earl)^ in May, the 
battalion returned to Savannah, and, after the capture of 
Jeff. Davis, proceeded to Augusta, where the men found 
comfortable quarters in buildings which had been used as 
Confederate barracks. Capt. Frank Welles of Litchfield 
was still detached as aide of Gen. Birge. Capt. N. W. 
Perkins of New Britain was acting inspector-general on 
Molineux' staff. Capt. Louis Beckwith of New London 
was detailed as ordnance officer. Dr. George Clary of Hart- 
ford was surgeon-in-chief in .charge of the post hospital. 
Lieut.-Col. Sprague, in addition to other duties, was appoint- 
ed superintendent of schools and educational matters, — a 
position which he filled with conspicuous ability. 

The Connecticut re2:iments in the armies of Grant and 
Sherman gradually made their way northward, via City 
Point on the James. Those which had entered Richmond 
when the rebels evacuated it remained in possession. Lee's 
army swarmed over the impoverished country, or helplessly 
wandered back in the path of their- conquerors to be fed. 
Chaplain Trumbull wrote home at this time from Piich- 
mond, " Lee's broken army presents — judging from the 
large number of its members now here — one of the most 
wretched sights that could be looked upon. The lowest 
creatures in the vilest dens of our Northern cities, and the 
forlorn and semi-barbarous isolated dwellers in the most 
shamefally-neglected border district of any rural community 
in our Eastern States, ev^en the degraded, half-idiotic chil- 
dren of incest in some of our country almshouses, seem 
superior, in all that goes to indicate true manhood, to very 
many of the poor beings, who, with sallow, dirt-begrimed 
faces, dull, fishy eyes, long, yellow, uncombed hair, and mean- 
ingless expression of countenance, clad in rags, and at home 
in filth, wallow on the ground near the provost-marshal's, 
while their comrades are having their paroles stamped for 



304 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

transportation. I have often seen the rebel soldiers on the 
picket-line, in battle, as prisoners, and in the streets of 
the cities of rebeldom ; therefore it is not the strangeness 
of the motley attire, or the peculiar Southern complexion 
of these men, which impresses me : but it is the depth which 
was reached when Davis's conscription gathered up these 
caricatures upon humanity, not merely ' from the cradle and 
the grave,' but from the idiot asylums and the hitherto un- 
explored regions of slave barbarism, that is startling in this 
exhibition." 

The following is the companion-picture from the same 
free pencil, " Richmond darkys are on all sides, telUng of 
their joy at the capture of the city. 'I was jus' so happy 
wen I knowed it,' said one, ' dat I couldn't do nuffin but 
jus' lay right down and larf. . I could jus' roll up an' larf 
I declar, I felt jus' as happy as a man's got religion in his 
soul.' ' Some folks says a man carn't tote a bar'l flour,' 
chimed in another; ' but I could tote a bar'l flour cZa^day, — 
or a bar'l su2:ar.' ' I seed a rebel crwine down de street dat 
mawnin',' said a third, with an evident appreciation of the 
privileg-es of a freedman, ' wid a big haam ; an' I jus' took 
dat haam from him, an' run right down de street ! An' he 
holler to me to stop; but I jus' keep dat haam.' Then 
follows some touching recital of the sufferings in slavery. 
And the colored soldiers move about, telling of their ex- 
ploits with great gusto. — lions among their hiter released 
brethren. Describing the advance on the New-Market Road, 
one said, ' We waited for de daylight, 'cans ob de tarpeeders ; 
an' den we had de rebel soldiers show us de w\ay. Whew ! 
de tarpeeders was jus' as thick dar as de wool on de top 
ob my head ! ' " 

The change of scene was as total as it was sudden, and 
nothing more dramatic ever transpired upon the stage 
of war. Major-Gen. Alfred H. Terry was now placed in 
command of the Department of Virginia ; and Brig.-Gen. 
Joseph R. Hawley was called from the command of the 
forces in and about Wilmington, N.C., to be his chief-of-staff. 
Headquarters were at Richmond ; and there the two soldiers, 
who wore honors worthily won in the front of battle, strove, 



GEI3^. TERRY IK COMMAND AT RICHMOND. 805 

during the months of 1865, to bring peace ont of hostility, 
evolve order from chaos, and construct a broad base on 
which might be upreared a genuine democracy in place of 
the false and effete aristocracy that had met its doom. The 
work was enormous ; and its proper performance required 
a high order of executive skill, fidelitj^, military vigon- and 
promptness, and patient, unwearied industry. Tei'ry and 
Hawley combined tliDse qualities as they are rarely found 
united in a commander and his chief adviser; and they were 
rendered more efficient by a mutual feeling of admiration 
and cordial confidence. 

The following order indicates the spirit in which the 
department was administered : — 

Headquarters Department of Virginia. 
Richmond, Va., June 23, 1865. 
General Order, No. 77. 

The laws of the State of Virginia, and the ordinances of the different 
cities within the State, having especial reference to, and made to restrain, 
the personal liberty of free colored persons, were designed for the govern- 
ment of such persons while living amid a population of colored slaves : 
they were enacted in the interests of slave-owners, and were designed for 
the security of slave-property ; they were substantially part of tlie slave 
code. 

Slavery has been abolished in Virginia ; and therefore, upon the principle 
that where the reason of the law ceases the law itself ceases, these laws 
{hid ordinances have become obsolete. People of color will henceforth 
enjoy the same personal liberty that other citizens and inhabitants enjoy ; 
they will be subject to the same restraints and to the same punishments 
for crime that are imposed upon whites, and to no others. 

Vagrancy, however, will not be allowed. Neither whites nor blacks can 
be allowed to abandon their proper occupations, to desert their fomilies, or 
roam in idleness about this department ; but neither whites nor blacks will 
be restrained from seeking employment elsewhere when they can not obtain 
it with just compensation at their homes, nor from traveling from place 
to place on proper or legitimate business. 

Until the civil tribunals are re-established, the administration of criminal 
justice must, of necessity, be by military courts : before such courts, the 
evidence of colored persons will be received in all cases. 
By command of Major-Gen. A. H. Terry. 

Ed. W. Smith, Assistant Adjutant -General. 

The State and city were governed with " an iron hand in 
a glove of velvet," firmly and evenly. While the generals 
were civil, polite, and kind to all, there was not the slightest 
yielding to the demands of the haughty secessionists ; and no 
conciliation or compromise with their crime was allowed. 



g06 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

All, both white and black, were assured their rights; but 
every attempt to obtain any thing by bluster was at once 
suppressed. The commander ruled in the spirit that would 
give all rights to all, — even to the weakest, freedom ; even 
to the poorest, education; even to the humblest, opportunity. 
An administration so combining humanity with power, so 
rigorous and yet so beneficent, had never before been given 
to the people of Virginia. 

The pleasant custom of making presentations to worthy 
officers had not yet become obsolete : on the contrary, as 
the war approached its close, it became more in use 
than ever. Swords, badges of elaborate design, horses, 
money, houses, deeds of land, almost every thing acceptable, 
was lavished by the grateful citizens at home upon the men 
who had stoutly stood between them and ruin. Officers 
also exchanged mementoes, sometimes of great value. 

A very elegant lOth-Corps badge was presented to Major- 
Gen. Terry by a large number of the officers of that organi- 
zation. The badge represents a bastion fort, and is orna- 
mented by five diamonds in the center and bastions; the 
whole surrounded by a laurel-wreath of green enamel. It is 
suspended from a general's hdton held in the claws of an 
eagle, beneath which appear various military symbols, all ol^ 
solid gold and exquisite workmanship. 

Gen. Terry also received from New Haven a handsome 
sword, accompanied by a letter, recounting his battles and 
his deeds, from Mayor Tyler. The following are the clos- 
ing paragraphs : — 

Upon a beautiful winter's day, we were startled with the glad tidings 
that Fort Fisher had been stormed and carried by Major-Gen. Terry. You 
can picture to your own mind far better thnn I can convey to you in words 
the feelings of joy that filled every loyal heart, and the thanks that were 
offered to God, when those bells, whose tones have been familiar to you 
from your boyhood, rang out the glad news, and the booming cannon upon 
yonder park proclaimed to our city and to the State that one of the strong- 
est gates to tlie so-called Confederacy had been broken down and entered 
by the courage and perseverance of a son of Connecticut, and an honored 
citizen of New Haven. 

Gen. Terry, in acknowledgment of the eminent services you have ren- 
dered in suppressing the unholy Rebellion which has desolated our country 
the past four years, and of the many noble traits of the Christian soldier 
and gentleman you possess, I am directed by the city council of the city of 
New Haven to present to you this sword as a testimonial of their regard and 



PRESENTATION OF A SWOED TO GEN. HAWLEY. 807 

consideratioa ; and, in presenting to you this emblem of the profession you 
have adopted, we wisli you a long and happy life, and hope that your ser- 
vices may be as effectual in maintaining and perpetuating the peace and 
prosperity of our beloved land as they have been with your associates in 
arms in restoring the old flag to every State in the Union. 

I feel it a high honor, general, to act as the medium through whom 
the city of New Haven, for the first time in its history, bestows her honors 
upon one of her own citizens. 

In behalf of the city of New Haven, 

I am most respectfully yours, 

Morris Tyler, Mayor, 

The general responded, — 

Neav IIavex, June 6, 1865. 
Hox. Morris Tyler, IMator of the City of New Ha vex. 

Dear Sir. — It is with the highest gratification that I receive the beau- 
tiful gift, which, through you, the city of New Haven has presented to me. 

The approbation of his fellow-oitizens must ever be the greatest and 
best reward of one who endeavors to serve his country ; and to know that 
those among whom my life from childhood upward has been spent look 
with approbation upon my efforts to be of use in the great struggle which 
is now so happily drawing to a close, to feel that they are satisfied with 
the little which I have been able to do in defense of the liberty and integ- 
rity of our country, gives me a degree of pleasure which I should vainly 
attempt to express. I shall cherish and preserve the gift which is the token 
of their approbation as one of the proudest mementoes of my military life. 

I thank you for the very kind and complimentary terms in which you 
have spoken of my career as a soldier ; and I beg you to convey to those 
whom you represent my most grateful acknowledgments for the honor which 
they have conferred upon me. 
With the highest respect, 

I am very sincerely yours, 

Alfred H. Terry, Major- General. 

The citizens of Hartford who had witnessed the military 
career of Gen. Ilawley, desiring to attest their appreciation 
of his conduct and their admiration of his character, pro- 
cured a general officer's regulation-sword, at an expense of 
$1,150.00, to present to him while on duty. The sword was 
of rare richness of design, with a blade of the best material, 
a grasp and guard of solid silver, and all the ornaments of 
solid gold. The grasp is a figure of the Goddess of Liberty 
with a drawn sword in one hand and broken shackles in the 
other. The guard is the American flag, furled, and tied with 
a gold cord, surmounted by a spread eagle. The thrust- 
guard is inscribed in raised letters of solid gold, " Presented 
by the citizens of Hartford to Gen. Joseph R. Hawley," under 
which are the monograms, in the same material, '' JRH 7CV." 



808 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

A heavy wreath of laurel and oak borders the guard, and 
the projection in rear of the hilt is the head of a Roman 
warrior. The scabbard is of solid silver, heavily mounted 
with gold in hass-relief. Between the two upper rings is a 
spirited representation of an infantry charge. On ornament- 
al scrolls and shields are engraved Bull Run, Siege of Pulaski, 
James Island,' Pocotaligo, Olustee, Wagner and Sumter, Siege 
of Petersburg, Drury's Bluff, Deep Bottom, Deep Run, and 
Darbytown Road. Beneath this are the arms of Connecticut 
and of the United States. Under the arms is a heavy vine 
witli leaves and flowers crossed by a sash, which runs through 
eight rino-s on the sides of the scabbard. The lower end of 
the scabbard is incased in a heavy chased socket of solid 
gold. Accompanying the sword are a Russia-leather sword- 
belt heavily embroidered in gold, and the buff-silk sash of a 
general officer. These costly trappings are inclosed in a box 
made of black-walnut knots exquisitely grained, lined with 
red velvet, and with the monogram " JRH " in silver letters 
on the lid. Only three more expensive swords had been 
manuflictured in the country. 

Marshall Jewell, Col. George P. Bissell, and J. G. Rathbun, 
a committee of the donors, went to Richmond, where the for- 
mal presentation took place, Aug. 1, in the mansion formerly 
occupied by Jefferson Davis, already become the residence 
of Gens. Terry and Hawley with their families. There was 
a large and brilliant assembly of army officers of distinguished 
rank, with ladies, and the loyal governor of Virginia and 
staff, to witness the ceremon}^ Col. Bissell addressed Gen. 
Hawley in behalf of the donors, rehearsing briefly the mili- 
tary career of the soldier who had won the applause of his 
neighbors, and reminding him that the State had been an 
admiring witness of his deeds. Gen. Hawley replied, — 

Gentlemen, — I beir that you will convey to your friends and my own 
expressions of my profound gratitude. If they wished to make me happy, 
tell them they have done so ; if they wished to reward me for any thing I 
have done or tried to do in the service of my country, tell them I am a thou- 
sand times rewarded beyond what I deserved. I know how humble my 
ti-ue merits have been, and I do not wish to overvalue them. I see among 
the list of names of those who sent you the names of dear friends, old 
schoolmates, the companions of my early years. I see also the names of 
persons with whom in former years I have widely differed in politics, and 



808 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 



persons with whom iu former years I have widely differed in politics, and 





?rig .?<- Br-v-t Jifaj Gen 



THE TENTH EEGJMENT AT RICHMOND. 809 

who have doubtless heard from me in hot political contests language not 
always measured as it would have been had I been an older and a wiser 
man. Other names, like yours, are those of neighbors with whom I have 
sympathized in all things. These facts affect me deeply. 

When I look at the list of engagements there inscribed, I think of the 
men in the ranks, the private soldiers, who never wished to be any thing 
but private soldiers, who died private soldiers, and whose thousands of 
graves scattered over the hillsides of the South give the highest and deepest 
proof of their devotion to their country, and without whose patriotism and 
heroism to back us, neither I nor any officer in the service could have done 
any thing. In the name of these men, I receive your gifts, and for them 
only, as without them I could have done nothing. When Gen. Terry and 
myself left Connecticut three years ago last September, with the Seventh 
Connecticut, we carried with us a noble band of such men of the old New- 
England stamp ; and it is to them, and to such men, the country owes its 
success, and the olficei-s owe their rank and honor. The bones of many lie 
scattered all over the country, and it is not too much to ask that the coun- 
try shall remember them ; for, as was Avell said at the grand review at 
Washington, theirs is the only debt we can never pay, — the debt we owe 
to the men who in the darkest hours have cheerfully laid down their lives 
for liberty and their country. We have a right to be proud of these men ; 
a right to be proud of the result of their efforts, not only in a restored 
Union, but in this also, — that we have utterly and forever removed the 
one great obstacle left by our ancestors in the path of our prosperity and 
true glory. Hereafter, all over our laud, every being to whom God has 
given a soul shall be truly free as to life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. 

And to the outside world, for the benefit of all peoples and all times, Ave 
have demonstrated the tremendous inherent strength and self-perpetuating 
power of a republican form of government. 

If here on this spot, within these walls, we are not proud of all this, 
what shall satisfy us? Thank God that we have lived in this country! 
thank God that we have shared in these glorious labors, and again bless 
the Lord for their wonderful termination ! 

In the following month, Gen. Hawley received a promotion 
to be major-general of volunteers by brevet. 

When the Tenth returned to Richmond from the capture 
of Lee's army, the regiment encamped in a beautiful grove 
on the plantation of Dr. Powell, on the Brooktown Pike, two 
miles from the city. Col. E. S. Greeley, who had resumed 
command of the regiment at Farmville, was here placed in 
command of a large brigade. " The Tenth was reported best 
in order at each and all of the inspections of the troops of 
the division during the months of May and June, when in- 
spections were discontinued." ^ At this time, the following 
letter was signed by all the officers of the third brigade : — 

- Col. Greeley's last report. 
102 



810 CONNECTICUT DUKING THE REBELLION. 

Richmond, Va., Aug. 25, 1865. 
Major.-Gen. Tekry, Commanding Department of Virginia. 

Sir, — We, the officers of the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 24th Army 
Corps, have the honor to request that Rev. H. Clay Trumbull, chaplain 
of the Tenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, receive the rank of major 
of volunteers by brevet, for distinguished services in camp and on the field. 
Mr. Trumbull has not confined his labors to his own regiment, but has, 
in reality, been the chaplain of the brigade ; and as such has won the love 
and confidence of all. No man, certainly, could be more faithful in the 
discharge of his duties ; none, we believe, more successful. 

But the fidelity and efficiency of Mr. Trumbull in the performance of 
his legitimate duties as chaplain is not the only ground upon which our 
request is based. Always at his post in time of danger, he has, on two 
occasions at least, displayed marked and conspicuous gallantry ; dashing 
into the thickest of the fight to rally and encourage the wavering line. 

"We earnestly hope that our request may be favorably considered. 
We have the honor to be, general, 

With great respect [signatures]. 

The above paper was indorsed as follows : — 

Headquarters Department of Virginia. 
Richmond, Aug. 28, 1865. 
Respectfully forwarded. 

The 3d Brigade referred to within was for a long time a part of the 
division whicli I commanded ; and I am personally cognizant of the ser- 
vices of Chaplain Trumbull. No officer of his regiment has displayed more 
gallantry in action, or done more to animate the men to do their duty, than 
he ; and, if the recognition of service asked for within can be made, it 
could not be bestowed on a man moi-e worthy. 

He is a brave, high-minded. Christian gentleman and patriot. 
(Signed) Alfred II. Terry, 

Major-General Commanding. 

Gen. Hawley wrote of the subject of the request, " He 
goes habitually, and from principle, into every light ; not in 
the rear with the surgeon, but with the line of battle. He 
has shared all the dangers of the Tenth as faithfully as any 
soldier, to the best of my knowledge and belief" 

The War Department decided that a chaplahi was not in 
the line of promotion, that his rank was rather religious 
than military ; so the recommendation was not concurred in. 

The Connecticut soldiers were generally mustered out of 
service in the summer of 1865; and the people of the State 
gathered with spontaneous enthusiasm at the centers, and 
gave them uproarious greeting. In recording their discharge, 
we follow somewhat the order of time. 



EETUEN AND MUSTER-OUT OF THE FOUKTEENTH. 811 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE FOURTEENTH. 

The Fourteenth, which had always represented the State 
nobly in the Army of the Potomac, and which had had 
more opportunities to display its fighting-qualities than any 
other of our regiments, and had never flinched from duty 
in battle, was first permitted to lay down its burden. When 
the 2d Corps passed through Richmond, May 5, en route for 
Washington, the Fourteenth led the column of twenty 
thousand men, and won many encomiums. On May 23, it 
participated in the grand review of the armies of the 
United States. The regiment arrived at Hartford, on the 
steamer Granite State, on Saturday, June 8, and was re- 
ceived with every demonstration of applause. The men, 
forming a mere skeleton of the former regiment, were for- 
mally received by Adjutant-Gen. Morse, Mayor Stillman, 
and David Clark, chairman of the committee of arrano-e- 
ments ; and marched up State Street, waving their shreds of 
tattered flags, none of which the regiment had ever lost. 
At the State House, they were welcomed home in a stirrino- 
speech by Col. George P. Bissell ; and Col. Ellis responded; 
after which the companies were marched to the hotels, and 
provided with an ample breakfast. They were soon paid 
and discharged. Adjutant William B. Hincks of Bridgeport 
had been promoted to be major ; and Col. T. G. Ellis had 
received the brevet rank of brigadier-general. In his final 
report. Gen. Eflis wrote, — 

" There are some members of the regiment "whose names have figured 
but little in official repo\its, Who have had much to do Avith making it what 
it was. Quartermaster C. F. Dibble, who remained with the regiment 
from its organization to its muster-out. deserves the highest praise, and 
the thanks of every man in the regiment, for iiis efficient management of 
his department. He waived promotion to retain his position. Had he 
left us, his place could not have been satisfactorily filled. 

" Surgeon F. A. Dudley was likewise an able and efficient officer ; and 
though his abilities were the means of taking him away from the recjimeut 
much of the time, to take charge of the division hospital, yet in battle he 
was always at hand to attend to the wounded, lie was wounded at Get- 
tysburg, and taken prisoner at Hatcher's Run, October, 1864, voluntarily, 
through his zeal for our Avounded. 

" Dr. Levi Jewett, assistant surgeon, was also very seriously wounded 
at Reams's Station, Aug. 25, 18G4, while attending to the Avounded. A 
shell exploded near him, and badly shattered the bones of his face and 
Lead. 



812 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE EEBELLION. 

"Assistant Surgeon Charles Tonilinson is also deserving of great credit 
for the fearlessness with which he followed the regiment into many of the 
hottest engagements to attend to the immediate wants of the wounded." 

The record of the regiment had been unsurpassed. It 
had been in thirty-three battles and skirmishes ; and of the 
1,726 men who had been members of the organization, there 
was a record of more than eight hundred killed and wounded, 
besides the many "missing." It had captured five colors 
and two guns from the enemy in fair fight, and more prison- 
ers than the original number of the regiment ; and at Reams's 
Station drew off part of McKnight's and part of the 3d New- 
Jersey batteries, which had been left to the enemy. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 132 

Died of wounds ....... 65 

Died of disease ....... 169 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 416 

Missing at muster-out of regiment .... 6. 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE TWENTIETH. 

On the 30th of April, the Twentieth started northward 
from Raleigh by land, accompanying Sherman's army. 
They passed through Richmond, May 11, and marched for 
Washington, where they arrived on the 20th. The regiment 
took part in the great review by the President and cabinet, 
after wdiich it encamped near Fort Lincoln on the Bladens- 
burg Road. On June 13, it embarked on the cars for 
New Haven, which was reached on the 15th. The regiment 
was received with honors due its service, Joy the State author- 
ities, Major-Gen. Russell, and the people ; and escorted by 
the local military, amid the ringing of bells, the firing of 
cannon, and the cheers of thousands, to a collation waiting 
at the State House. The men were promptly paid, and 
dispersed to their waiting homes. Col. Samuel Ross had 
received the brevet rank of brio:adier-o;eneral " for distin- 
guished gallantry at Chancellorsville," on recommendation 
of Gen. Hooker. Lieut.-Col. P. B. Buckindiam became 
colonel, and Capt. William W. Morse major, by brevet. The 
regiment had mustered in 1,281 officers and men, and had 



rVTENTY-FIEST, AND FIKST AJSTD THIRD BATTERIES. 813 

fought under Gens. McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, 
Roseerans, Thomas, Grant, and Sherman. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 50 

Died of wounds . . . . . , . 37 

Died of disease ....... 77 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 264 

Missing at muster-out of regiment .... 2 

MUSTER-OUT OF FIRST LIGHT BATTERY. 

The First Battery, Capt. James B. CHnton, was mustered 
out of service at Manchester, opposite Richmond, on June 
11; and on the 15th reached New Haven. A cordial im- 
promptu reception was tendered. The battery was escorted 
to the State House amid a maze of flags, and there invited 
to a collation by Major B. F. Mansfield, who also addressed 
to the -men a speech of welcome. They had had no 
opportunity to renew their uniforms, and came home in 
those which they had worn so worthily in battle. They had 
been engaged twenty-five times. 

CASUALTIES. 

Died of Avounds ....... 1 

Died of disease . . . . . . . 21 

Discharged prior to muster-out of battery . . 98 

MUSTER-OUT OF THIRD LIGHT BATTERY. 

The Third Battery was raised by Capt. T. S. Gilbert in 
the fall of 1864, for one year, and was attached to Gen. 
H. L. Abbot's artillery brigade, doing good service. It was 
mustered out on June 23, and was warmly received in 
New "Haven on the 25th, and entertained at one of the 
hotels. The men were soon afterwards paid and discharged. 

MUSTER-OUT OP THE TWENTY-FIRST. 

The Twenty-first was among the fortunate regiments; 
receiving its muster-out as early as June. Its stay in Rich- 
mond was brief; and on April 28 Lieut.-Col. James F. 
Brown was ordered to proceed with his regiment to Colum- 
bia, Va., a village on the James fifty miles west, to establish 
a military post, protect the inhabitants, and preserve order. 



814 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. » 

It arrived on May 1. Several companies were detached 
to do provost-duty in other towns : Company D, Capt. A. 
M. Crane, was stationed at Pahnyra; Company H, Lieut, 
0. D. Glazier, at Bremo Bluff; Company K, Capt. P. F. 
Talcott, at Goochland, — these officers acting as provost- 
marshals. Capt. Charles Fenton as commissary, and Lieut. 
Ransom Jackson as quartermaster, were very efficient. The 
regiment was mustered out June 16, and ordered home, 
where it arrived on the 21st. At New Haven, the men 
were received with an ovation, welcomed by Major Mans- 
field, and entertained at the State House. At Norwich also, 
the local headquarters, the regiment was received with a 
great jubilee, introductory 'to the other welcomes in towns, 
villages, and homes. The regiment brought home the fol- 
lowing testimony to its efficiency : — , 

Headquarters 3d Division, 24th Army Corps. 
Richmond, Va., June 17, 1865. 

His Excellency William A. Buckingham, Governor of Connecticut. 

Governor, — The conaection whicli has existed betweeu tliis divkioa and 
the 21st Connecticut Volunteers is to-day dissolved by its departure for the 
State which sent it forth.' It is fully entitled to the honor of having served 
most faithfully and as long as it services* were needed, and of having done 
its duty nobly under many most trying and dangerous circumstances. Its 
soldiers deserve the reward of those who have continued faithful to the end 
of that Rebellion whose writhiugs are yet visible. 

It has worthily maintained the honor of the State of Connecticut, her 
loyalty to the Union of our fathers, her deep and stern attachment to the 
principles of popular government and of civil liberty. Many brave officers 
and men have sealed with their lives their devotion to the cause of the 
country, prominent, especially, among whom are Col. Arthur II. Button, 
the most accomplislied among gtintlemen and soldiers, who fell mortally 
wounded in a skirmish at Port Walthall, in May, 1864, and Col. Burpee, 
who was killed at Cold Harbor, in June, 1861. The memory of these 
gallant and distinguished soldiers and all their brave comrades will be 
gratefully embalmed in the memory of the people of Connecticut, as well as 
in that of their more fortunate companions who return to you in triumph 
to-day. 

Tlie trials and dangers which this regiment has passed through will only 
have made them more fit for the duties and responsibilities of citizens, to 
which they now return ; and their conduct hereafter will show, I sincerely 
believe, that the fame they have won by valor and intrepidity abroad in 
the field will be maintained by industry, energy, and perseverance at 
home. I am very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

CiiAS. Di^VENS, Jr., 
Brigadier and Brevet Major-General Commanding. 



THE EIGHTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH. 



815 



CASUALTIES. 

Killed ia action ..... 
Died of wounds ..... 
Died of disease ..... 
Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment 
Missinji; at date of muster-out of rcn-imeut 



26 

33 

108 

313 

2 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE EIGHTEENTH. 

On June 27, the Eighteenth was mustered out at Har- 
per's Ferry, having been for three months on provost-duty 
at Martinsburg. Capt. Joseph Mathewson of Pomfret had 
been promoted to be major. Its losses had been heavy, its 
service difficult. For two years, it had formed a part of the 
uneasy shuttle that had been whirled back and forth 
through the Shenandoah Valley, as Sigel, Ewell, Hunter, 
Jubal Early, or Sheridan put a hand to the loom. Its efforts 
had not always been crowned with visible success ; but suc- 
cess had come at last, and no regiment could say how much 
or how little had been its real part in weaving the perfect 
garment of final Victory. The regiment returned* to Con- 
necticut immediately, and arrived at Hartford, on the boat, 
at half-past six o'clock on the morning of the 29th. The 
men were escorted up State Street, and formed in line on 
Central Row, where they were received with speeches by 
Gov. Buckingham for the State, Col. G. P. Bissell for the City, 
Hon. John T. Wait and Representative George Pratt of 
Norwich for New-London County, and Senator Bugbee for 
Windham County. The soldiers then breakfasted at the 
hotels, and eagerly departed for their homes. 



CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ...... 

Died of wounds ..... 

Died of disease ..... 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment 
Missinnj at muster-out of regiment . 



52 
14 
72 
323 
12 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE SIXTEENTH. 



While the Eighteenth was being -applauded at the State 
House, intelligence oame that the Sixteenth was at the 
depot, having been mustered out of service at Newberne on 



816 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

June 24. Another reception was immediately improvised ; 
and the regiment, now re-united under Lieut.-Col. J. H. 
Burnham, was duly welcomed by Ezra Hall. The men re- 
ceived a good breakfast, and their share of the applause of 
their old friends and neighbors ; after which they returned 
glitdly to their homes to exchange applauding words and 
the army blue for the garb of peaceful citizenship. This 
regiment saw little but misfortune. It was hurled upon the 
overreached flank of the hottest battle before it had ever 
had a regimental parade, or knew any thing of army move- 
ments ; and, finally, after hovering for a year upon the edge 
of the Confederacy, was captured bodily at Plymouth, after 
a short contest, and thenceforth reported only to rebel 
guards. The Sixteenth lost more at Andersonville and other 
prisons than any other Connecticut regiment, — as honor- 
able dead as they who fall in the fiercest fight at the mo- 
ment of victory. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 46 



Died of wounds ..... 
Died of disease ..... 
Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment 
Missing at muster-out of regiment . 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE FIFTEENTH. 



24 

224 

386 

27 



The Fifteenth, under Col. Charles L. Upham, was mustered 
out at Newberne, June 27. Officers and men had returned 
from their short imprisonment ; and the '• Lyon Regiment " 
came home on the 30th, reaching New Haven on July 4, and 
receiving there a most enthusiastic reception by thousands 
of patriotic citizens assembled to celebrate the national an- 
niversary. The Fifteenth was composed of true and brave 
men; but they felt justly, that beset by calamity, and 
stricken by yellow-fever, they never had had an opportunity 
to show what they could do. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 15 



Died of wounds ..... 
Died of disease ..... 
Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment 
Missinjr at muster-out of regiment . 



15 
143 
327 

57 



THE FIFTH AND SEVENTEENTH. 817 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE FIFTH. 

Two days later, June 29, the veteran Fifth was mustered 
out of service, after taking a prominent part in the grand 
review at Washington. Brevet commissions had been issued 
to Lieut.-Col. Daboll as colonel, and to Major William S. Cogs- 
well as lieutenant^colonel. Two thousand and sixty-one 
men had been credited to the resciment, and it had been 
engaged in some of the sharpest fighting of the war; while 
it had marched much farther than any other regiment from 
this State, generally towards the enemy. The regiment 
had lost Lieut.-Col. Stone and Major Blake, and a large num- 
ber of other gallant officers and men. Gen. Ferry, Gen. 
Stedman, and Col. Brayton Ives were its graduates. Lieut. 
Henry L. Johnson of Jewett City went out as commissary ; 
was promoted to be chief of Gen. Heintzelman's signal- 
corps, and distinguished himself for bravery in McClellan's 
battles of the Peninsula : the Secretary of War presented him 
with two captured battle-flags in token of his bravery. The 
regiment arrived home on Sunday ; and the day imposed 
the necessity of a quiet reception. A portion of the regi- 
ment was afterwards enthusiastically welcomed in Danbury. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 73 

Died of woimds ....... 29 

Died of disease ....... 81 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 600 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE SEVENTEENTH. 

On July 19, the Seventeenth was mustered out at Hilton 
Head, and embarked immediately for home. It had had 
little leisure during its term of service, and brought home 
an honorable record. Three brave lieutenant-colonels — 
Charles Walter, Douglass Fowler, and Albert H. Wilcoxsou — 
were on the list of its slain. The regiment, under Lieut.-Col. 
Henry Allen, arrived at New Haven on Aug. 3, and was re- 
ceived with music and banners, a procession, and a bountiful 
collation. Hon. E. C. Scranton, the patriotic mayor, wel- 
comed the soldiers; after which Gov. Buckingham and Rev. 

103 



818 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

Dr. Leonard Bacon further addressed them in cheering and 
grateful words. Private EUas Ilowe. jr.. of Bridgeport, char- 
tered a special train ; and they proceeded to that city, where 
they were enthusiastically received. Rev. A. R. Thompson 
made the welcoming speech, as follows : — 

^^ Veterans of the Connccticnt Seventeenths — 

" Three years aiio, amid these hite summer-blooms, and amid the bene- 
dictions and with the prayers ot' loviug, throbbiug hearts, you went tbrth 
to roll back the tide of armed treason. The hosts of evil had arrayed them- 
selves in deadly strite to disrupt this glorious Union. Then, fresh and raAV, 
you took your place in the solid, living walls, which detied its onward 
sweep. In letters of blood you wrote your names at Chancellorsville. under 
that gallant. Christian soldier. — the Ilavclock of this war. — Gen. Howard ; 
and at Gettysburg, — the hilltop of tliis struggle, — then on the coasts of 
the Carolinas and on the shores of Florida, have you left the impress of 
your valiant deeds. . . . You have gallantly helped to rescue the country 
Irom her peril. Well done ! Greeting of welcome we give you to-day. la 
the name of these homes, where you have been Vaithfully remembered in 
love and prayer ; in the name of these Christian churches, whose sabbath- 
bells are pealing Ibrtli their welcome ; in the name of your brave asso- 
ciates, themselves sharers of the heat and bui'dens of the day : in the name 
of our thrice-beloved and delivered land; in the name of God, — 1 bid 
you, brave and faithful soldiers, welcome home ! The work you went to 
do you have done. You have returned wiser, doubtless, than you went ; 
and you have left men behind you wiser because you went. The valor of 
the true sous of the IJepublic has not only lifted to its place again the flag 
which sacrilegious hands dared to drag to the dust, but has nailed it there. 
— never to come down while we live, or our children, or our cliildren's 
children." 

Norwalk also gathered to welcome her heroes ; and ad- 
dresses were made by Judge Butler and Gen. 0. S. Ferry. 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE FIRST CA\*ALRY. 

Our cavalrv had been liist in the liixht, and it was not 
last in muster-out. About June 1,. Col. Ives took his 
command to Washington, where it participated in the great 
review. It was then stationed in the city on provost-duty 
until Auo". 2, when it was mustered out of the service, and 
ordered home. Its muster-rolls had borne 2,611 men. Lieut.- 
Col. E. W. Whitaker received a brevet commission as briga- 
dier-general;^ and Second Lieut. Thomas G. Welles of Ilart- 

3 IMajor-Gcns. Sheridan, Kilpatrick, Davic;:. and Kautz recommended Gen. Whitaker 
cordially for an appointuiont in the ie<riilar cavalrv : but he made no application. Kil- 
patrick wrote, " As a cavalry officer, I know no superior ot" his rank." 



THE FIRST CAVALRY AND SECOXD BATTERY. 819 

ford, brevettecl captain for gallantry in September, 18G4, 
was brevetted major in April, 1865. Col. Ives arrived in 
New Haven with his re2;iment on Aiisc. 5, where it was for- 
mally welcomed by Major-Gen. William H. Russell, and then 
entertained at a banquet at the State House. The men 
soon after dispersed to their homes. This was the last regi- 
ment remaining in Sheridan's renowned cavalry corps ; and 
it, had been detained in Washington by Gen. Augur, on ac- 
count of its orderly and. soldierly appearance, as exhibited at 
the review. Well miarht the men who had fouirht with Lvon, 
Fish; Blakeslee, Brayton Ives, Whitaker, and Morehouse, 
with Backus, Warner, and Parmelee, be proud of their record, 
and well might the State be proud of them ! Gen. Custer's 
official order states that his single division had captured from 
the enemy, within the ten-days' campaign, forty-six pieces of 
artillery, thirty-seven battle-flags, and over ten thousand 
prisoners, including seven generals ; that it had taken, within 
the past six months, a hundred and eleven pieces of artillery 
and sixty-five battle-flags ; that it had never lost a gun or 
a color, and had never been defeated ! 



CASCALTIES. 

Killed iu action ..... 
Died of wounds ..... 
Died of disease ..... 
Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment 
Missing at muster-out of resimeut . 



24 

8 

125 

436 

59 



, MUSTER-OUT OF THE SECOND BATTERY 

The Second Battery, Capt. Walter S. Hotchkiss, arrived at 
New Haven July 31, from New Orleans, and was officially 
welcomed by Maj'or Scranton, and entertained in a manner 
required by its valuable services. The men were furnished 
with quarters, and mustered out on Aug. 9. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 1 

Died of wounds s ..... . 1 

Died of disease ....... 18 

Discharged prior to muster-out of battery , . 37 



820 CONNECTICUT DUEIXG THE BEBELLION. 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE SIXTH. 

The veteran Sixth, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Daniel Klein, 
arrived at New Haven on July 28, and was escorted to the 
banquet at the State House by military and citizens. Ex- 
Mayor Moses Tj'ler addressed a welcome to the returned 
soldiers, and Col. Klein briefly responded. The regiment 
was mustered out of the service on Aug. 21. Its rolls account- 
ed for 1,813 otiicers and men ; and they were also accounted 
for in battles fought, privations endured, and victories won. 
Less had been known of this regiment by our citizens than 
of most of the others, partly because Col. Chatfield had in- 
structed officers and men that it was unmihtary to write 
historical letters for the press. All became ambitious that 
it should not be known as "a newspaper regiment." Its 
history is less full on this account; but the Sixth always 
did its whole duty in the field. The Sixth and Seventh 
fought side by side ; and, as the Sixth had left the State a 
day earlier, it returned a day earlier to its home. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action . . . . . . . 43' 

Died of wounds ....... 46 

Died of disease . . . . . . .119 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 663 
Missing at date of muster-out of regiment . . 23 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE SEVENTH. 

The Seventh, Col. S. S. Atwell, arrived at New Haven on 
the evening of .July 29, and was received by the committee 
at the wharf, and escorted with the usual triumphal display, 
through illuminated streets, to a supper at the State House. 
Mayor Scranton welcomed the soldiers to the hospitalities of 
home, and Col. Atw'ell brieflj^ responded. The regiment was 
mustered out on Aug. 11. In the mean time, the men 
made their way speedily to their homes. The regiment 
.had borne upon its rolls 2,090 men. It had been commanded 
successively by Terry, Hawley, Rodman, and Atwell : it had 
been in twenty-one battles; and the memories evoked by 
such service as was indicated by its flag were enough to stir 



THE TWELFTH AND THE SECOND ARTILLEEY. 821 

the blood of any soldier, and excite the grateful emotions 
of any citizen. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action . . . . . . 

Died of Avouuds ...... 

Died of disease ...... 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment 
Missing at date of muster-out of regiment 



90 

44 

179 

587 

40 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE TWELFTH. 



The veteran Twelfth, under Lieut.-Col. G. N. Lewis, went 
from Winchester to Washington, and participated in the 
great review ; and then received orders to proceed to Savan- 
nah, Ga., where it arrived on June 5, and encamped outside 
of the fortifications. ' The battalion was detailed on patrol- 
duty for two months. On Aug. 12, it was mustered out, 
and ordered home. It was not loth to obey, and on Aug. 18 
it reached Hartford in the morning. Mayor Allen Stillman 
made a brief speech of welcome in State-house Square, and 
introduced Hon. Henry C. Doming, first commander of tlie 
Twelfth, who greeted his old comrades eloquently ; and they 
were soon dismissed. The service of the regiment had been 
severe and singularly varied. Wherever fighting was to be 
done, it never shrank ; and was repeatedly in the front of 
battle under Butler, Banks, and Sheridan. Only 328 men 
came back at muster-out, of 1,826 who had been borne upon 
the rolls. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 50 

Died of wounds ....... 16 

Died of disease 188 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 501 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE SE(;0ND ARTILLERY. 

When the rebels were driven from Petersburg, the Second 
Artillery entered it in advance of the 9th Corps. Col. James 
Hubbard became provost-marshal of the city ; and the regi- 
mental flag floated from the top of the Court House. When 
the regiment was relieved, it marched out, and again took 
possession of its old camp to the south. In this vicinity the 
regiment remained for weeks. It was finally returned to 



822 CONNECTICUT DURING THE EEBELLION. 

duty in the forts around Washington. It was mustered out 
of service on Aug. 18, and reached New Haven on the 20th, 
where it was greeted with a patriotic disphiy and a bountiful 
repast. Col. Hubbard had received the brevet of brigadier- 
general. The organization had borne upon its muster-rolls 
2,719 men, and had lost more than a hundred killed in 
battle. In Litchfield County, the home of the regiment, the 
most cordial welcome awaited them; and on Awz 1 Litch- 
field celebrated their arrival. Welcoming- addresses were 
made by Hon. John H. Hubbard and Col. Nathaniel Smith. 
From that of the latter, we extract some passages : — 

" The place of Rice is vacant in your lines. Brave man ! stainless of- 
ficer ! faithful friend ! The elegant form of gentlemanly Beriy, gallant 
Wadhams, soldierly Hosfbrd — but I fear lest, if spirits are conscious of 
earthly things, these noble men rebuke me sternly in their thoughts for dar- 
ing thus to single out their names fi'om those of hundreds of others just 
as self-sacrificing, just as brave, just as deserving of our gratitude and 
honor, whom time forbids us to mention. O sacred brotherhood of noble 
men dead for our sakes ! — how shall we ever pay the debt of gratitude 
that is yoiH' due ? 

'' Tell us, ye bards in whose verse Achilles and JEneas live, in what im- 
mortal numbers shall we consecrate their story to eternal fame? His- 
torians who sleep beneath the shadow of the classic ilex and oleander, 
what honor shall we pay to patriots purer thau they who fell at Thermopylae 
and Marathon? Sculptors that raised the Parthenon, on what monument 
or miracle of art, cloud-piercing, shall we engrave the names of our half- 
million dead, to be read of men so long as beauty's tears and valor's blood 
are symboled by the Avild flower and the rose? 

" Alas ! art, able to embellish the castles of nobles, kings, and conquerors, 
is all unequal to their deserts : it dwindles to artifice before the simple 
grandeur of their deeds. These that we miss from among you were our 
neighbors, acquaintances, and friends, — un^imbitious men, free to remain 
at home, careful of dependent families, yet so intelligently and truly lov- 
ing liberty, that, Avheu they saw it in danger, tliey freely went to the rescue. 
They found subjection to arbitrary military rule a hard thing for citizens ; 
but, for the sake t)f their country, they obeyed. In the dull, uncomfortable 
quarters, weary witli routine, sick, discouraged, they longed for home, but 
from principle remained steadfast. On tlie uuirch, under the pitiless sun, 
amid the stifling dust, the musket weighing like a cannon on the shoulder, 
knapsack and cartridge-box an intolerable load, weary and faint, knowing 
the agony of thirst, they never came late to battle under the rain of death, 
amid the howling shot, the rushing, bursting shell, the hissing storm of 
deadly musket-balls : in that most trying moment, when one after another 
of their comrades began to drop silently by their side, they were steadfast 
and true. There they fell, and w'ere buried hastily ; or, after hours of 
patient agony, carried to a hospital amid unnoticed thousands, unmurmur- 
ing, and faithful to the last, they died ! , 

" The beneficent Father, mindful of their sacrifice, has decreed peace 
throughout the land, liberty and union throughout all our boundary : has 



MUSTER-OUT- OF THE NINTH. 823 

bade his messenjrers lay the railroad, stretch the telej!;raph from ocean to 
ocean, from the equator to the pole ; has bade them plant the school house, 
establish the printing-press, and build the church, — that a land filled with 
the murmur of schools and the hum of industry ; a land of plenteous fields 
and happy homes, echoing the sweet clangor of sabbath-bells ; a land 
wherein there neither is nor shall for ever be aught to molest or make 
afraid, — shall stand before the ages, their heaven-erected monument, 

" Comrades of the fallen ! survivors of the storm ! the very homes made 
desolate by their loss will gladden at tlie sound of your footsteps. Your 
native county rejoices to hear of your return. All bid you enter into the 
soldier's rest. The screaming fife and rattling drum shall break vour 
slumbers with their reveille no more. No more at evening the lingering 
bugles blow the signal of repose. Enjoy henceforth the freedom you have 
earned' for all. Enter, soldiers of the Union, enter into possession of the 
honors due to citizens that have saved the Republic. The assembled mul- 
titude greets you ! Children that now look up wonderingly in your faces, 
grown to be men and women, shall prolong the tribute of grateful praise. 
Long may the day be absent, when, bowing venerable gray hairs to your 
only conqueror, the villages shall mourn your loss, and youth and beauty 
strew your graves with flowers ! Then succeeding generations, happier 
than this of ours, children of long peace and heaven-blessed liberty, shall 
hand down the story of your battles and triumphs. • They of that blissful 
era, it is reasonable to hope, will know no more pei'sonal interest in war- 
like actions than that they trace their ancestry to you. Treasuring every 
memento of j'our tinie.4, interested in hearing the minutest incidents of your 
lives, they would charge me with neglect did I fail to speak to you in their 
name to-day. They bid me greet you by the title tll§ future will assign you ; 
and, by an authority that history shall ratify, proclaim you her Heroes 

OF LiBEllTY." 

The soldiers of Woodbury were afterwards welcomed by 
William Cothren and P. M. Trowbridoje. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 143 

Died of wounds ........ 80 

Died of disease ....... 186 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 907 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE NINTH. 

The veteran Ninth was mustered out of service in 
Savannah, on Aug. 4, and immediately proceeded north- 
ward. The battalion, under the valiant Col. John G. Healj, 
arrived in New Haven on the mornin<j: of the 8th, where it 
was cordially welcomed by Mayor Scranton, escorted to the 
State House amid every demonstration of patriotic joy, and 
properly entertained. The achievements of the Ninth had 
found little publicity ; but, as this record has disclosed, its 
services were of marked value in conquering a peace for 



824 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION. 

the re-united Republic : and the gallant Irish-Americans who 
stood faithfully by its standard share the gratitude of the 
State and the Nation. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 5 

Died of wounds ....... 1 

Died of disease 240 

Discharged prior to muster-oxit of battalion . . 376 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE TENTH. 

The veteran Tenth,^ too, at last came to the end of its 
fifditino;. On Aug;. 25, the reo:iment was mustered out of 
the United-States service, and returned to Connecticut. It 
arrived at Hartford by steamer on Aug. 30, under Col. E. S. 
Greeley, Jiow, like Lieut.-Col. Goodyear, brevet brigadier- 
general. There were the usual demonstrations, — music, 
cheers, speeches, and an escort, — in which were Cols. Otis 
and Pettibone, and other former officers of the regiment, 
bearing the tattered flag under which they had fought. A 
bountiful repast was then provided at the hotels, and the 
men had leave of ^3sence for two days ; when they re-as- 
sembled and received their pay, and said their final good-bys. 
The regiment had borne upon its rolls 2,124 men, had been 
in twenty-three battles, and had won a reputation for re- 
markable bravery, coolness, persistence, and reliability on 
trying occasions, that was always recognized even by troops 
of other States. Its services herein recorded are its highest 
praise. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action . . .■ . . . .57 

Died of wounds ....... 59 

Died of disease . . . . . . .152 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment .. . 692 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE FIRST ARTILLERY. 

On July 11, the First Artillery returned to the defenses 
of Washington, and, on Sept. 25, was. mustered out after 

2 Major Frank .Ha'^Vkins of the Tenth, fromDcrhy, inspector-<rcncral on the staff of 
Gen. G. B. Dandy, died suddenly on June 22. in one of the military hospitals of New- 
York City. The Herald said, " Some days since Major Hawkins was exposed to a 
severe rain-storm while attending a review of the troops. Congestion of the brain set in 
with fatal results. This is a sad instance of the intervention of death in the midst of 
human hopes. Major Hawkins had been in the war for more than four years, throughout 
all which time he had been noted for his bravery and dash. After participating most 
honorably in the late closing campaign, he parts with life in an unexpected moment." 



THE FIRST AETILLERY AND THE COLORED TROOPS. 825 

a service of four years and four months. The following 
brevet commissions were issued : Col. H. L. Abbot to be 
major-general ; Major George Ager to be lieutenant-colonel ; 
Capts. Henry H. Pierce, John M. Twiss, Charles 0. Biigham, 
Charles R. Bannan, George Dimock, William C. Faxon, 
Samuel P. Hatfield, Bela P. Learned, William A. Lincoln, 
Glenroy P. Mason, George D. Sargeant, and William G. 
Pride, to be majors ; First Lieuts. Frank D. Bangs, Robert 
E. Lewis, E. P. Mason, H. A. Pratt, George F. Bill, Thomas 
D. Cashin, Cornelius Gillette, John O'Brien, William H. 
Rogers, S. A. Woodruff, and H*. D. Patterson, to be captains ; 
and Second Lieuts. A. Drown, C. W. Smith, W. H. PL Bing- 
ham, G. H. Couch, G. Reynolds, J. H. Casey, and C. N. Silli- 
man, to be first lieutenants. Col. Abbot says in his report, — 

" Notwithstanding the fine material of which the regiment is composed, 
it would have been impossible, without such officers, to have maintained 
strict discipline during the last campaign, when, for more than a year, the 
regiment was scattered over a front often exceeding seventeen miles in 
extent, frequently subdivided 'into small fragments of companies, and con- 
stantly receiving raw recruits. When it was collected after tlie evacua- 
tion, I was surprised myself to see how it had borne this test ; the men pre- 
serving almost the same cleanliness and soldierly appearance which had 
so distinguished them in garrison. This result can only be attrbnted to 
the high character of the officers of all grades, Avhich naturally follows 
from the wise and patriotic course of his Excellency the Governor in 
appointing them." 

Major-Gen. Barry, the ablest artillery officer in the United- 
States service, paid the following tribute to the superiority 
of this regiment: — 

" As chief of artillery successively of the two principal armies of the 
United States during the four years of war now happily ended, I have 
enjoyed personal opportunities for observation. You will on this account 
value my opinion when I assure you that the First Connecticut Artillery, in 
intelligence and the acquirements and serviced of its special arm, stands 
zcnrivalad in the armies of the United States." 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 26 

Died of wounds ....... 23 

Died of disease ........ 161 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 1,071 

MUSTER-OUT OF THE TWENTY-NINTH AND THIRTIETH. 

Our colored reoriments remained in service in Texas during 
the summer and autumn, performing garrison and provost 

104 



826 CONNECTICUT DURING THE REBELLION, 

duty, and helping to reduce that fractious State to order. 
Early in October, they embarked for home. The Twenty- 
ninth was cordially received at Hartford, on Oct, 22, with 
cheers, a procession, and a banquet. Gov, Buckingham made 
an address of welcome, from which we extract : — 

" For all your services, I tender you, both officers and men, my grateful 
acknowledgments and the thanks of my fellow-citizens. In their name 1 
greet you with a cordial welcome, I welcome you from sleepless watch ings. 
fro-m fatiguing marches, from the. privations of the camp, and tVom the dan- 
gers of tiie battle-field, to the rest, the pleasures, and tlie duties which per- 
tain to peace, to home, and civil life. The revolution in which we have 
been engaged, and in which you have taken such an active and interesting 
part, has removed one of the greatest obstacles to the advancement of 
liberty, and enables me to welcome you to higher hopes of future good, 

" And although Connecticut now denies you privileges which it grants 
to others, for no other apparent reason than because God has made you to 
differ in complexion, yet justice will not always stand afar off. Be. patient ; 
be true to yourselves. Remember that merit consists not in color or in 
birth, but in habits of industry, in jntellectual ability and moral character. 
Cultivate these characteristics of true worth. Show by your accjuirements, 
and your devotion to duty in civil life, that you are as true to virtue and the 
interests of government and country as you have been while in the army, 
and soon the voice of a majority of liberty-loving freemen will be heard 
demanding for you every right and privilege to which your intelligence and 
moral character shall entitle you. Again I ask you to accept my thanks 
for your patriotic services, and my best wishes for your prosperity and 
happiness," 

Col, Wooster of the Twenty-ninth spoke in reply, testify- 
ing to the bravery of his men in battle, even when they 
knew that captivity was certain death. Lieut.-Col, Torrance 
said, in his report, " The poor rights of a soldier were denied 
to them. Their actions were narrowly watched, and the 
slightest faults severely commented npon. In spite of all 
this, the negro soldier fought willingly and bravely ; and with 
his rifle alone he has vindicated his manhood, and stands 
confessed to-day as second in bravery to none," 

Col. H. C. Ward of the Thirtieth, in his report, says, " Be 
fore closing this report, I beg leave to speak briefly as to the 
character of the troops I have had the honor to serve with. 
I entered the '■ colored service ' in January-, 1864, and have 
commanded either a battalion or larger body of colored 
troops for most of the time since that date ; and I am con- 
vinced, that, in all the essential qualities of good soldiers, they 
fully meet all requirements, and are equal to the standard of 
any service I ever saw." 



THE EIGHTH, ELEVENTH, AND THIRTEENTH. 



827 



CASUALTIES OF THE TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT. 

Killed in action . . . . . . . 15 

Died of wounds ....... 4 

Died of disease ....... 47 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment ... 47 

Missing at muster-out of regiment . . • . . 13 

CASUALTIES OF THE THIRTIETH REGIMENT. 

Killed in action . . . . . . . 23 

Died of wounds ....... 22 

Died of disease ....... 153 

Disehai-ged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 135 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE EIGHTH AND ELEVENTH. 

The veteran Eighth and Eleventh went to Lynchburg after 
Richmond was captured, and did a semi-military, semi-joolice 
duty in that vicinity for several months. They came home 
in December, had a reception in Hartford befitting their long 
and arduous service, and were mustered out. Rowland 
Swift addressed the Eighth, and Ezra Hall addressed the 
Eleventh, in terms of grateful welcome ; and the companies 
and soldiers departed to find more personal greetings in glad 
hearts and homes. The regiments had generally marched, 
camped, and fought side by side, and shared a twin-chronicle 
of heroic deeds, and a long list of gallant dead. 

CASUALTIES OF THE EIGHTH REGIMENT. 

Killed in action ....... 72 

Died of wounds ....... 40 

Died of disease . . . . . . . ' 132 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 610 

Missing at date of muster-out of regiment . . 11 

CASUALTIES OF THE ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 

Killed iu action . . . . ... . 35 

Died of wounds . . . . . . .41 

Died of disease . . . . . . .165 

Discharged prior to muster-out of regiment . . 579 



MUSTER-OUT OF THE THIRTEENTH. 

The veteran Thirteenth, the last of the levy of 1861, was 
detained in service more than a year after the war was ended. 
In July, Col. Sprague was 'appointed president of a military 
board in Augusta to examine officers for promotion or dis- 
charge. The battalion soon after proceeded to Athens, and 



828 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

thence to Gainesville ; and Col. Sprague assumed command 
of the district of Athens, comprising fourteen counties of 
Northern Georgia. Afterwards, headquarters were removed 
to Augusta. In January, 1866, the battalion was relieved 
from duty, and ordered to garrison the district of Alatoona, 
comprising one-fourth of the State. The men were anxious 
to go home ; and at last, after numerous appeals for muster- 
out, setting forth, that, according to the terms of their re-in- 
listment, they could not properly be detained after the close 
of the war, they rendezvoused at Fort Pulaski, and were 
mustered out on April 25, 1866. Three days later, they took 
a government transport, and proceeded to New York ; whence 
they quietly dispersed to their homes to enjoy in civil life 
the union and peace for which, through four and a half years, 
they had toiled and fought. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed in action ....... 32 

Died of wounds ....... 13 

Died of disease . . . . . . .129 

Discharged prior to March 31, 1866 . . .705 

Gov. Buckingham issued the following: — 

A PROCLAMATIOX. 

Whereas the General Assembly at its recent session : 

" Resolved, That the heartfelt thanks and lasting gratitude of the people 
of this State are due and are hereby tendered to all Connecticut officers 
and soldiers, of every rank and grade, who in the war of the Rebellion have 
gallantly borne the flag and nobly sustained the honor of our State, and 
who, by long years of faithful service, and on many a hard-fought field, 
have aided in preserving to us our institutions, and in demonstrating to the 
world that no government is so strong as that which rests in the will of a 
free and enlightened people, and that no armies are so invincible as citizen- 
soldiers battling for their own liberties and the rights of man. 

" That this State will ever gratefully cherish and honor the memories of 
those victims of war and rebel barbarities who went forth from us for our 
defense, but who come not back to participate in the blessings of that 
peace, which, through their efforts and saci'ifices, a just God has vouch- 
safed to us. 

" That his Excellency the Governor be requested by suitable proclama- 
tion to publish the foregoing resolutions." 

Therefore I, WilliamA. Buckingham, Governor of the State of Connecti- 
cut, in order to effect the object designed by the General Assembly, hereby 
issue this proclamation, and call upon the •citizens of this Commonwealth 
to manifest by expressions of gi*atitude and by acts of kindness, both to the 
living and to the families of the honored dead, their high appreciation of 
the sacrifices made by each of the fifty-three thousand three hundred and 



CONCLUSION. 829 

thirty men, who from this State have entered the military service of the 
nation during our recent struggle with rebellion ; and to impress upon their 
children and children's children the duty of holding such patriotic services 
in honor and perpetual remembrance, and thus prove the enduring gratitude 
of the Republic. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at the city of Hartford, this 

the seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 

hundred and sixty-five. ^ _ __ . _ 

[l.s.J Wm. a. Buckingham. 

By his Excellency the Governor. 
J. Hammond Trumbull, Secretary of State. 

Connecticut, that went to the war with such promptness 
and lusty energy, had acquitted herself nobly in it. Refer- 
ring to her part in nurturing and coloring the royal blood 
that finally Hfted up the two most illustrious captains of the 
war, Rev. Dr. Bushnell has said,^ " Nay, it is not quite enough, 
if we wiU know exactly who is entitled to a part in these 
honors, that we remember only these dead of the war. 
Buried generations back of them were also present in it 
almost as truly as they. Thus, if we take the two most 
honored leaders, — Grant and Sherman, — who, besides the 
general victory they have gained for the cause, have won 
their sublime distinction as the greatest living commanders 
of the world, it will be impossible to think of them as having 
made or begotten their own lofty endowments. All great 
heroic men have seeds and roots, far back, it may be, out of 
which they spring, and apart from which they could not 
spring at all, — a sublime fatherhood and motherhood, in 
whose blood and life, however undistinguished, victory was 
long ago distilling for the great day to come of their people 
and nation. They knew it not : they sleep in graves, it may 
be, now forgot; but their huge-grown, manful temperament; 
the fights they waged and won in life's private battle; the 
lofty prayer-impulse which made inspiration their element ; 
their brave, self-retaining patience, and the orderly vigor of 
their household command, — were breeding in and in, to be 
issued finally in a hero sonship, and, by that, fight themselves 
out into the grandest victory for right and law the future 
ages shall know. So that, if we ask who are the dead that 

2 Commemorative Celebration at Yale College. 



330 CONNECTICUT DUEING THE REBELLION. 

are to be counted in our victory, we must pierce the sod of 
Wethersfield and Stratford, of Woodbury and Norwalk, and 
find where the Honorable Sherman, the Deacon Sherman, 
the Judge Sherman, and all the line of the Shermans, aild 
their victor wives and mothers,. lie ; and then, if we can guess 
who they' were and how they lived, we shall know who 
fought the great campaigns of Atlanta, Savannah, and 
Raleigh. So again, if we begin at the good Deacon Grant, 
in Mr. Warham's church at Windsor, descending to the 
historic Noah Grant of Tolland, fellow-scout with Putnam, 
and captain of a French-war company ; then to the now 
living Jesse Root Grant, who removed to Ohio, afterwards 
finally, I believe, to Illinois, whose wanderings appear to 
be commemorated in the classic name of Ulysses, — we shall 
see by what tough flanking processes of life and family the 
great general was preparing, who should turn th^ front of 
Vicksburg, and march by Lee and Richmond, and cut off by 
the rear even the Great Rebellion itself Oh, if we could see 
it, how long and grandly were the victories of these great 
souls preparing ! The chief thing was the making of the 
souls themselves ; and when that was done the successes 
came, of course." 

Not the nving chiefs alone are of our maturing : we name, 
also, with reverent pride, a long, deep phalanx of departed 
heroes who stepped out eagerly from our homes ; leaders on 
field and staff; leaders in line and rank, who fell before the 
gaunt wolf in rebel prisons, or leaped into the blazing vortex 
of battle, and passed triumphant from their heavy shrouds 
of blue to the Pleasant Fields where their loved leader was 
so soon to greet them again. 

The first great martyrs of the war — Ellsworth, Winthrop, 
Ward, and Lyon — were of Connecticut stock. A Connec- 
ticut general, with Connecticut regiments, opened the battle 
of Bull Run, and closed it ; and a Connecticut regiment was 
marshaled in front of the farm-house at Appomattox, when 
Lee surrendered to a soldier of Connecticut blood. A Con- 
necticut flag first displaced the palmetto upon the soil of 
South Carolina; a Connecticut flag was first planted in 
Mississippi ; a Connecticut flag was first unfurled before New 



(CONCLUSION. 83 1 

Orleans. Upon the reclaimed walls of Pulaski, Donelson, 
Macon, Jackson, St. Philip, Morgan, Wagner, Sumter, Fisher, 
our State left its ineffaceable mark. The sons of Connecti- 
cut followed the ilUistrious grandson of Connecticut, as he 
swung his army, with amazing momentum, from the fas1> 
nesses of Tennessee to the Confederacy's vital center. At 
Antietam, Gettysburg, and in all the fierce campaigns of 
Virginia, our soldiers won crimson glories ; and at Port 
Hudson they were the very first and readiest in that val- 
iant little band, — every man a Winkeh'ied, resolved to 
gather the shafts of flame into their bosoms to make a path 
for Liberty to tread. 

On the banks of every river of the South, and in the 
battle-smoke of every contested ridge and mountain-peak, 
the sons of Connecticut have stood and patiently struggled. 
In every ransomed State, we have a holy acre on which the 
storm has left its emerald Avave^, — two thousand indistin- 
guishable hillocks on lonely lake and stream, in field and 
tangled wildwood, where the long mosses of the Florida for- 
ests sweep, where the magnolia flowers along the Carolina 
coast, where the cotton sheds its snowy wealth, where the 
holly of the James drops its ruby berries, where the pines 
of the Gulf States chant their dirge ; and in every bloom- 
ing grave lie buried beneath the sacred dust of our heroes 
the broken shackles of bondage and the rusting weapons of 
rebellion. 



APPENDIX. 



THK SONS OF CONNECTICUT RESIDING IN NEW YORK. 

The sons of Connecticut residing- in other States, whom business or personal circum- 
stances kept from actual army service, were active and faithful as our best citizens in tlie 
State. 

In New York and in Washington, Connecticut men had frequent opportunity to aid 
and encourage the soldiers of Connecticut, and formed organizations for the purpose. 

It is proper to say at the outset, that the Sans of Connecticut rendered these services to 
their native State in addition to doing their full sliarc of what belonged to the community 
in which they resided. 

Mr. Robert H. McCurdy, the honpred president of the society in New York, a native- 
of Lyme, was active in originating and giving practical effect to the first patriotic move- 
ment in that city, — the great meeting of the people at Union Square on the 20th of April, 
1861 ; a meeting, which, speaking so grandly the voice of the great commercial metropo- 
lis, exerted an influence jwrhaps as powerful as that of any public meeting ever held oa- 
the globe. 

Mr. McCurdy was at that meeting appointed a member of the -ivell-known Union- 
Defense Committee, and thereafter gave time and money, without stint, to the great cause. 

Mr. Simeon B. Chittenden, a native of Guilford, whose name appears on the first sub- 
scription-list in New York for the equipment of the New- York 7th Regiment, was untir- 
ing and generous throughout the war. As a single in.stiince, we quote from a letter written 
I)y him to Hon. Moses F. Odell, then a member of Congress, in October, 186.3, when the 
war had become a dread and a burdensome business : " It is my conviction that it is the 
solemn duty and the high privilege of all who love their country, instantly to lend their 
cheerful, willing, and effective aid to the great and noble effort to which the President now 
summons the nation ; and I ask you, sir, to co-operate with me in such ways as your knowl- 
edge of the condition of the regiment (Brooklyn 14th) may suggest. I propose to raise 
two hundred men for the Brooklyn 14th as my share of the work, and will contribute tea 
thousand dollars to be divided among them ; fifty dollars to each man in addition to all 
national, state, and municipal bounties which may be available to such volunteers." The 
two luindred men were enlisted, the bounties paid, and recruiting further stimulated by 
this prompt and liberal action. 

Equally prompt and efficient, according to their means, unto the very close of the war, 
were hundreds of natives of Connecticut located in New York. Indeed, out of the gen- 
eral patriotic work grew the special efforts for Connecticut soldiers. 

Gen. Pro>]K^r M Wetniore (of what town ?), also a member of the Union-Defense- 
Committee, had labored night and day in recruiting the Harris Light Cavalry, in which- 
tv\o companies from Connecticut were enlisted. He learned to esteem and admire among- 
others the noble face and soldierly bearing of Sergeant Edward F. Lyon, who was killed on 
the cars while passing to the front, in a lirave attempt to save the lives of his fellow-soldiers. 
Gen. Wetmore; learning that the body had reached New York on the way home, after 
a long search, found a rude pine coflln containing the remains, in the open air, watched bv;- 
105 633 



334 APPENDIX. 

two faithful comrades, — Sergeants Daniel Whitaker and P. 0. Jones. An appropriate 
guard of honor was promptly secured, entertainment provided for the two sergeants, and 
every filcility freely furnished. 

Gen. Wetmore at once resolved that there should not again be such an apparent neglect 
of proper respect to the heroic dead and due attention to the comforts of the brave living 
soldiers of his native State. 

He conceived the design of an organization of the Sons of Connecticut in New York, to 
extend fitting courtesies and all needed aid to regiments passing to and from the front 
through New York, to the sick and wounded, and to the nolile dead of our gallant regi- 
ments. The plan was heartily approved by Mr. McCurdy, who had, at intervals of his 
pressing duties, been contemplating something of the sort. Others fell in promptly and 
cordially. 

The first meeting was held at the Astor House, on the 25th of September, 1861. Rob- 
ert H. McCurdy, Pelatiah Perit, Jonathan Sturges, Prosper M. Wetmore, David Hoadlcy, 
R. M. Blatchford, S. Baldwin, I. N. Phelps, W. C. Wetmore, Henry Chauncey, F. Bron- 
son, John E. Forbes, Rufus L. Lord, Samuel D. Babcock , Charles W. Elliott, Thomas 
Lord, George Griswold, Henry H. Elliott, J. W. Alsop, W. E. Dodge, W. C. Oilman, 
Charles Gould, Simeon B. Chittenden, Waldo Hutchins, A. H. Almy, Elias Howe, jr., 
Joseph Battell, and others among the most eminent business-ntbn of New York, partici- 
pated in the organization. 

A permanent organization was effected by electing as officers, — 

President, Robert H. McCurdy ; Vice-President, Prosper M. Wetmore ; Secretary, 
Charles Gould; Treasurer, William C. Oilman ; Standinrj- Committee, Robert H. McCurdy, 
Waldo Hutchins, Prosper M. Wetmore, Charles W. Elliott, Elias Howe, jr., Joseph 
Battell, Jonathan Sturges, A. H. Almy, J.J. Phelps, S. B. Chittenden, and Charles Gould. 
The duties of the secretary were so arduous, that Richard A. McCurdy was soon 
appointed assistant secretary. 

Gov. Buckingham was immediately notified of the organization and purposes of the 
society, and assured them of his hearty gratification and co-operation. He soon after 
appointed John H. Almy as agent to act for the State, in connection with the Sons of 
Connecticut, to forward the interests and aid the soldiers of Connecticut. 

The active work of the society at once began. Of this work. Gen. P. M. Wetmore, 
a genuine and an accomplished Son of Connecticut, the vice-president of the society, 
has fui-nished a lengthy and carefully-written sketch, which has been reluctantly 
abridged to conform to the space allotted; and we desire to acknowledge our indebtedness 
while we gratefully take from it the main facts. 

Mr. Wetmore modestly refrains in his sketch from self-praise ; but the remaining 
officei's unite in saying that be was, from the outset, the chief intellectual life and motor of 
the society. Ho was so situated that he could, or at any rate did, give more time and 
effort than any other man. He is genial and eloquent; "knows everybody," and is a 
general favorite ; is a sterling and tireless patriot ; and thus in all i-espects eminently 
adapted to the noble work to which he gave the greater part of his valuable time for four 
years. 

The Eighth Regiment was the first to receive the courtesy and attention of the Sons of 
Connecticut. A .warm breakfast was furnished on the morning of Oct. 18 ; and oh 
the 25th the Sons of Connecticut visited their temporary camp at Jamaica, L.I., to pre- 
sent the regiment with a superb stand of colors. We have already adverted iiriefly to this 
event, and also to the organization of the society, in one of the early cha|)ters of this 
Tolume, as it naturally connects itself with the history of the regiment at that time. 

The delegation of Sons of Connecticut was quite large. Col. J. H. Almy with a few 
earnest words introduced Gen. Wetmore, who rose in response, and delivered a most elo- 
quent and touching address, worthy of his high reputation and marked abilities. Few 
men, however privileged tlieir life or gifted their tongue, can speak to the heart, or stir the 
souls of men, with more effect than he. 

Col. Harland in a few graceful words accepted the beautiful banner, and pledged his 
command to guard and ])rotect it. 

The Tenth Regiment was provided with a substantial and agreeable breakfast, addressed 
by Col. Almy and Gen. Burnside, and presented with the national colors by S. B. Chit- 




trricER 



SONS OF CONNECTICUT IN NEW YORK. 835 

tcnden. The regiment was escorted through the city by a delegation of the Sons of 
Connecticut, marshaled by Gen. Wctmore. Music was furnished hy DodsAvorth's Band. 

Next came the Eleventh. The enlisted were provided with a warm and bountiful 
breakfast at the Park Barracks. The Sons of Connecticut gave a complimentary break- 
fast at the Astor House to Gov. Buckingham and staff and the officers of the regiment. 
The company gathered was large and choice. The dining-room was elegantly decorated. 
No expense was spared to make the occasion truly complimentary, both to the distinguished 
governor and the officers of the Eleventh. 

Mr. Charles Gould presided. In the opening address, he said, — 

"If ever kind and cordial welcome was due, the Sons of Connecticut in New York 
owe such greeting to-day. If warm and grateful hearts ever gave a cordial welcome, we, 
the sons and daughters of Connecticut, now give that welcome to you, Gov. Buck- 
ingham, whose considerate and unwearied care has so completely provided for the Con- 
necticut troops ; and to you. Col. Kingsbury and your fellow-soldiers, who are going to 
join the great army of Freedom, and stand in the ' breach between our loved homes and the 
war's desolation.' 

" Soldiers of Connecticut, it is not alone a welcome that we give you. Our sympa- 
thies and blessings will follow your march ; and if each earnest wish for your safety and 
triumph could but advance your regiment a hair's-brcadth towards the battle-field and the 
shout of victory, so many are those wishes, that our words of farewell would scarcely be 
uttered before this flag of yours would float in triumphover the broad field now desolated 
by Rebellion, announcing that the conflict was over, and the victory for freedom won, and 
won for ever. 

Gov. Buckingham was received with prolonged and hearty applause. He gave a suc- 
cinct resume of the recruiting and legislation for the war in Connecticut, and affirmed that 
neither in patriotism nor efficiency was she surpassed by any State. 

Speeches were made by Gen. Wetmore, Rev. II. W. Bcecher, Parke Godwin, and oth- 
ers. • At three and a half, a beautiful flag was presented to the regiment by Rev. Dr. Joseph 
P. Thompson. The regiment was escorted to the boat, at the foot of Canal Street, by the 
Sons of Connecticut, with Dodsworth's Band. In the evening, a brilliant reception was 
tendered to Gov. Buckingham at the Fifth-avenue Hotel. A distinguished company of 
men and a goodly array of beautiful women graced the occasion. 

The death of Col. Russell and Lieut. Stillman at Roanoke Island, so soon after the 
public reception of the Tenth by them, called forth resolutions of sympathy and patriotic 
eulogy. 

The remains of these gallant officers were taken in charge by a committee of the Sons 
of Connecticut, of which John H. Almy was chairman, and reverently cared for, and escort- 
ed to New Haven. Thenceforward, but with less formality, no less care was taken of the 
remains of our Connecticut martyrs. 

As the struggle deepened, the faith and the zeal of the Sons of Connecticut wavered not. 
Their efforts, both as citizens of New York and as sons of Connecticut, became matters 
of calm daily duty. They did what they could of whatever they deemed to be necessary 
to win the great conflict. The officers of the association were faithful and efficient from 
first to last. We have already spoken of Mr. McCurdy and Gen. Wctmore. 

The secretary, Mr. Charles Gould, was a native of Litchfield, and a son of the eminent 
Judge Gould of that town. By his earnest andrcsokuc spirit, his administrative ability, and 
his wide acquaintance, he added vigor and directness to the efforts of the society. IJe was 
equally constant, faithful, and efficient in all that he did to aid in upholding the nation's 
cause. 

Mr. William C. Oilman, the treasurer of Norwich, was greatly respected for his integ- 
rity, his usefulness, and his public spirit. His agreeable manners, his intelligent and 
f\iithful performance of his duties, won the warm regards o*" his associates in the organ- 
ization. He died on the 6th of June, 1864, deeply regretted in business-circles and society 
by those who were so fortunate as to enjoy his acquaintance. 

The active exertions of the officers and Standing Committee were gradually superseded 
by the untiring ai#l judicious labors of the State Agent; and, before the close of the war, 
the principal function of the society was to supply means to execute what was wisely 
planned by him. 



836 APPENDIX. 

THE CONNECTICUT AGENCY IN NEW YORK. 

The closing paragraph of the preceding section serves to introduce the co-ordinate and 
beneficent work done in New York by Col. John H. Almy, a native of Thompson. 

Col. Almy, in October, ISfil, with the linanimous approval of the Sons of Connecticut, 
then just organized, was authorized by Gov. Buckingham to act as agent to transact any 
business of the State, and to serve the State and its soldiers in any practicable way. He 
served up to June, 1862, entirely without compensation, even for the most part paying 
his own expenses, although the business had fur months absorbed nearly his whole time. 
From June to November, he received a small salary and his expenses. In November, de- 
ciding to devote his whole time to the work, he was regularly commissioned as assistant 
quarter-master of the State, with the rank and pay of lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. 

He was of great service to our inexperienced officers in aiding them to supply and for- 
ward their regiments. 

The receptions given to the Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Regiments,. have been de- 
scribed in the preceding section. 

The services of Col. Almy went to much more minute and practical details. The care 
of the Thirteenth Regiment, bound to New Orleans, will serve to illustrate his work. He 
visited the ship chartered for their transportation, and learned that the terms of contract 
did not require the owners to furnish any conveniences for the men. While on one of these 
tours of inspection, ])revious to the arrival of the regiment in New York, he noticed several 
dray-loads of oil-casks were being delivered to the ship, and, inquiring, ascertained they were 
to be employed in conveying water for the use of the regiment. The contractor was 
sought ; and, intimidated by the fear of exposure of the villainous deed, other casks were 
procured, according to the terms of contract. He found the ship entirely destitute of the 
needful requirements for a voyage to Ship Island, and provided such as were essential 
to the comfort and liealtli of the men. He also secured the shipment of heavy ordnance 
and ammunition, that the regiment might successfully resist the numerous privateers then 
depredating in Southern waters. The contract for towing the ship out of the harbor 
beyond Sandy Hook was given to a tug for two hundred dollars. Tlie owner sub-let it 
for one hundred and fifty ; the second sub-let it for one hundred ; and the third again for 
forty. 

The captain of the tug took the ship as far as Sandy Hook, but not over the bar, and 
left her there ; declaring that he had done forty dollars' wortli. After remaining there 
with adverse winds for two days. Col. Almy was apprised of the situation, procured 
anotiiertug, and got the vessel out to sea. Vouchers for all his expenditures were made 
out in official form, which the General Government subsequently paid. 

In like manner, according to the varying circumstances of the regiments, he accelerated 
the departure and ministered to the comfort of each. Familiar with the docks and njar- 
kets, accjuainted with the ship-owners, and soon on good terms with the United-States 
officials, he could meet almost any want promptly. 

A collation more or less substantial was served to every regiment, going from the State 
or returning, which remained for an hour in the city. These dinners were generally ready 
and served immediately after the regiments arrived. The weil-filled soldiers were good- 
natured and docile ; and it was seldom tliat any quarrel or difficulty of any sort occurred. 

The funds for tliesc collations were cheerfully contributed by the Sons of Connecticut 
in New York : the care and responsibility of providing fell upon the agent. 

Whc^n the sick and wounded were brought from Roanoke Island, he aided to send them 
all from New York to their homes in circiimstauces as c6mfor'able as possible; advan- 
cing the amount of their transportation from his private funds, but aftei wards rc-imbursed by 
the General Government. He then nunle personal ajiijlication to Secretary Stanton, and 
obtained foreach of the sick and wounded two months' pay. 

Through April, Mav, and Juno of 1862, he was busy night and day in receiving and 
caring for the sick and wounded of all States, as they arrived f»om the deadly Peninsula 
and from other points. Nine hundred and eight men sick with typhoid-fever, some in a 
horrible condition, came sweltering in on one crowded steamer. Hundreds of men, with 
wounds slight and wounds ghastly, arrived by every steamer for a time. The worst 
cases of fever and wounds were provided for in New- York and the adjacent hospitals. 



SONS OF CONNECTICUT IN NEW YOEK. 837 

But there. was then no well-organized hospital-system; and every man able to endure 
travel was forwarded to his home as speedily and as well provided for as possible. 

The name, regiment, and destination of every soldier he aided, and his papers, show, 
that, in those three months, he furnished transportation for more than twenty thousand 
persons, and for many of them much more than transportation. 

Col. Almy was offered the New- York agency of several States, but accepted that of 
Rhode Island only, being adjacent to Connecticut; and declined the others. 

His watchful care of the wounded and sick continued. The minute and thorough 
manner in which his work was done is illustrated by the case of William Ingraham of the 
Twelfth Connecticut Volunteers. Ingraham arrived by steamer from New Orleans at the 
point of death with a chronic disorder. His absorbing desire was to get home to die. 
Almy sent him on the first train to Mystic, Conn., where he left the cars. He sent a sol- 
dier attendant with him, a'nd paid his fare. The sick man had ninety-six dollars in cash 
with him. Almy informed the conductor of all the facts, and the destination of the soldier. 
He telegraphed to trusty patriots in Mystic the time when the man would arrive, and the 
money he had with him. Thus every precaution was taken to see that both thc'soldier 
and his earnings were safely transported and promptly and propoi'ly cared for. 

His disbursements in case of needy, sick, and wounded, were large ; and, though 
not regarded as legitimate State expenditures, were necessary for the comfort of the men. 
These outlays for exceeded his salary ; but he was often helped out by generous con- 
tributions, never solicited, but given by the friends of some whom he had assisted. Such 
were checks for two hundred dollars from the citizens of Ansonia by Charles Durand, a 
hundred and fifty dollars from Joseph Kipley and son, and others. 

After large military hospitals were established in all parts of the country, Almy was 
constantly alert to secure the transfer of Connecticut soldiers from hospitals about New 
York to the Knight Hospital in New Haven. 

The sick and wounded men whom he had aided did not forget him. They applied to 
him.for furlough and bounty, and appealed to him in every sort of difficulty. 

Tlie daily general business of the agency was wonderful in extent and variety. The 
collection of back-pay, bounties ; correcting errors in passes and descriptive-lists ; obtain- 
ing of furloughs ; the reception of boxes of sanitary goods, and dispatching the same to 
their several destinations ; care of baggage ; procuration of regimental flags, guidons, to- 
gether with musical instruments for various bands and small-arms for officers, and even 
clothing for individual soldiers, and discharges for sick and disabled soldiers; permits for 
citizens to visit the front ; responses to scores of letters inquiring for missing and dead 
soldiers, — were among his constantly-recurring duties. 

The Thanksgiving dinner to the nine-months' troops at Centreville, L.I., in 1863, was 
a very successful aflfliir, in consequence of his promptness and efficiency. The Sons of Con- 
necticut contributed on the occasion nearly eleven hundred dollars, besides delicacies for 
thetablQ. Almy telegraphed and wrote to Connecticut for turkeys and pumpkin-pics. It 
is amusing to I'cad the following telegram to a grave and dignified public man: "Hon. 
Benjamin Douglas, can Middletown send down five hundred pumpkin-pies on Wednesday 
night?" 

The pies came, turkeys and " fixin's " with them ; and so from many other towns. 
More than fifteen hundred turkeys and three thousand pies were distributed, besides barrels 
of apples, cakes, and large quantities of other toothsome edibles. 

In these* absorbing duties, months passed swiftly by. At the end of four years, his 
records showed that more than two hundred thousand soldiers of Connecticut and other 
States, sixty thousand of them sick or wounded, had passed through his hands; all 
receiving transportation, many being otherwise assisted. 

He had answered thousands of letters on every conceivable suljcct pertaining to mili- 
tary life or service. The copies of the more important ones fill six large volumes. 

The average number of daily calls at his office in 1863, 1864, and the first half of 1865, 
for information and aid, was upwards of a hundred and seventy-five ; the average number 
of letters for similar purposes, forty-five; the average of telegrams on imimrtant matters 
twenty. 

The plan of furnishing a bountiful collation to our regiments passing through the 
city was carried out during the entire war, both in going and returning. The delicacies 



838 APPENDIX. 

of the season were often supplied them ; thus giving the weary soldier on his return 
agreeable token of gratitude for their services, and })leasant foretastes of the comforts of 
home. 

No characterization of the energy and efficiency of the New- York Agency need be add- 
ed ; for no eulogy is so eloquent as facts. 

THE AGENCY IN WASHINGTON. , 

Early in the war, the citizens of Connecticut in "Washington organized a Soldiers'- 
aid Society, — a sort of central reservoir to receive and disburse supplies to the soldiers 
from the State in the vicinity. Admiral A. II. Foote was its first president; A. II. Bying- 
ton and Cliarles E. Dailey were among the most active members. An immense amount 
of relief was famished to Connecticut soldiers who languislffid in the various hospitals. 
During the last year, the Agency was directed by Rev. W. A. Benedict, a zealous friend 
of the soldier. The Palladium said of him, " Under his administration, hundreds and 
thousands can bear witness to its value in relieving those needing its service ; and not a 
few owe their lives to the protecting and ministering spirit of this wise provision of State 
benevolence." Towards the close of the Rebellion, Mr. Benedict undertook the gratui- 
tous collection of soldiers' claims under State authority. During the first year, three 
hundred and thirteen claims were collected, involving upwards of fifty thousand dollars, 
and without a cent to the claimant; saving to the soldiers interested, at least seven 
thousand dollars, which they would have paid to the professional claim-agents. 



GEN. AIKEN'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON. 

Brig. -Gen. "William A. Aiken, quartermaster-geDeral of Connecticut, 
had a most unusual experience in the spring of 1861, in performing the jour- 
ney to Washington and back. He left Boston, Mass., tor Norwich, on the 
same day that the Massachusetts Gth left for the national capital. Every 
town and city was excited by the warlike attitude of the South. The tele- 
graph was thrilled with strange i-umors. On Friday evening, April 19, 
news reached Norwich of the bloodshed in the streets of Baltimore. Gov. 
Buckiughani desired Gen. Aiken to test the possibility of reaching Wash- 
ington with official dispatches conveying assurances of speedy relief. 

He started early on Monday the 22d, while the young men of the State 
were rising in arms. All trains beyond Philadelphia were suspended. 
On arriving there, Gen. Aiken found another gentleman at the Continental 
Hotel with the same journey in view ; and in the morning they pushed on 
together with a Pennsylvania regiment. At the Susquehanna, the regiment 
halted ; Butler having- taken the ferry-boats, with the New-York 7th, around 
to Annapolis. The air was full of stories of bridges burned and rails re- 
moved farther on. The general and his companion obtained an old flat- 
boat, and crossed to Havre de Grace, where rebel spies were plenty, and 
traitors were brawling about their anxiety to meet the " d d Yankees." 

Here, after much effort, the travelers hired a man to carry them in a 
wagou to Baltimore, persuading him by an extra pecuniary request to drive 
within the limits of the city. Geu. Aiken, in a narrative which has been 
furnished us, says, " The brilliantly illuminated streets were alive with 
people ; some in uniform, and generally wearing the rebel badge upon their 
coats. On arriving at a hotel, we retired almost immediately to our room, 
and there remained till morning. What I sa^v and heard in the crowded 
halls convinced me that no avowed Union man could be safe there for a 
moment. 

" Through the politeness of the proprietor, we were enabled to obtain 
passes (signed by Gen. Winder, and countersigned by Marshal Kane, both 
bitter rebels) permitting us to pass out of the city limits. By paying fifty 
dollars, we engaged a carriage to convey us to Washingtou ; our number 
having been increased by three. We might not have been so fortunate 
about the passes, liad it not been that the proprietor was a personal friend 
of my companion, and also a sympathizer with the distinguished officials 
wielding temporary power." 

The travelers stopped to bait horses halfway between Baltimore and 
Washington ; and this furnished an opportunity to a knot of low-bred 
traitors to insult and abuse them, and obliquely to threaten their lives. 
Gen. Aiken proceeds, " The rumor iiaving just been received that Butler 
had landed his 'Yankees' at Annapolis, that officer was made the subject 
of various invitations to ' come on,' with the hint, expressed in gentle 
Southern phrase, that he and his ' Yankees ' would be summarily sent to a 
cei'tain hot locality, the name of which they seemed to reiterate with the 
relish of a delicious foretaste. 

"We arrived at Washington' at ten, p.m., on Wednesday the 24th. 

839 



g40 APPENDIX, 

The unbroken silence of its hotels, and apparent desolation of its streets, 
brouMit vividly to mind the contrasting scenes of the evening previous. 
Half a dozen persons crowded ai'ound me in the hall to ask questions about 
the North ; and I then realized the complete isolation of the city. I has- 
tened to the headquarters of &en. Scott to deliver a dispatch. It was 
eleven o'clock at night. I found the general attended only by two mem- 
bers of his personal staff. 

" After reading the governor's paper, he rose, and said excitedly, ' Sir, 
you are the first man I have seen with a written dispatch for three days. 
I have sent out men every day to get intelligence of tlie Northern troops : 
not one of them has returned. Where are the troops?' His excited man- 
ner, and the number and rapidity of the questions that followed, impressed 
me fully with the critical nature of tlie situation. 

" I afterwards went to the house of Mr. Cameron, secretary of war, 
who at once admitted me into an audience in his bed-chamber. His inqui- 
ries were of the same nature, and conveyed a sense of great insecurity. 
The situation was indeed alarming. The District was surrounded by 
hostile territory ; the spirit of rebellion being, during these few days, as 
rampant in Maryland as in Virginia or South Carolina. A friend in the 
Treasury Department advised very strongly against my return by the same 
route, as my arrival was already marked, and the general natui-e of my 
business suspected, by the rebel spies that lurked in every street, hotel, and 
department. 

" At ten o'clock next morning, I called upon the President, and saw him 
for the first time in my life, — an interview I can never forget. No office- 
seekers were besieging the presence that day. I met no delay. Mr. Lin- 
coln was alone, seated in his business-room, up stairs, looking towards 
Arlington Heights through a wide-open window. Agai-nst the casement 
stood a very long spy-glass, or telescope, whicli he had obviously just been 
using. I gave him all the information I could from what I had seen and 
heard on my journey. 

" He seemed depressed beyond measure as he asked slowly and with 
measured emphasis, ' What h the North about? Do they know our con- 
dition?' — 'No,' I answered: ' they certainly did not when I left.' He 
spoke of the non-arrival of the troops under Gen. Butler, and of having 
had no intelligence from them for two or three days. Having delivered 
my dispatch and the governor's words of encouragement, and having en- 
joyed an interview protracted, by desire of the President, beyond ordinary 
length, I took my leave. 

"The sense of the insecurity of the capital, and of that good man's life, 
has never again come over my spirit with such weight as then. From the 
President's words and looks, 1 saw what a moment of golden opportunity 
that was to the conspirators. Only a handful of regulars, a regiment of 
volunteers, and Clay's band of brave men, — these were all the loyal forces 
at hand. Foes were without, and their descent from Arlington over Long 
Bridge was the probability of any moment. Foes were within, equally 
bitter, jostling the friends of the government on every pavement and in 
every office. Mutual confidence seemed dead, and suspici»n had usurped 
its place. 

" I have referred to the entire separation of the city from the North. 
In no one of many ways was it brought home more practically to my mind 
than in this : Tlie funds in my possession were in New- York city bank-notes, 
yet their value had suddenly departed. They were worth their weight in 



GEN. AIKEN'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON. S41 

paper, — no more. During the interview with the President, my financial 
dilemma was referred to : I remarked that I hadn't a cent, though my 
pocket was full. He instantly understood me, and kindly put me in pos- 
session of such an amount of specie as I desired. Re-imbursement was 
made on my return, Avith many thanks. 

" Proceeding to the State Department, I was informed that the expected 
troops were heard from, and would soon be in the city. A white flag on 
the Capitol would be the signal of their arrival. A few minutes afterwards, 
it was run up ; and such a stampede of humanity, loyal and rebel, as was 
witnessed at that hour towards the Baltimore depot, can be appreciated 
only by one, who, like myself, took part in it. • One glance at the gray 
jackets of the New-York 7th restored hope and confidence. On Thursday 
the 25th, I started northAvard with a small party thither bound. "We trav- 
eled on an unfrequented route, and crossed the Pennsylvania line, south-east 
of Gettysburcr, once more in the region of telegraphs, railroads, and loyalty. 
Only on the Capitol, at Washington, had I seen the stars and stripes since 
entering Maryland. 

"■ The successful accomplishment of my journey Avas to me a matter of 
more than ordinary satisfaction ; fori believe there has been no hour since, 
Avhen messages of sympathy, encouragement, and aid from the loyal gOA-- 
ernor of a loyal State Avere more ti'uly needed, or more efiective in the mind 
of our late President, than those I had the honor to deliver." 

106 



CONNECTICUT IN THE NAVY. 

Hon. Isaac Toucey of Hartford was Secretary of the Navy during the Presidential term of 
James Buchanan. On the 9th of January, 1861, a committee of the House of Representatives 
was i-aised to examine into the location and condition of the vessels of the navy. All the rep- 
resentatives from Connecticut voted for the committee. 

On the 21st of February, Mr. Dawes of Blassachusetts, for a majority of the committee, 
reported that the entire naval force available for the defense of the whole Atlantic coast, on 
the 9th of January, consisted of the steamer Brooklyn, twenty-five guns, and the storeship Relief, 
two guns, while the former was of-too great draught to enter Charleston Harbor with safety, except 
at spring-tides, and the latter was under orders to the coast of Africa ; that the vessels which 
might have been available for protection or defense had been retained at or ordered to distant 
stations ; that on the 13th of October, " after these unhappy difficulties had broken out at 
home," the Richmond sailed for the Blcditerranean, and, even as late as the 21st of December, 
the Vandalia left to join the East-India squadron, the Saratoga to join the African squadron, and 
others to join the Home squadron at Vera Cruz ; that not one of the twenty-eight vessels dis- 
mantled in our own ports had been refitted, and this, too, " while $646,639.74 of the appropriation 
for repairs for the present year remained unexpended." 

The committee declared that the Secretary could at any time, with the existing naval force, 
and without impairing the efficiency of the foreign service, have stationed at anchor, within 
reach of his own orders, a force equal to the protection of all tlic property and all the rights of 
the government and the citizen, as well as the flag of the countrj', from any outrage or insult at 
any point on the entire Atlantic seaboard. The committee said, " The failure to do this is 
without justification or excuse." 

Concerning resignations in the na?vy, they further said, that, since the election, twenty-nine 
resignations had been tendered to the Secretary by officers of the Southern States, and " forth- 
with, and without inquiry, accepted by him;" that E. Farrand, executive officer of the Navy 
Yard at Pensacola, met the rebel assailants at the gates of the yard, by previous understanding, 
admitted them, " participated in the formal capitulation, and immediately engaged in service 
under the new commandant of the yard" (and this while he still held his commission as a 
commander in the United-States navy); that his resignation did not reach the Deparlment until 
the 21st of January, seven days after official notice of the surrender had been received at the De- 
partment, and yet it was " immediately and without inquiry accepted." After citing similar 
cases, the committee proceed to say, " The conduct of these officers plainly comes within the 
constitutional definition of treason against the United States; . . . and, so long as their resignations 
were unaccepted by the Secretary, they could be tried and punished by a court-martial as 
traitors. From this they have been relieved by the Secretary Jiimself. The committee are 
compelled to condemn such a failure in the discharge of public duty; and they therefore 
recommend the adoption of the following resolution : — 

"Uesolved, That the Secretary of the Navy, in accepting without delay or inquiry the resignations 
of officers of the navy wlio were in arms against the government when tendering the same, and 
of those who sought to resign that they might be relieved from the restraint imposed by their 
commissions upon engaging in liostilities against the constituted authorities of tlie nation, liaa 
committed a grave error, liighly prejudicial to the discipline of the service, and injurious to the 
honor and efficiency of the navy; for which he deserves the censure of this House." 

Llr. Toucey was further called upon to bear the infliction of a minority report from Mr. 
Branch of North Carolina. This congressman, soon an avowed rebel, .sneeringly informed the 
House, that " the navy seems to have been adequate for all the demands made upon it by the 
wise and peace-preserving policy of President Buchanan. If the President who goes into office 
on the 4th of March desires to engage in civil war, he will have an ample naval force with 
which to liegin even so early as the 5th of March ; and there will probably be abundant time 
for increasing it before the war closes." 

Mr. Branch displayed so much more anxiety to aid treason than to defend the Secretary, that 
his report served only to confirm the conclusions of the Majority Report. On the second day of 
Mai-ch, the resolution of censure was passed by ninety-five yeas to sixty-two nays.^ Of the 
Connecticut members, Mr. Woodruff voted yea, Messrs. Loomis and Burnham were absent, or did 
not vote. Mr. Ferry, rising, said, " Mr. Speaker, believing a vote. of censure to be a judicial in- 



1 This was a party-vote, — Isaac N. Morris, Democrat, voting in the affirmative ; and Ferry and 
Kilgore, Uepublicau, in the negative. 

842 



CONNECTICUT IN THE NAVY. 843 

fliction of punishment, and none of the evidence on which the resolution is based having ever 
been presented or even read in this House, so that no proof is afforded me to justify such 
punishment, I vote /io." 

Looking back cahiily from this distance upon all the facts of the case, it is no more evident 
that Mr. Branch's report was made from the standpoint of the maturing Rebellion than that 
there were some grave errors of fact, and some of inference. In the report of the majority. 
Documents presented in justification of the Secretary show that the active home squadron, 
which consisted of three vessels only in 1857, instead of having been reduced to two, had really 
been increased to thirteen steam and sail vessels of one hundred and eighty-six guns ; and though, 
according to the majority report, but two were in Northern ports on the 9th of January, all were on 
our coast by the 1st of JMarcli, 1861. Besides these, there were in our navy-yards thirteen brigs, 
sloops of war, and steofli frigates, with an armament of three hundred and sixty-eight guns more 
" that could put to sea before the bombardment of Fort Sumter." There is also evidence that 
the East-India, Brazil, and Mediterranean squadrons, instead of being largely increased, had been 
materially reduced. In every annual report during his term, Mr. Toucey had earnestly urged 
the construction of twenty light-draught war-steamers, " capable of entering the shallow harbors 
of the Southern States; " but Congress had failed to act upon his recommendation. It further 
appears that the naval appropriation for the year 1860-61 had been reduced $1,000,000; that, 
of $1,523,000, only $046,639 remained on the 1st of January to meet the expenditures of the 
last half of the fiscal year, a part of which belonged to the succeeding administration ; that 
not a ship had been sent to a foreign station since the Presidential election," while some had 
been quietly recalled. 

In regard to resignations : while it is alleged that none were accepted after oflScial notice had 
been received that the officers tendering them had committed the overt act of treason, it is not 
denied that the Department willingly accepted the resignations of naval officers who were known 
or believed to offer them for the very purpose of " going with their States " out of the Union. 
Mr. Toucey not only acknowledged this; but he has pointed with some pride to the fact that 
" such had been the course of the Department in promptly removing all seeds of disaffection, 
that the secession of eleven States from the Union lost not a single vessel to the service."^ 

In thus following the ordinary usage of the Department, Mr. Toucey was interpreting the 
policy of Mr. Buchanan to do nothing that could " exasperate " the South. They agreed that 
the North was the aggressor, and that it ought, therefore, to make the concessions. It does 
not appear that Mr. Toucey conspired with traitors, or in any way actively aided the Rebellion; 
but, whatever of censure the administration of President Buchanan incurs for inertness, Mr. 
Toucey, managing the navy only with a view to peace, must share. 



If Mr. Toucey did not show an intuitive perception of the national peril, lie was succeeded 
by a man who saw it, and resolved to meet it. When Mr. Lincoln became President, in 1861, 
he gave the navy portfolio to Hon. Gideon Welles, also of Hartford.* Mr. Welles was called 
upon to accomplish a triple task, more arduous, it is believed, than was ever before demanded 
of the maritime power of any government. This was, 1st, The closing of all insurgent ports 
and the capture of blockade-runners along nearly three thousand miles of coast ; 2d, The or- 
ganization of combined naval and military expeditions to recapture the Southern ports and 
cities ; 3d, The pursuit and destruction of Confederate cruisers. 

The first work was the creation of a navy. In March, 1861, the total naval force of the 
United States, including tenders and store-ships, was forty-two vessels, carrying five hundred 
and fifty-five guns, and having a complement of seven thousand six hundred men. The emer- 
gency demanded an enormous increase without unnecessary delay. Many of the most formi- 
dable vessels on foi-eign stations were immediately recalled ; those at the navy-yards were repaired 
and refitted; gunboats of a new and powerful class were ordered to be built ; and merchant- 
vessels suitable for naval purposes were purchased. The public navy-yards and private 
ship-yards of the country were soon echoing with the sound of hammer and saw ; and the best 
talent and genius were brought into prompt requisition. So rapidly was the great work 
pushed, that by December, 1861 (in less than nine months). Secretary Welles reported, that 
more than two hundred vessels were in commission, and sixty-four were on the stocks, carrying 
an aggregate of 2,557 guns. Not less than twenty-two thousand seamen were employed. 



2 Excepting the two named in the Dawes report, ordered abroad as substitutes for vessels of 
the same class on the way home. 

3 IMr. Toucey to IIou. John Sherman of Ohio, 1800. 

* It is a notable fact tliat Mallory of Floiida, chief of the Confederate navy, was a native of 
Ridgefield in this State. This is not, perhaps, a circumstance to be proclaimed with great pride 
especially as Pollard, in his Southern History, says he " was the butt of every uaval oSicer in the 
country for liis ignorance." 



844 



APPENDIX. 



The report of the Secretary for December, 1864, — four months prior to the cbse of 
hostilities, — gives tlie following general exhibit of the naval force including vessels under 
construction: — 



No. of 
vessels. 



113 

52 

ri 

149 
174 
112 



671 



DESCRIPTION. 



Screw-steamers especially constructed for naval purposes . . . 
Paddle-wheel steamers especially constructed for naval purposes 

Iron-clad vessels 

Screw-steamers purchased, captured, &c., fitted for naval purposes 
Paddle-wheel steamers " " " " " " " ' 
Sailing vessels of all classes 

Total 



No. of 


No. of 


guns. 


tons. 


1,426 


169,231 


. 524 


51,875 


275 


80,596 


614 


60,380 


921 


78.702 


850 


69,549 


4.610 


510,396 



There were seven thousand six hundred men in the naval service at the beginning of the 
war, and fifty-one thousand five hundred at its close. . 

Secretary Welles was called " too slow " by all the impetuous warriors who saw, or thought 
they saw, how they could harness lightning to the war-cliariots ; and in that respect he was no 
more fortunate than President Lincoln, Secretary Stanton, or Gen. Grant. Yet there was in 
the Administration hardly an officer who understood better how to " make haste slowly." He 
was almost the first man who had confidence in the iron-clads; and at the opening of the ses- 
sion Oi Congress in December, 1861, he recommended an appropriation of twelve million 
dollars for their construction. He also ordered the tremendous 15-inch guns which were found 
so formidable on the mointors. 

'J"he achievements of the navy in capturing forts and cities are well known. The total 
nimiber of hostile vessels captured and destroyed ^ during the Rebellion were 1,504, or two and 
a half for every Union vessel in commission! Of the captured there were steamers, 210; 
schooners, 569; sloops, 139; ships, 13; brigs, 29; barks, 25; yachts, &c., 139; rebel rams, 6; 
other iron-clads, 10. The rest were burned, sunk, and otherwise destroyed. The captured 
property sold for more than $25,000,000. 

Connecticut has always been more fully represented in the navy than any other State of 
her population; owing, perhaps, to tlie comparative extent of her seaboard. The number 
of her citizens who served in the navy during the Rebellion is not known with accuracy; 
but it may be approximately estimated on the basis of the fact that more than three hundred 
held commissions. Among these, besides Rear-Admiral Foote, were Rear-Admiral Francis 
H. Gregory, who had seen fifty years of service; Com. John Rodgers, forty years of service; 
Com. R. B. Hitchcock, forty years; Com. J. B. Hull, fifty-one years; Com. Joseph Lanman, 
forty years; Com. C. R. P. Rodgers, thirty-one years; Capt. Stephen Champlln, fifty-two 
years; Capt. James Glynn, forty-nine years; Capt. D. S. Edwards, forty-six years; Capt. 
Charles Green, thirty-eight years; Capt. Klisha Peck, fort^y-seven years. The rank of rear- 
admiral is equivalent to that of major-general, that of commodore to that of brigadier-general, 
that of captain in the navy to that ofcolonel. 

The Rodgers family of New London has been most remarkable for its naval record. The 
paternal grandfather was Col. Rodgers, who commanded the famous JLaryland line during the 
Revolution, and was frequently mentioned, in Washing'ion's dispatches, for gallantry. His 
eldest son was Com. John Rodgers, who fired the first gun in the War of 1812, and was 
long the senior officer of our infant navy. Another son was Com. George W. Rodgers, 
who, for special gallantry during the War of 1812, received a sword of honor. from his native 
State, and a medal and vote of thanks from Congress. Com. John Rodgers had two 
sons; one of whom, John Rodgers, also became commodore, and led the attack on Port Royal 
and Fort Sumter during the Rebellion; and another. Col. Robert Rodgers, served through the 
late war, and was twice wounded at the head of the 3d JIaryland Infantry. Two other 
grandsons of Com. John Rodgers were Capt. Raymond Rodgers, who was fleet-captain 
during Dupont's attack on Charleston, and Capt. George W. Rodgers, who was killed while 
commanding the monitor Catskill in the attack on Fort Wagner. In the family are also 
Lieut,-Commanding Frederick Rodgers, Master's Mate Joseph Rodgers, and Midshipman R. 
P. Rodgers; and Lieut. Alexander P. Rodgers, who fell in the forlorn hope at the storming of 
Chapultepec, was a nephew of Col. Robert Rodgers. One of tlie three illustrious Com. 
Perrys married into the family; and there is probably not another name in America that will 
compare with that of Perry or Rodgers for the fame won on laud and sea in defense of the 
Republic. 

* In the renowned fiftlit of the Kearsarge with the Alabama, our State was represented by 
Ebcn M. Stoddard of Ledyard, who was acting master of tlie Kearsarge at the time of the battle. 



TOWN EXPENSES FOR WAR-PURPOSES. 



The followiug table gives the expenditures of the various towns in 
Connecticut for volunteers, substitutes, and the support of families. It 
includes no voluntary contribution for the relief of the soldiers in field 
and hospital : — 

NEW-HAVEN COUNTY. 





Expenditure of 
Towns for IJoun- 


Estimated Am't 


Estimated Am't 




TOWNS. 


ties, Premiums, 

Commutation, 

and Support of 

Families. 


paid by Individ- 
uals for Bounties 

to Volunteers 
and Substitutes. 


paid bj' Individ- 
uals ^for Commu- 
'tation. 


Grand List, 
1801. 


New Haven . . 


$308,027.48 


$20,000.00 


$10,000 


$29,681,409 


Bran ford . . . 


27,180.78 


14.300.00 


none. 


1,075,441 


Bethany 


5,000.00 


1,800.00 




626,252 


Cheshire . . . 


8,275.00 


5,000.00 


2,100 


1,228,439 


Derby .... 


37,955.00 


27,300.00 


4,500 


3,027,655 


East Haven . . 


24.319.27 


4,500.00 




1,514,488 


Guilford . . . 


12,591.00 


8,250.00 


900 


1,511,199 


Hamden . . 


29,098.00 


9,543.00 




1,409,091 


Madison 


1G,800.00 


11,200.00 


600 


836,496 


Meriden . . . 


91,371.33 


10,715.53 




4,300,981 


Middlebury . . 


5,020.00 


1,975.00 


1,200 


365,123 


Milford . . . 


4G,G99.09 


5.028.00 




1,001,448 


Naugatuck . . 


42,382.50 


1,100.00 


5.210 


1,130,904 


North Branford . 


15,402.50 


4,800.00 


1,800 


533,867 


North Haven . 


10,404.34 


3,956.50 


2,100 


695,477 


Orange .... 


12,536.05 


15-,003.00 


800 


994,122 


Oxford. . . . 


15.250.00 


2,975.00 




626,107 


Prospect . . . 


3,753.47 


1,450.00 




210,400 


Seymour . 


17,800.00 


3,150.00 


3,000 


826,748 


Southbury . . . 


20,050.06 


* 




860,709 


Wallingford . . 


40,752.00 


6,200.00 


300 


1,796,416 


Waterbury . . 


133,525.00 


17,500.00 


600 


6,257,000 


Woodbridge . . 


8.700.00 


3,545.02 




602,803 


Wolcott . . . 


* 


2,175.00 




296,691 




932,892.87 


181,466.03 


33,110 


61,410,083 



HARTFORD COUNTY. 



Hartford . . . 


8269,646.86 






$35,403,478 


Avon . . 






15,094-17 


$1,975.00 


$1,800 


546,454 


Berlin . . 






35,880.66 


4,825.00 


none. 


1,078,882 


Bloomfield 






39,235.00 


1,000.00 




833,529 


Bristol . . 






55,534.99 


13,551.98 


2,100 


1,765,942 


Burliuirton 






20,250.00 


2,000.00 


3,600 


456,487 


Canton . . 






36,644.63 


4,700.00 


3,500 


1,224,792 


East Granby 






13,295.00 


1,800.00 


1,170 


495,888 


East Hartford 






58,209.46 


24,800.00 


550 


1,464,822 



* Not ascertained. 



845 



846 



APPENDIX. 



HARTFORD COUNTY. — Continued. 





Expenditure of 
Tcfwns for Boun- 


Estimated Am't 
paid hy Individ- 
uals for liounties 

to Volunteers 
and Substitutes. 


Estimated Am't 




TOWNS. 


ties, Prrmiums, 

Commutation, 

and Jiupport of 

Families. 


paid by Individ- 
uals for Commu- 
tation. 


Grand List, 

1801. 


East Windsor 


$45,730.04 


$3,000.00 




$1,214,300 


Enfield .... 


66,314.00 


4,450.00 




2,669,099 


Farmington . . 


89.975.98 


9.000.00 


$6,000 


2,162,570 


Glastenbury . . 


45,947.00 


5,950.00 




1,422,656 


Granby 


16,700.00 


3,316.00 


2,000 


609,726 


Hartland . . • . 


12,492.25 


1,300.00 


2,100 


356,847 


Manchester 


47.212.70 


8,000.00 




1,632,047 


Marlborough . 


6,674.00 


350.00 




305,482 


New Britain . . 


45,628.45 


35,000.00 


14,400 


2,608,418 


Rocky Hill . . 


20,605.00 


130.00 


7,000 


471,038 


Simsbury . 


14,575.00 


2,500.00 


3,600 


1,257,503 


Southington . 


35,695.00 


12,250.00 




1,564,150 


South Windsor . 


25,800.00 


10,000.00 




1,211,873 


Suffield . . . 


74,224.02 


* 




1.720,255 


West Hartford . 


36,981.50 


* 




1,388,857 


Wethersfield . 


38,975.50 


5,401.00 


1,200 


■ 1,726,711 


Windsor . . , 


34,700.00 


5,225.00 




1.421,333 


AVindsor Locks . 


15,944.98 


2,630.00 




612,990 




1,217,966.19 


163,153.98 


49,020 


67,626,129 



TOLLAND COUNTY, 



Tolland . . . 


$16,800.00 


• $4,400.00 


$1,600 


$527,969 


Andover 








5,887.00 


780.00 




279,758 


Bolton . 








5,132.00 


210.00 




300,088 


Coventry 








35,834.93 


1,200.00 


1,500 


912,872 


Columbia 








9,961.00 


1,100.00 




352,161 


Ellington 








29,579.00 


2,250.00 


300 


813,499 


Hebron 








10,200.00 


500.00 


nothing. 


638,197 


Mansfield 








26,273.27 


5.000.00 


3,000 


800,635 


Somers 








19,218.19 


1,950.00 




795,197 


Stafford 








50,540.67 


6,000.00 




1,308,280 


Union . 








8,467.00 


* 




308,008 


Vernon . 








46,958.22 


15,000.00 




2.050.246 


Willington 






7,875.00 


3,700.00 


2,700 


419,664 




272,926.28 


42,090.00 


9,100 


9,506,574 



NEW-LONDON COUNTY. 



New London . . 


$46,000.00 


$18,500.00 


$12,000 


$5,448,112 


Norwich . . . 


163,170.68 


19,600.00 


5,700 


10,494,035 


Bozrah .... 


11,678.12 


1,000.00 


1,200 


526,421 


Colchester . . . 


33,902.93 


6,900.00 


300 


1,545,622 


East Lyme . . 


35,000.00 


3,000.00 


2,600 


487,873 



* Not ascertained. 



TOWX EXPENSES FOE WAR-PUr.POSES. 



847 



NEW-LONDON COUNTY. — Continued. 



TOWNS. 



Franklin . 
Griswold . 
Gi'oton . 
Lebanon . 
Ledyard 
Lisbon . 
Lyme . 
Montville . 
North Stonin: 
Old Lyme. 
Preston 
Salem . 
Sprague 
Stonington 
Waterford . 



ton 



Expenditure of 
Towns for Uoun- 
ties, Premiums, 
Commutation, 
and Support of 
Families. 



$9,755.00 
33,254.89 
79,43G.S9 
24.600.00 
20,711.48 
12,521.00 
28,017.17 
27,308.14 
27,980,10 
10,913.36 
40,805.27 
15,600.00 
10,411.65 
61,656.00 
31,285.00 



730,067.65 



Estimated Am't 
paid by Individ- 
uals for lionnties 

to Volunteers 
and Substitutes. 



$900.00 

3,000.00 

22.000.00 

14.300.00 

8,325.00 

600.00 

5,090.00 

2,630.00 

5,250.00 

10,325.00 

9,283.12 

600.00 

* 

00,000.00 
1,250.00 



192,553.12 



Estimated Am't 
paid by Individ- 
uals for Commu- 
tation. 



$600 
900 

600 
1,800 



3,000 
4,200 

900 
1,200 

900 



35,900 



Grand List, 

iS(J4. 



$468,488 

1,147,000 

2,549,000 

1,146,573 

603,111 

317.173 

407,599 

1,131,370 

888,600 

545,258 

856,342 

374,810 

1,156,290 

4,963,589 

932,816 



35,990,142 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Middletown . . 


$116,777.87 


$85,250.00 


$9,300 


$5,148,779 


Haddam . . . 


14,715.00 


7,800.00 


• 3,150 


868,416 


Chatham . 


28,000.00 


3,516.73 




890,387 


Cliester . . . 


10,070.00 


800.00 


600 


374,783 


Clinton . . . 


3,725.00 


4,400.00 


2,400 


615,537 


Cromwell . . . 


20,110.00 


2,000.00 




568,352 


Durham 


13,090.00 


3.790.00 


850 


492,351 


East Haddam 


41,537.84 


10,700.00 




1,259,306 


Essex .... 


8,550.00 


8.900.00 


3,300 


945,769 


Killingworth . . 


7,550.00 


14,105.00 




346,277 


Old Saybrook 


2,500.00 


4,075.00 


3,900 


607,990 


Portland . 


21,980.00 


12.930.00 




1.811,504 


Saybrook . . . 


8,670.00 


4,500.00 


2,100 


548,410 


Westbrook . . 


7,910.00 


300.00 


1,900 


557,267 




305,785.71 


163,066.73 


27,500 


15,035,188 









WINDHAM 


: COUNTY. 






Brooklyn . . . 


$18,329.57 


$5,100.00 




$4,200 


$1,037,923 


Ash ford 






10,859.00 


4,502.00 




600 


509,990 


Canterbury 






7,831.00 


1,635.00 






697,571 


Chaplin 






6,873.75 


1,075.00 




1,260 


300,560 


Eastford . 






7,831.80 


* 






309,806 


Hampton . 






6,179.85 


3,092.00 




900 


429,223 


Killingly . 






24,050.00 


* 






1,677,761 



* Not ascertained. 



848 



APPENDIX. 



WINDHAM COUNTY. - Continued. 



TOWNS. 




Estimated Am't 
paid by Individ- 
uals lor Commu- 
tation. 


Grand List, 

1804. 


Plainfield . 
Pomfret 
Putnam 
Scotland . 
Sterling 
Thompson . 
Vohmtown 
Windham . 
Woodstock 






$22,282.85 $12,200.00 
23,559.00 6,000.00 
19,952.971 4,450.00 
6,400.00 1,850.00 
15,180.00' 246.00 
16.996.00 16,000.00 
10,860.00 4,500.00 
30,750.00 12,600.00 
53,814.91 2,244.00 


$7,200 

3,900 

4,500 

300 

2,500 

1,200 

5,000 

900 


$1,630,024 

1,037,774 

1,172,619 

392,175 

375,295 
1,679,754 

295,958 
2,164,083 
1,335,753 








281,750.70 75,494.00 


32,460 ! 15,046,269 



FAIRFIELD COUNTY. 



Litchfield . 
Barkhamsted 
Bethlem 
Brida;ewater 



.$31,540.00; 

26,678.00 

11,697.49 

5,100.001 



$800.00 

9,225.00 

6,750.00 

22,650.001 



$500 
5,350 



Bridgeport . . 


$165,717,08 


$12,000.00 


$23,000 


$7,996,434 


Danbury . 






134,816.00 


19,750.00 


none. 


4,140,217 


Bethel . . 






18,839.00 


9,150.00 


500 


671,826 


Brookfield . , 






15.950.00 


3,000.00 


2,100 


691.388 


Darien . 






18,660.86 


2,300.00 


125 


1,176,171 


Easton . . 






25,254.92 


3,000.00 




635,643 


Fairfield . 






75,797.40 


unknown. 


none. 


3,424,534 


Greenwich 






65,531.94 


1,215.00 


5,400 


3,219,783 


Huntington 






* 


2.210.00 


2,400 


728,000 


Monroe . . 






15,914.95 


900.00 


25 


646,771 


New Canaan 






15,399.71 


10,945.00 


3,600 


1,188.677 


New Fairfield 






16,910.00 


3,625.00 


3.300 


470,066 


Newtown . 






44,800.00 


18,000.00 


12,900 


1,863,965 


Norwalk . 






73,967.91 


7,971.00 


900 


4,676,978 


Redding . 






* 


3,000.00 




1,200,907 


Ridgefield . 






45,684.63 


* 




1,224,898 


Stamford . 






37,486.75 


18,750.00 


18,000 


4,905,256 


Sherman . 






24.900.00 


450.00 




427,672 


Stratford . 






3,600.00 


5.524.00 


8,400 


1,684,417 


Trumbull . 






25,900.00 


50.00 




734,611 


Weston 






10,000.00 


# 




513,514 


Yfestport . 






41,595.06 


1,000.00 


1,800 


2,406,243 


AViltou . . 






26,550.58 


1,100.00 




796,741 




903.276.79 


123,940.00 


82,450 


45,424,762 


LITCHFI 


ELD COUN 


TY. 





$1,634,480 
541.210 

526,060 
549,765 



* Not asccrtaiued. 



TOWN EXPENSES FOE WAR-PUEPOSES. 



849 



LITCHFIELD COUNTY. — Continued. 





Expenditure of 
Towns lor Boun- 


1 Estimated Am't 
paid by Individ- 
uals for Bounties 

to Volunteers 
and Substitutes. 


Estimated Am't 




TOWNS. 


ties, Premiums, 

Commutation, 

and Support of 

Families. 


paid by Individ- 
uals for Commu- 
tation. 


Grand List, 
1864. 


Canaan . . . 


$14,000.00 


§5,400.00 


$1,750 


8761,342 


Colebrook . 






* 


3,000.00 




617,216 


Cornwall . 






22,522.80 


5.231.00 




821,246 


Goshen 






* 


fl 7,643.00 


none. 


914.879 


Harwiuton 






10,773.52 


4,4,S7.82 




590,141 


Kent . . 






20,100.00 


3,750.00 




643,539 


Morris . . 






4,137.25 


5,500.00 


300 


407,826 


New Hart fort 






31,590.78 


7,900.00 




1,011,917 


Xew Millbrd 






57,790.00 


8,000.00 


500 


2,017,306 


Norfolk . 






6,315.00 


1,700.00 




926,931 


North Canaai 






35,262.00 


* • 




908,342 


Plymouth . 






38.517.40 


15.300.00 


none. 


1,835,726 


Roxbury . 






1,305.00 


15,150.09 


600 


497,248 


Salisbury . 






42,000.00 


5,500.00 


3,600 


2,066,626 


Sharon . . 






26,410.88 


6.900.00 


10,500 


1,481,741 


Torrington 






27,000.00 


15,000.00 




1,150,256 


Warren 






6.300.00 


6,375.00 




357,101 


Washington 






19.440.00 


1.533.00 




1,031,594 


Watertown 






27,815.97 


10,695.00 




1,402,481 


Winchester 






53,849.89 


3,791.12 




2,161,542 


Woodbuiy 






25,065.63 


11,718.00 


300 


1,200,795 




551,211.61 


192,998.94 


23,400 


26,047,310 


* Not ascertained. t 

su 


In notes to indi\ 

MMARY. 


iduals from the to 


wn. 


COUNTIES. 


Total War Ex- 
penses of 
Counties, | 


Estimated Am't 
p:iid by Individ- 
uals for Bounties 

to Volunteers 
and Substitutes. 


Estim.atcd Am't 
paid by Individ- 
uals for Commu- 
tation. 


Grand List, 
1804. 


New-Haven . . 


8932.892.87, 


6181,466.03 


$33,110 


661,410,083 


Hartford . 






1,217,966.19; 


163,153.98 


49,020 


07,626,129 


Tolland . . 






272,926.28; 


42,090.00 


9,100 


9,506.574 


New-London . 






730,067.65 


192,553.12 


35.900 ■ 


35,990,142 


Middlesex . . 






305,785.71 


163,066.73 


27,500 


15.035.188 


Windham . 






281,750.70 


75,494.00 


32,400 


15,046,269 


Fairfield . . 






903,276.79 


123,940.00 


82,450 


45,424,702 


Litchfield . . 






551,211.61 


192,998.94 


23,400 


26,047,310 








5,195,877.80 


1,134,762.80 


292,940 


276,086,457 



THE GENERALS OF CONNECTICUT. 

The following is a list of natives or citizens of Connecticut, or officers 
of Connecticut regiments, -who became general officers during the war.^ 
The town of which the name is appended is either birthplace or residence. 
Where two towns are named, the first indicates the birthplace ; the second, 
subsequent residence. Where a brevet is mentioned, the officer held the 
full rank next below, except where otherwise mentioned : — 



Abbot, Henry L., 

Beniiam, IIexry W., 
BiuGE, IIenuy W., 
Bradley, Luther P., 
Blakeslee, Erastus, 



Col. and Bvt. Major-Gen. 

41 

Major-General ; 
Bvt. Major-General ; 
Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 



Carkington, Henry B., Brigadier-General. 



Clark, Wm. T., 
Coucii, Darius N., 

Ely, William G., 
Ellis, Theodore G., 

Ferry, Orris S., 

Goodyear, E. D. S., 
Greeley, Edwin 8., 

Harland, Edward, 
Hawley, Joseph R., 
Hubbard, James, 

Ives, Brayton, 
* 
JuDAH, Henry M., 

Ketchum, Wm. S., 

Lyon, Nathaniel, 
Lee, Edward M., 
LooMis, Gustavus, 
LooMis, John, 



Brigadier-General ; 
Major-General ; 

Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 

Brigadier-General ; 



Meriden. 
Norwich. 
New Haven. 
Plym'th, N. Haven. 

Norwalk. 
Danb'ry, N. Haven. 

Norwich. 
Hartford. 

Bethel, Norwalk. 



Lt.-Col. & Bvt. Brig.-Gen. ; North Haven. 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; New Haven. 



Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Major-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 

Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 

Briga.dier-General ; 

Brigadier-General. 

Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 



Norwich. 
Hartford. 
Salisbury. 

New Haven. 

Westport. 



Eastford. 
Guilford. 
Stratford. 
Windsor. 



1 Other eminent generals were sous or grandsons of Connecticut men ; as Grant, Sherman, 
McCIellan, Pope, and Wadsworth. 

850 



THE GENERALS OF CONNECTICUT. 



851 



Mansfield, Jos. K. F., Major-General ; Middletown. 

Mower, Joseph A., Major-General ; New London. 

Mackenzie, Ranold S., Brigadier-General (Second Artillery). 



Newton, 
Noble, Wm. H., 

Otis, John L., 

Perkins, Joseph G., 
PlERSON, Wm. S., 



Major-General. 

Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 

Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 

Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 



Bridgeport. 

Manchester. 

New London. 
Windsor. 



Ripley, James "W., Brigadier-General. 

Roberts, Benjamin S., Brigadier-General ; New Haven, 

Rockwell, Alfred P., Bvt. Brigrfdier-General ; Norwich. 

Ross, Samuel, Bvt. Brigadier-General (Twentieth). 



Sedgwick, John, 
Seyjiour, Truman, 
Stedman, Griffin A., 
Steinwehr, a. Von, 
Shaler, Alexander, 

Terry, Alfred IL, 
Tyler, Daniel, 
Terry, H. D., 
Totten, Joseph G., 
Toutellotte, John E., 
Tyler, Robert O., 

Wessells, Henry AV., 
Wright, Horatio G., 
Williams, A. S., 
Whitaker, Edwd. W., 



Major-General ; 
Brigadiei'-General. 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 
Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Major-General. 

Major-General ; 
Brigadier-General ; 
Brigadier-General. 
Bvt. Major-General ; 
Bvt. Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt. Major-General ; 

Bvt. Major-General ; 

Major-General ; 
Bvt. Major-General. 
Lt.-Col. & Bvt. Bri;j.-Gen. 



Cornwall. 

Hartford. 
Wallingford. 



New Haven. 
Norwich. 

New London. 

Thompson. 

Hartford. 

Litchfield. 
Orange, Clinton. 

Ashford. 



Whittlesey, Henry M., Bvt. Brigadier-General. 



Ward, Henry C, 



Bvt. Brigadier-General (Thirtieth). 



The service of a majority of these has already b^en referred to at some 
length, either in detached sketches, or in connection with their regiments. 



ORGANIZATIONS AND CASUALTIES. 

List of organizations from tliis State which have been in United-States 
service during the war, showing date of entry into, and discharge from 
service : — 



ORGANIZATION. 



DATE OF MUSTEE-IN. 



DATE OF MUSTER-OUT, 



TERM OF SERVICE. 



1st Cavalry, 

1st Squadron, 

1st Heavy Artillery, 

2d 

1st Light Battery, 

2d 

3d Independent Battery, 

1st Infantry, 

2d " 

3d " 

4th " 

5th " 

6th " 

rth " 

8th " 

9th " 

10th » 

11th " 

12th " 

13th " 

14th " 

15th " 

16th " 

17th " 

18th " 

19th " 

20th " 

21st " 

22d " 

23d " 

24 th " 

25th " 

26th " 

27th " 

28th " 

29th " 

30th " 



October 26, 1861 
August 13, 1861 
Mav 23, 1861 

September 11, 1862 
October 26, 1861 
September 10, 1862 
September — , 1864 
April 23, 1861 

May 7, 1S61 

May 14, 1861 

Changed to 1st 
July 23, 1861 

September 13, 1801 
September 17, 1861 
October 5, 1861 
November 1, 1861 
October 26, 1861 
November 27, 1861 
December 31, 1861 
February 18, 1862 
August 23, 1862 
August 26, 1862 
August 24, 1862 

August 29, isae 

August 22, 1862, 
Changed to 
September 8, 1862 
September 5, 1862 
September 20, 1862 
November 14, 1862 
November 18, 1862 
November 11, 1862 
November 10, 1862 
October 22, 1862 
November 15, 1862 
March 8, 1864 

March — , 1864 



August 2, 1865, 
June 23, 1865, 

September 25, 1S65, 
August 18, 1865, 
June 11, 1865, 

August 9, 1865, 

June 23, 1865, 

July 31, 1861, 

August 7, 1861, 

August 12, 1861, 
Heavy Artillery 
July 19, 1865, 

August 21, 1865, 
July 20, 1865, 

December 12, 1865, 
August 3, 1865, 

August • 25, 1665, 
December 21, 1865, 
August 12, 1865, 
April 25, 1866, 

May 31, 1865, 

June 27, 1865, 

June 24, 1865, 

July 19, 1865, 

June 27, 1865, 

2d Heavy Artillery. 
June 13, 1865, 

June 16, 1865, 

July 7, 1863, 

August 31, 1863, 
September 30, 1863, 
August 26. 1863, 
August 27, 1863, 
July 27, 1863, 

August 28, 1863, 
October 24, 1865, 
November 7, 1865, 



3 years, 9 months. 

3 years, 10 months. 

4 years, 4 months. 

2 years, 11 months. 

3 years, 8 months. 
2 years, 11 months. 

9 months. 
3 months. 
3 months. 
3 months. 



4 years. 
3 years 

3 years, 

4 years 
3 years 

3 years 

4 years, 

3 years 

4 years 
2 years 
2 years 
2 years 
2 years 
2 years 

2 years 
2 years 



1 year, 
1 year. 



11 months. 
10 months. 

2 months. 
9 montlis. 

10 months. 
1 month. 

8 months. 

3 months. 

9 months. 
10 months. 

10 months. 

11 months. 
10 months. 

9 months. 

9 months. 
10 months. 

9 months. 
10 montlis. 

9 months. 

9 months. 

9 montlis. 

9 months. 

8 months. 

8 months. 



Statement of casuaUies to the Connecticut Vokmteer force during the 
war : — 



KIND OF CASUALTY. 



OFFICERS. MEN 



Killed in action 

Died from wounds 

Died from disease 

Missing 

Honorably discharged prior to muster-out of organization 

Discharged for disability 

Dishonorably discharged 

Cashiered 

Resigned . 

Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps .... 

Executed 

Deserted 

Drowned 

Taken out by civil authority 

Dropped from rolls .... .... 

852 



97 


1,094 


48 


663 


63 


3,246 


21 


389 


385 


5,451 


51 


4,361 


51 


49 


9 




481 




16 


1,488 




27 


2 


6,281 


1 


35 




19 


7 


56 



ROLL OF HONOR OF THE CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER 

TROOPS. 

Abbreviations. — Z>., died in the service; ft"., killed in battle^ P., died in prison; IT., died 
of wounds received in battle; A., accidental deatlis. No account is taken of those returned aB 
" missing " and " supposed killed." 



First Reyiment In/antn/. 

None. 
Second Regiment Infantry. 
Burton James M., D. 
Fritz James, K. 
Stokes Joseph, D. 

Third Regiment Infantry. 
Case David C, K. 
Howard Richard, A. 
Leroy Jeremiah 0., K. 
Marsh John K., K. 

Fifth Regiment Infantry. 
Adams Joseph A., A. 
Allen Mathias, K. 
Ames Andrew J., D. 
Andrews Albert C, D. 
Arnold Robert, K. 
Avery Alex. J., K. 
Caierle Jacob, J.. 
Bailey James L., K. 
Baker Daniel B., W. 
Barnes Alvin T., K. 
Barre Adolplms H., K. 
Bates John, A'. 
Bennett John, D. 
Benton (Capt.) G. S., K. 
Barnard George M., D. 
Billitigton Joseph, A. 
Blair Joseph O., K. 
Blake (Major) E. F., K. 
Bordaux Eleazer, D. 
Brady Oliver S., K. 
Bri<rgs John C., D. 
Briker John, A'. 
BucU Giles P., K. 
Burley John W., D. 
Button William M., K. 
Byers James, K. 
Checkin Charles W., K. 
Carr Edwin, D. 
Covert John, A'. 
Dailey Thomas, TF. 
Darley George, K. 
Day (2d Lieut.) Putnam, D. 
Davtun Sherman B., K. 
Dutton (IstLt.) li. M., K. 
Ellsworth William D., D. 
Frieldson Iltnrv, D. 
Fuller Jarcd P.", D. 
Gavegen Thomas, A. 
Gallagher John, W. 
Gavine John J., K, 



Gosley Hugh S., D. 
Graham John L., D. 
Gridley William, D. 
Griffith John, A. 
Griffin George B., K. 
Griswold Edwin C., K. 
Goodrich Alfred, K. 
Gunn William A., K. 
Hall Horace, D. 
Hart John, 71. 
Hawthorne Daniel, K. 
Haverty Daniel, D. 
Heaton Henry, K. 
Held Lorenzo, K. 
Henry Albert L., D. 
Higgins James, K. 
Higgins William, D. 
Hill George E., D. 
Hill John, A'. 
Hills Pereival S., D. 
Hopper Joseph, D. 
Howland Elias H., D. 
Hovt Augustus VV., K. 
Hull John G., D. 
Jones Elijah B., K. 
Judson Edward L., D. 
Kinne Joseph A., K. 
Krome Lewis, D. 
I^ane George F., K. 
Lane Horace E. L., D. 
Lane Robert 0., K. 
Leggett Elijah, D. 
Lcggett John, D. 
IMadden Ficdeiick, D. 
Mahoney James, A. 
Manning Matt. H., W. & P. 
Matthews Emery S., D. 
McCluskey Patrick, A'. 
McGinness Patrick, D. 
Medemach Maithew J., K. 
Mills Scth F., K. 
Mooney JNlichael, W. 
Morr Paul, A. 
Morrison James, D. 
Morrison Robert C, D. 
Murphy Patrick, A. 
Murphy Owen, IT. 
Neale Henry H., D. 
Noduie, Crawford H., W. 
Nye Styles W., W. 
O'Brien Peter, D. 
O'Brien William, A. 
O'Donnell John, D. 
Pierce Alonzo S., D. 
Potter Charles C, D. 



Prime H. C, K. 
Prindle Trowbridge, D. 
Quinn Thomas, A". 
Reynolds Bernard, W. 
Rice Ciiarles A., K. 
Richards James, D, 
Richards James E., K. 
"Riley James, D. 
Rood Rufus S., D. 
Rowe Henry, D. 
Scribner Charles B., D. 
Sherren James, K. 
Smallev Elisha F., D. 
Smith '(Adjutant) PL S., K. 
Smith Daniel L., K. 
Starr George, D. 
Stone George F., D. P. 
Stone (Capt.) Henry B., W. 
Squires Charles A., K. 
Strong Thomas G., K. 
Sturgess Hezckiah, D. 
Taylor Sherman D., K. 
'i'hompson Charles E., K. 
Thompson Joseph, D. 
Vananken Frank, D. 
Waldron John, D. 
Warner Albert, IF. 
Werner R. R., A'. 
Wilcox John, A'. 
Wheeler Nathan S., D. 
Woodhead Bernard, D. 

Sixth Regimenflnfantry. 
Abbott Edwin H., D. 
Abbott Woolsey, P. 
Ackerman Carl, K. 
Allen Henry, K. 
Allen (Capt ) Lewis C.,jr.,D. 
Atwater Franklin J., W. 
Babcock Anson E., D. 
Boilge George E., K. 
Baker Josej)h, K. 
Baker George H., D. 
Baldwin Bruce, IF. 
Baldwin Henry M., D. 
Barnes Setli E., W. 
Barnes Seth J., D. 
Bartlett Halsey, K. 
Barton George A., D. 
Belehnier Christopher, K. 
Bemus Henry, K. 
Bennett Edward, K. 
Bethka Charles, K. 
Beyer Martin, K. 
Bing Edward J., D, 
853 



854 



APPENDIX. 



Blencl Valentine, K. 
Bosworth U. H., D. 
Bradley (1st Lt.) W. T., W. 
Brandt Henry S., IF. 
Brooks Jabez C, D. 
Brown William H., K. 
Brysen Frank, W. 
Brvsen David, jr., D. 
Bulkley Frederick 0., D. 
Butler Jesse, A'. 
Byxbee John, Z>. 
Chattield (Col.) John L., W. 
Cobbe George W. D. 
Cook Henry A., D. 
Collett Auatole, A'. 
Collett James, K. 
Crusius Oscar, W. 
Corey William H., A'. 
Connely Patrick, D. 
Davis Luther, D. 
Dawley James, D. 
Day John W., D. 
Debouge Gustave, K. 
Deary Patrick, P. 
Delpt Harry, K. 
Dewitt William, K. 
Dorman Horace, D. 
Dorman Andrew, D. 
Doyle James, K. 
DriscoU John F. 
Dupoy Jerome, K. 
Dubois Charles, W. 
Eaton (Capt.) Horatio D., AT. 
Freeman Daniel, D. 
Frisbey Henry !)., D. 
Gage Robert 13., K. 
Gangloff Charles, K. 

Gerrish (Capt.) Henry G., D. 
Gibbons Theodore, D. 

Ginder Balthaser, D. 

Gilbert James H., D. 

Glissman William, A'. 

Gob Charles, A'. 

Griswold Eugene W., AT. 

Grogan Charles H., \V. 

Gussman William, W. 

Haller Martin, W. 

Hammond ( 1 st Lt. ) C. E., W. 

Hart Willis A., D. 

Hayward Nahum L., D. 

Hausserman Michael, D. 

Henninger George, AT. 

Hesse Augustus, K. 

Hesserick Emil. 

Hey he Paul, AT. 

Hickox Edwin J., D. 

Hill Charles T., D. 

Hill Warren F., D. 

Hills Sebury D., P. 

Hoar Derbert, K. 

Hodge Horace, D. 

Holler Martin, W. 

Hoyt Henry W., W. 

Ingalls Dexter W., W. 

Jones Ira D., W. 

Jones Joseph, IF. 

Johnson (2d Lt.) W. H., TF 

Johnson TThomas, AT. 



Kreitling Albert, D. 
Keith Charles S., AT. 
Kclterer George, P. 
Kimberly Henry, K. 
Kirsten Charles, W. 
Lacey William S., D. 
Lanergan Luke li., K. 
Lawrence Joseph C, D. 
Linton James, K. 
Lomberti Charles, TF. 
Mack Frank, D. 
Malone James, A'. 
Matthews Daniel, AT. 
Mayer Jacob, D. 
Maschmeyer Edward, D. 
.Maschmeyer William, D. 
Messier Charles, K. 
McChinc Hugh, jr., IF. 
McKenzee Patrick, D. 
McKinney James, AT. 
Mclnro Thomas, /-*. 
Millard Theron, D.- 
Miliier William, K. 
Morris Theodore, D. 
Morehouse William A., K. 
Moses Henry, D. 
O'Conner Thomas, D. 
Ostrum WiUard, D. 
Palmer David C, D. 
Peck Robert C, IF. & P. 
Peck John \V., D. 
Peet George B., TF. 
Perkins William W., D. 
Phalen Timothy, A. 
Phillips Alonzo. 
Phillips Theodore, TF. 
Picker Patsey, D. 
Puffer Reuben S., AT. 
Quinn James, D. 
Ray James, TF. 
Recoir John H., D. 
Recoir Philip H., D. 
Reed William, TF 
Reeves William M., K. 
Riiey Charles, D. 
Ringe Henry, A'. 
Robbins Ralph G., D. 
Robinson Theodore T., D. 
Rogers Edmond, K. 
Root Caleb B., D. 
Royce Charles B., K. 
Sage Elisha, D. 
Schmidt Gustave, TT^. 
Schofield Tiieodorc C, D. 
Schofield William, D. 
Shultz William, D. 
Seely John, D. 
Shaw Joseph L., A". 
Shepard David G.,Z). 
Smith Oscar L., K. 
Soby William, W. 
Silencer Edwin W., D. 
Stacey Albert, TF. 
Stark Michael, A'. 
Stevens (2d Lieut.) S. S., 7v. 
Stinell Herman, K. 
Southergill George, D. 
Taylor E.B., W. 



Taylor Thomas, TF. 
Talmadge Fred. A., D. 
Tousley Artemus, IT^ 
Tracy Thom is E., D. 
Tschumme Conrad, jr., D. 
Vaille John R., D. 
Volkman Ferdinand, D. 
Warner George, W. 
Watermire Frederick, D. 
Waters Henry W., D. 
White Frank, A'. 
Weeks Alphonso, D. 
Williams John, D. 
Wilcox (Capt.) Jay P., K. 
Wind George, A. 
Woodford Edgar M., D. 
Woods John, K. 
Wooster Joseph A. jr., TF. 

Seivnth Regiment Infantnj, 

Abell Jared A., K. 
Ackerman Carl, K. 
Ackerman William F., D. 
Aldrich Judson, 
Andrus George W., K. 
Angelist David D., D. 
Avery Henry. 
Bailey Everett, AT. 
Bailey L. Hobart, K. 
Baldwin Henry M., D. 
Banning Henry C, D. 
Barnes Albert E., D. 
Barnes Seth E., IF. 
Bates William P., D. 
Belden Marshall, K. 
Bennett ICdward, K. 
Benson Albert, D. 
Bidwell Richard, K. 
Blake George, D. 
Blakeslee Ed. C, TF. 
Bliss Samuel, D. 
Bliss Edwin S., D. 
Bosworth Hiram P., K. 
Bottomly Henry A., D. 
I5owen Joseph A., TF. 
Bowers Theodore D., D. 
Bradley George, D. 
liradford Lewis, D. 
Brandt Henry S., TF. 
Brainard Francis, TF. 
Bridgewatcr Daniel, TF. 
Brinton Fred. J., D. 
Brown William II., A'. 
Brown William IL, D. 
Bulkley Fred. O., D. 
Burdic'k Albert, D. 
Burdick (1st Lieut.) T., TF. 
Bunnell George, D. 
Button Lorenzo, K. 
Burrows Georye, D. 
Byxbee John T., D. 
Byxbee Charles, A'. 
Byxbee John, D. 
Calkins Obed H., D. 
Chamberlain Ezra. 
Clapp Elisha, IT^. 
Clark Curtiss S., K. 
Clark Walter F., IF. 



EOLL OF HOKOE. 



855 



Cogswell Stephen, K. 
Coley William H., IF. 
Collett Anutole, K. 
Collami)re Warren, D. 
Corey William H., A'. 
Colrin George, D. . 
Conway James, K. 
Cook Jame-:, A'. 
Corbin George H., K. 
Corsa John P., D. 
Crahtree John W., D. 
Crofut William, K. 
Crosbv Bvron, D. 
Dabol'l Isaac F., D. 
Day John W., D. 
Dempscv (1st Lieut.) R.^ K. 
DcWitt'WiUiam, A. 
Doane Eil. E., K. 
Doolittlc Lorenzo S., D. 
Downci Chauncev S., D: 
Dubois Charles, W. 
Duncan William, D. 
Dupoy Jerome, K. 
Eaton Fred. G., K. 
Edwa'ds George, \V. 
Elderkin James, A. 
English William S., K. 
Felch Fred. A., AT. 
Fillburn Thomas, A. 
Flannigan John, W. 
Fortune Pliillips, AT. 
Fox Augustus A., D. 
Frv Allen, D. 
Jeffry Joab, D. 
James Giles, IF. 
Jones Josltua. 
Judson Edwin, D. 
Gcrbiz John, D. 
Gilbert Charles, D. 
G lines Henry C, P. 
Gob Charles, A. 
Goodell Joseph, TF. 
Gore Joshua R., D. 
Gray Horace, IF. 
Griswold Eugene W., AT. 
Guv Allen, D. 
Haines William F., D. 
Hall John E., D. 
Harrison William H., D. 
Hart Henry, IJ. 
Hayne Paul, A'. 
Hibbard Andrews W., K. 
Hitchcock (Capt.) E. S., A'. 
Hills Seabury, D. 
Holmes John T., D. 
Horner Julius. 
Horton (2d Lieut.J T., K. 
Hubbard William, D. 
Hull John, D. 
Hull Frederick, A'. 
Hull (2dLt.) Frank, A. 
Hunter William, D. 
Kav William H., TF. 
Keith Charles S., A. 
Kevcs Darid D., A. 
Kimball Charles W., D. 
Kimberly Henry, A. 
Lanergau Luke H., K. 



Landers Michael, D. 
Lewis Francis, D. 
Lewis Franklin S., D. 
Linton James, A. 
McEwen William, A". 
Mildoon John, A'. 
Jlillcr James A., A. 
Minor Abraham, A'. 
Moore James, A'. 
Nodine Elizir, A. 
Nichols Andrew B., A. 
Ostrum Willard, D. 
Palmer Charles E., D. 
Parker Henrv C, AT. 
Pierce Albert W., A. 
Pratt Samuel A., D. 
Puffer Reuben S., K. 
Quinn James, TF. 
Quintal Lemuel A., A. 
Reynolds John E., TT^. 
RcVnolds Scth W., TF. 
Riley Chester H., D. ^- P. 
Ripley Charles H., K. 
Robinson Theodore T., D. 
Root Henry H., D. 
Russell Joseph, D. 
Sage Edward B., K. 
Saxton George C, A. 
Scoficld William, D. 
Seamans Andrew, D. 
Sessions .John T., D. 
Simons .John T., D. 
Secley Eli D., D 
Shelton Daniel R., AT. 
Smith Oscar L., A.' 
Smith Jlorace M., D. 
Soby William, TT'. 
Sperry Henry X., IT^. 
Spires William, D. 
Star (Adjt.) Grosvenor, D. 
Sterling James B., D. 
Sumner Israel, P. 
Taylor Andrew H., K. 
Taylor William H.. A. 
Talcot Horace A., A'. 
Tappan Thomas, A'. 
Thomas Willis C, TF. 
Tifft George J., Z>. 
Treat Dwight W., D. 
TenceUent Charles, TT"". 
Tolles Horace A., A. 
LTpson Hiram, jr., TF. 
Valentino Sidney, Z). 
Vibert George, A. 
Victory Martin R., D. 
Vinton Randolph J., D. 
Walker Henrv M., P. 
Walker Alfred E. 
Walker Albert, D. 
Ward Edward A., D. 
Waterman Charles F., D. 
Waterman (Capt.) Jos., TF. 
Waternrire Frederick, TF. 
Weeks Svlvester N., D. 
Wells Se'lden H., K. 
Welton Theodore, K. 
Westbrook Thomas, D. 
Wildman Henry C, K. 



Willard James S., A. 
Wilson John II., A. 
Wood (1st Lieut.) C. A., A. 
Woodford Edgar M., D. 
Wolcott Frederick W., D. 
Wooster James N., K. 
Wyant Lewis A., D. 

Eif/klh Regiment Infantry. 
Arnold Charles, D. ' 
Raker Albert H., D. 
Baker Geor^re II., D. 
Baldwin George W., D. 
Barber Francis E., D. 
Bates Wallace W., D. 
Beardsly Claudius S., D. 
Beckett"^ Asa, D. 
Bennett George H., K. 
Bentlv John, W. 
Bingham (1st Lt.) L. C.,TF. 
Birch George, A. 
BisscU Elihu, D. 
Bond Henry, D. 
Bond Charles, D. 
Booth George F., K, 
Bosworth Samuel P., D. 
Boyle Robert, D. 
Bulk ley John, I). 
Burlingamc Joshua L., D. 
Burrows Lorenzo, D. 
Brannon Henry, TF. 
Breed (1st Lieut.) C. A., D. 
Brewster Charles, D. 
Bronson Joseph S., D. 
Brooks Albion D., TF. 
Brown Dnrraine, D. 
Carey Dwight, A. 
Case Oliver C, A'. 
Castle Morton, TF. 
Castle Matthew, D. 
Clieney* Henrv M., D. 
Child John, TF. 
Clark Albert, A'. 
Clark Sylvanus M., D. 
Clark Thomas C, D. 
Clark William P., D. 
Cockfer John, D. 
Cogswell Weston, D. 
Co'mstock John D., D. 
Comstock Edwin J., D. 
Dagle (5eorge V., A^. 
Daidson James, TF. 
Davis Alpheus G., D. 
Dcming Ilcrbert, D. 
Dixon .John A., D. 
Doolittle John K., TF. 
Edwards John L., D. 
l->ldredge Nathaniel C, K. 
Ellsworth Frederick, TF. 
Elmore Harvey E., A. 
Eby John, IT". 
Evans Levcrett F., D. 
Fanning Theodore A., W. ■ 
Fanning Iklward M., D. 
Fanning Henry C, TF. 
Ferris liilliard, D. 
Ferris Robert, A. 
Ferris Stephen H., D. 



856 



APPENDIX. 



Finken Henry, K. 
Frost Oswin S., W. 
Gates John, W. 
Geary Dennis, K. 
Goddard (IstLt.) A. M., W. 
Green Thomas L., K. 
Hanfoi-d Jolin N., D. 
Harris Joint, D. 
Hayes Michael, D. 
Hewitt Oscar W., K. 
Hodge Chauncy, D. 
Hollister Fitz G., K. 
Hoye Thomas, D. 
Hunter Joseph L., D. 
Huntinc^ton Thomas D., D. 
Jacklin'Ph. H., D. 
Jerome Francis D., K. 
Jerome Oscar L., D. 
Jones Charles, A'. 
Keach Henry W. L., D. 
Kimball Andrew J., I>. 
Knight William H., K. 
Knowles John C, D. 
Lacoursierc John, D. 
Lake David, A'. 
Laugworth Joseph C, D. 
Lathrop Oliver, IF. 
Lathrop (1st Asst. Surgeon) 

DcWitt C, D. 
Lenthard Carl F., K. 
Lewis Charles E., K. 
Lewis William G., A'. 
Litchfield Uriah, D. 
Livcrmorc Henry JL, D. 
Logan George E., D. 
Long William, K. 
Lord Or ton L., A'. 
Lyon Mclancthon S., D. 
Main (1st Lieut.) E. G., D. 
Main Samuel U., D. 
Mann Peter, W. 
Marsh George H., K. 
Mason Thomas, K. 
Mason William A., D. 
McCall (Capt.) John, A. 
Mcintosh John B., A'. 
Merrill Charles E., D. 
Mills John, I>. 
Mitchell Diodate J., D. 
Mitchell George W., A'. 
MoreyJohn, W. 
^Morgan George K., D. 
Morgan Joseph, D. 
Morse llcnrv 11., A. 
Neff Henry H., A. 
Newcomb Francis A., D. 
Nichols Jerome, D. 
Nighting John, A'. 
Parkerson Jo^iah, TF. 
Parkhurst Edward, D. 
Patterson Charles, W. 
Payne Cli-ules II., K. 
Payne Fit h, D. 
Payne Fn. nklin, D. 
Pciton James E., D. 
Pember Jared, D. 
I'orkins George, D. 
Peterson William H., TF. 



Phelan John, K. 
Phelps Ilousley F. D., K. 
Phillips John, D. 
Pierson Thomas B., D. 
Post William, A'. « 

Potter William H., D. 
Pound Peter, D. 
Randall Henry, A'. 
Raymond Henry, D. 
Rice Robert, IF. 
Richards Alonzo L, K. 
Richmond Willis B., A. 
Riley Lawrence, A. 
Roberts Henry M., D. 
Roberts Andrew, D. 
Robinson George W., A. 
Rose Ebenczer, jr.. A'. 
Rose Franklin M., A'. 
Rouse Horace G., A'. 
Rust Cyprian H., A. 
Saunders Henry, D. 
Scoville Martin, D. 
Simonds John H., K. 
Sexton Henry D., D. 
Stewart Charles B., D. 
StrickJand Henry 10., D. 
Stoddard Frederick, D. 
Stowe Gilbert 11., D. 
Sweet William A., A. 
Talmagc Elihu, D. 
Taylor C. Henry, D. 
Tavlor Orrin, D. 
Taylor Henry II., D, 
Thomas Riclimond E., K. 
Thorn Reuben, D. 
Tillotson Lafoyette, A. 
Tompkins John, D. 
Trask Frank, K. 
Fuller Isaac H., /A 
Tuttle John E., K. 
Upton George W., D. 
Wadhams Edward, K. 
Wadhams Martin L., K. 
Wait (2d Lieut ) M., A. 
Westover Edwin E., D. 
Wheeler Edwin, D. 
Wheeler Lucius, A. 
White Elijah, A. 
Wilcox Whiting, A. 
Williams John A., D. 
Woods Victor, D. 
Yenimons Joseph R., D. 

'Ninth lieglmcnt Infantri/. 
Abbot John, D. 
Alaby Albert, D. 
Baggs John, D. 
Bowker George, D. 
Barry John T., D. 
Blakeslee Almon, D. 
Bohan Paul, D. 
Boyle Charles, D. 
Broddcrick James, D. 
Brown Daniel H., D. 
Brown William, I). 
Bouisee Newman, D. 
Burgess John R., D. 
Burns John, D. 



Burke Richgrd, D. 
Burton Charles B., D. 
Bush James, D. 
Cain Patrick, D. 
Calkins Jes.«c L, D. 
Calkin.S'Joseph L., D, 
Carey James, D. 
Carey William W., D. 
Carlin Andrew, D. 
Carney Ambrose, D. 
Charbouel Paul, D. 
Claifee (Sgt.-Maj.) P. T., Z). 
Clark John, D. 
Clark William, D. 
Claxton Richard, D. 
Cocn John, A. 
Colbert Morris, D. 
Conner Thomas, D. 
Conner George O., D. 
Coyne John, D. 
Coylc John, I). 
Coxa 11 Henry E., D. 
Crowley John, Z>. 
Cruise John, D. 
Cunningham James, D. 
Daley IJartholomew, D. 
Dailcy Patrick, D. 
Dikeman George S., D. 
Dillon John, D. 
Dimon James C, D. 
Donahue James, D. 
Doyle Peter, D. 
Downey xNi'jholas, A. 
Downey Michael, D. 
Drassendoffer Henry, D. 
Doyle Peter, D. ■ 
Dunn Thomas, D. 
Eagan John, D. 
Eagan AVilliam, D. 
Ennes John, D. 
Ennis Matthew, D. 
Fagan Michael, D. 
Fairchild (IstLt.) F. M., D. 
Fanning- John, D. 
Fenton Peter, D. 
Ferris John, D. 
Fibbs William, D. 
Finkle Peter, D. 
Fitzgerald William, D. 
Flamandez Peter, D. 
Frazier George, D. 
Funt William, D. 
Furnace Joseph, D. 
Gaha:;an Josejjh, D. 
Galligan Philip, D. 
Galvin James, D. 
Gladding Leverett, Z). 
Grace William, D. 
Green John, IJ. 
Green John, JJ. 
Green John, D. 
Green Patrick, D. 
Hackett Peter, D. 
Hall Jessell, D. 
Hallaner Lewis St. V., D. 
Harrington Joseph, D. 
Ilartigan John, D. 
Harvey Thomas, Z>. 



ROLL OF HONOR. 



857 



ITawloy Edward, D, 
Haves Elias, D. 
Ilcaly Michael, D. 
Helling Frederick, D. 
Henderson James, D. 
Hill Henry, D. 
Hillyer George, D. 
Hillver James, D. 
Holiidi William, D. 
Horton John A., D. 
Horton George W., D. 
Hudson Henry, D. 
Hughes Arthur, D. 
Hussey Walter, D. 
Irvine Chriiitian, D. 
Jewess Frederick, K. 
Johnson Lewis H., D. 
Kain Micliael, D. 
Kearney Thomas, D. 
Keaveney Michael, D. 
Kee_^an Edward, D. 
Keenan Peter, D. 
Kehoe James, D. 
Kclleher Roger, D. 
Kelly John, D. 
Kennedey Daniel, D. 
Kenncdey Josej^h, D. 
Kerley John, D. 
Kilgraritf Martin, D. 
Lackey Luke C, D. 
Lane John J., D. 
Lane Patrick, D. 
Larkins Patrick, D. 
Lauffin Richard, D. 
Lawler Jamesj A. 
Lynch Thomas, D. 
Lynch John, 1st, D. 
J-ynch Patrick, K. 
Lyon Edward, D. 
McAlloon Patrick, D. 
McCann William J., D. 
McCarthy John, D. 
McCorniick Thomas, D. 
McClune James, D. 
McDonald James, D. 
JNIcGrath JNIichacl, D. 
ilcGrath Thomas, D. 
McGuire Constantine, D. 
JMcFarland Peter, D. 
McKenna (2d Lt.) Henry, D. 
JNIcLaughiin John, D. 
McLaugidin Timothy, D. 
McMahcnc James, D. 
McPherson John, D. 
McSorley John, D. 
McTagu" John, D. 
Magce"j\lichael, D. 
jMaher John, D. 
Maher John, D. 
IMahoncy I'atrick, D. 
]\Lirtin John, D. 
JLirlow John, D. 
jNIeany John, D. 
Mcldrum John, D. 
Jlercier Alexander, D. 
JMcredith John, D. 
Minahan Thomas, D. 
Molloy Michael, D. 

108 



Moningham James, D. 
MooreMichael, D. 
Morrissey Patrick, D. 
Mulvey Charles, D. 
Murphy Martin, D. 
Murphy Jeremiah, D. 
Murphy James, D. 
O'Brien Thomai, D. 
O'Brien James, D. 
O'Berne John, D. 
O'Burns Michael, D. 
O'Conner Peter, D. 
O'Neil M«rk, A'. 
Otis Dennis, D. 
Patchen Charles T., D. 
Pearson Piiilip, D. 
Potter Cluirles H., D. 
Potter Frederick, D. 
Prime Edward P., D. 
Quinn Thomas, D. 
Quinn Luke, D. 
Reynolds Patrick, D. 
Reynolds Patrick, D. 
Reynolds Michael, 2d, D. 
Rhatigan Edward, D. 
Roberts Joim F., D. 
Robinson James W. B., D. 
Robertson t^eth, D. 
Rolland Herman, D. 
Ross Charles, D. 
Rowley John, D. 
Ryan James, D. 
Ryan John, D. 
Ryan (2) Timothy, D. 
Ryan Cornelius, D. 
ISanfbrd Stephen, D. 
Santbrd Oliver, D. 
Scully William, D. 
Scott" Michael, D. 
Shaughness Peter, D. 
Shuenter Joseph, D. 
Simpson John, D. 
Slawson David A., D. 
Smith John, D. 
Smith John, 2d, D. 
Smith Martin, D. 
Smith Peter, D. 
Spellesav Thomas, D. 
Stafford John A., D. 
Stillson David, D. 
Sullivan Jeremiah, D. 
Sullivan John, D. 
Sullivan William, D. 
Sullivan Daniel, D. 
Sutter Frank, D. 
Tackett James, D. 
Tallmadge Thomas B., D. 
Thompson Henry F., D. 
Tobin James, D. 
Todd Legrand, A 
Tvghe Roirer, D. 
Walch John, D. 
Walsh Patrick, D. 
Walsh Robert, .-1. 
Waldron Thomas, D. 
Warner Abraham A., D, 
White Thomas, D. 
Wells Jeremiah, D. 



Weldon Patrick, D, 
Woods James, D. 
Woods Patrick, D. 

Tenth Regiment Infantry. 
Allen John, D. 
AUyn Asa, D. 
Atwell Benjamin, D. 
Austin George C, D. 
Bailey Albert A., K. 
Bartholomew Pliny, D. 
Bartlett Leonard, D. 
Beach Elliott W., D. 
Beardslev Edward C, D. 
Bell George L., W. 
Benedict Lewis H., D. 
Black Albert, D. 
Bonier Frederick W., D. 
Booth Charles F., D. 
Bowen James, jr., W. 
Bradiiurv Thomas E., D. 
BradleyWilliamH, Z). 
Braiiiard Henry L., D. 
Brainard Whitney S., D. 
Brinton Alexander R., D. 
Bromley Lyman W., D. 
Bronson Jeremiah T., D. 
Brooks Sherald A., K, 
Brown Nelson L., W. 
Brown Joseph M., D. 
Brown Sherman, D. 
Brower AUred L., D. 
Bunnell Cyrus R., D. 
Bunting Alexander R., D. 
Burchard Eli, D. 
Burdick Charles, D. 
Burns William A., K. 
Card David J., D. 
Carter John, D. 
Chadwick William H., D. 
Clark Henrv, W. 
Coifing (1st Lt.) J. C, W. 
Collins Joseph," W. 
Cook Samuel, D. 
Cotton Samuel S., D. 
Coville May;hew, D. 
Crandall Horatio, D. 
Cutts Charles L., D. 
Day John F., K. 
Davrix Patrick, D. 
Dickson David, D. 
Donovan John, D. 
Doolitile Luther H., W. 
Downes Henry A., D. 
Drake (Col.) Albert W., DT 
Dunn Robert, D. 
Edmonds Daniel, W. 
Ferris Alexander, W. 
Gerald James S., D. 
Gerry William T., W. 
Gill George, A'. 
Goff Thomas, IF. 
Gorton William H., W. 
Graham William N., K. 
Gray Henry T., D. • 
Green Anthony H., D. 
Greene Edwin E., D. 
Grummon Francis H., D. 



858 



APPENDIX. 



Hamblin Philo A., D. 
Hawkins Orin J., D. 
Hcldinerick Oasper,^. 
Henderson Alexander, D. 
Hill (2d Lt.) Theron D., K. 
Hindle James, K. 
Hoadley Harvey S., W. 
Holland James B., Z>. 
Hern Michael, W. 
Hoyt William, D. 
Hoyt (Ca])t.) Isaac L., D. 
Howe William H., D. 
House Lorin, ^1. 
Howman William H., D. 
Hubbard John, IT. 
Hubbard Silas W., D. 
Hudson William G., D. 
Hunter William, f>. 
Huntlev Joseph W., W. 
Hurlbut Ho-cr L., D. 
Huxford William G., D. 
Hyde Chauncey, D. 
Ingraham William, W. 
Jarman George, D. 
Kane Jerry, L). 
Kellogg Alfred, D. 
King Samuel W., D. 
Kilbourn John R., D. 
Lane Lcman G., U. 
Lathrop Simon, A'. 
Lester Dwight T., W. 
Lockwood William H., D. 
Lombard Joscpli A., A'. 
Long William, D. 
Loveland John F., K. 
Lounsbiiry Henry W., D. 
Lyman Levi F., W. 
McCarty James, D. 
McDonal James, W. 
McLeod William, W. 
Manchester Frederick, D. 
Maro Patrick, A'. 
Mason John, I). 
Mead(Capt.) Thos. R., Z>. 
Mead Henry H., D. 
Mead (Major) Daniel M., Z). 
Monson Lyman P., W. 
Morse Ornn H., D. 
Mosher Leander, D. 
Munsell William, D. 
Neal James H., W. 
Olmsted Osborn, D. 
Oviatt Erasmus A., A'. 
Owen OrvilleD., U. 
•Park George B., IF. 
Pease Gilson, D. 
Perkins Henrv, D. 
Perkins (1st. Lt.)Wm:W.,ir. 
Raymond Henry i\I., D. 
Reynolds Milo, A'. 
Reuthsler John, D. 
Ride William, A. 
Rood Morton, D. 
Rooncy James S., D. 
Ross John, K. 
Rowe Egbert, D. 
Russell (Col.) Charles L., A". 
Russell John E., A'. 



Salter William N., D. 
Sears Stephen H., D. 
Sherman John T., K. 
Sherwood Samuel, D. 
Simms John M., W. 
Skinner Jesse P., D. 
Slaine Peter S., D. ■ 
Smith Arthur W., D. 
Smith Edgar G., K. 
Smith James C, K. 
Sniffen William, D. 
Speed John W., I). 
Stillman (2d Lt.) H. M., A'. 
Tavlor Henry S., D. 
Taylor Samuel, W. 
Thomas George D., W. 
Tibbals Abraham, D. 
Tinker Charles H., D. 
Toinlinson Edmund B., D. 
Tooniey John L., IF. 
Treat Noyes A., D. 
Tucker John W., D. 
Tuttle Henry M., D. 
Wallace John L., W. 
Ward Thomas M., D. 
Washburn Owen W., D. 
Weaver Amos C, D. 
Weeks Harvey J., D. 
Wells (Capt.) Henry A., AT. 
Weston Everett B., D. 
Wheaton Albert F., W. 
Wheeler Elbert E., D. 
Wilcox Lucene, W. 
Wilson Robert, D. 
Wing George, A'. 
Wright Frank, D. 
Wright Charles M., D. 
Vergason Erastus, A'. 

Eleventh Regiment Infantry. 
Andress David, AT. 
Antonio John, IF. 
Antonio Manuel, TF. 
Bailev George E., A'. 
Bailey Albert H., D. 
Baker Henry E., D. 
Barber Charles, D. 
Barnstead George T., IF. 
Barnum (IstLt.) S. C, IF. 
Bates Theodore S., A'. 
Batty Davis, A'. 
Beach Benjamin J., K. 
Beers Henry A., K. 
Beman Charles, D. 
Beman Job, IF. 
Bills George, K. 
Bills Prosper B., D. 
Bissell Henry, W. 
Blodget Edvvard A., D. 
Bohr Frederick, K. 
Braman Lucian, D. 
Brooks John, D. 
Bugbee William, IF. 
Burke Edward, A', 
Burtrand John, K. 
Campbell Leander, K. 
Cantield William H., D. 
Chappell Benjamin F., D. 



Chaffee Frank, K. 
Clemments John, D. 
Cleaveland Chauncey F., D. 
Cleaveland Elisha, D. 
Cogswell William F., A'. 
Cole William, D. 
Converse (Major) J. H., K. 
Converse Rufus, K. 
Coville George B., W. 
Crome Gilbert R., K. 
Culver Fred. D., D. 
Cushman Alonzo S., K. 
Daly Allick, A'. 
Daniels Oscar G., D. 
Davis Henry W., A'. 
Dawley George W., D. 
Davton Lewis, AT. 
Decker Clark, A'. 
Deming Edward, K. 
Desons Pierre, K. 
Didicr Auguste, K. 
Dieth Gustar A., D. 
Dodge Henry C, D. 
Dolan Michael, K. 
Duane Charles, K. 
Dubois Alfred, K. 
Eddy Charles, D. 
Ermisch Otto, D. 
Evans Willard, D. 
Fay John, AT. 
FeiT}' Amos, IF. 
Fessington Clinton, IF. 
Flint Alvin, K. 
Ford David M., K. 
Ford Henry C, D. 
Formia Peter, AT. 
Fosket Albert 0., D. 
Frink Charles H., K. 
Fullef Edward, D. 
Galliger IMichael, AT. 
George Thomas A., D. 
Germain Achillc, AT. 
Gillin John IL, K. 
Gorman Edward, IF. 
Graves Augustus E., D. 
Green Joel, D. 
Griswold (Capt.) J. D., K. 
Gullock George F., D. 
Ilalbfass William, D. 
Hall William H., A\ 
llc))lin George H., K. 
HillYer John, D. 
Hitchcock William H., K. 
Hoi lister Joseph, D. 
Holt Marcus B., D. 
Holwcll John C, A'. 
Hopkins AVilliam M., AT. 
Houghton AVilliam, K. 
Humphreys Edward J., D. 
Hutchins William, D. 
Jackson Thomas, D. 
Jone> John, D. 
Johnson John, D. 
Karcher Ferdinand, Z). 
Kettle AVilliam S., D. 
Kingsbury (Col.) H. W., AT. 
Kirk Roderic, D. 
Lane AVilliam, A'. 



ROLL OF HONOE. 



859 



Lathrop John E., Z). 
Lawler Thomas, K. 
Lawson Ansel, D. 
Lee (Capt.) Edwin R., K. 
Lewis Francis J., D. 
Luce Lozare, K. 
JIabb Ephraim, D. 
Mack Jesse, D. 
Main Henry, D. 
Mallorv Joseph B., K. 
Mantz 'William, Z). 
McAlister Ronald, K. 
McCabe Peter, D. 
McNeil Owen, K. 
Messin James, K. 
Milliken Davis, D. 
Mills Hezekiah P., D. 
IMitchell Charles, A'. 
Morden John B., A'. 
Jlorgan James, K. 
Morris John, D. 
Morse Charles H., K. 
Mowry Elisha, D. 
Mowry Elisha, jr., D. 
Munroe Charles, D. 
Munroe John, K. 
Murphy Thomas, A. 
Nichols Harmes L., D. 
Norton Amasa, D: 
Ormsby Oliver P., K. 
Parker Lewis L., D. 
Parrett Theodore, K. 
Paolo Leon, K. 
Payne Thomas, D. 
Peckham John, D. 
Pete Elijah S., D. 
Phillips George W., D. 
Pike George U., D. 
Pinot Etianne, K. 
Potter William R., D. 
Quinn Patrick, D. 
Read Egbert 1)., D. 
Read John H., A'. 
Remington Thomas F., W. 
Rice Samuel B., D. 
Riggs George S., Z). 
Rising Henry, K. 
Roberts Halsey, D. 
Roberts Hiram C, K. 
Robertson Aai-on, D. 
Rodgers Samuel C, A. 
Rouse Asa W., A'. 
Sackett (Capt.) Wm. H., A. 
Salter Watson C, W. 
Schofield Henry M., W. 
Shepard George A., A^. 
Sherman Daniel P., D. 
Shughrue John S., D. 
Slack Wm. H., W. 
Smith Wm. C., D. 
Smith Wm. A., D. 
Smith Henry, A. 
Sonderegger Jacob, D. 
Souter James, A. 
Southworth Henry M., D. 
Spellman Charles, D. 
Swanton George, A. 
Standihs Charles, D. 



Stevens Frank A., D, 
Steimetz Charles, A. 
Stiles James B., K. 
Storrs Daniel C, D. 
Stowe Vivant, A'. 
Sullivan Michael, AT. 
Tarbox Daniel I., K. 
Thompson Joseph, K. 
Todd Albert, A. 
Tripp Samuel B., AT. 
Turner Orrin C, D. 
Tuttle Albert M., A. 
Tyrrell Willis H., D. 
Utley Origen, D. 
Von Driest Nicolas, D. 
Walker John H., A. 
Warren George, W. 
Warriner Wm. D., W. 
Weeks Fennimore, K. 
Wentz Martin. W. 
White Joseph, D. 
Whitney Edward, D. 
Wood John W., IF. 
Zemiz Claudius, A. 

Tweljlli Rer/iinent Infantnj. 
Allen James E., D. 
Allen Jeremiah, D. 
Allyn (2d Lt.) Stanton, D. 
Arment Samuel R., D. 
Arnold Curtiss S., D. 
Ashley Elisha L., A". 
Atkins Solon R., W. 
Atwood James L., D. 
Averv Alexander W., D. 
Babcbck Wilson, D. 
Babcock Stanton, D. 
Baker Albert, W. 
Baker Edward, D. 
Baker Reuben W., D. 
Baker Lovell, D. 
Baker Horace, D. 
Baldwin George W., D. 
Barnum Edgar H., D. 
Belden Directus F., A. 
Benham Roland D., D. 
Bentlev George, D. 
Bicknell Cliarles W., K. 
Bigelow Charles, D. 
Birch Herman, D. 
Bisscll Huius M., D. 
Bolman Lemuel, D. 
Bolton Emei'son O., D. 
Bond Austin W., D. 
Bonnev John, D. 
Booth "Wilhert H., D. 
Britten Henry, D. 
Brookman James, D. 
Brown Charles H., D. 
Brundage James L., D. 
Bundy George B., D. 
Burton Jeremiah, D. 
Bushnell John B., D. 
Butler Thomas, D. 
Campbell Edwin W., D. 
Candee William B., K. 
Carly Edward, A. 
Chapman George W., D. 



Church Morris S., D. 
Clark Grove, D. 
Clark Samuel, D. 
Clark Dallas, D. 
Cobberlv Edward, K. 
Collins 'Charles L., W. 
Cook Reuben, D. 
Cornwell (IstLt.) C. W.,Z). 
Congdon Edmund, W. 
Couch Edwin N., A. 
Cuddy John, D. 
Currie John H., D. 
Curtiss George W., D. 
Darrow John M., A. 
Davis Gilbert A., D. 
Davis George D., D. 
Davis Nathan, D, 
Denison Chester H., D. 
Donglass Charles M., D. 
Dowd Frank, IF. 
Dudley Alva M., D. 
Dunn Martin, D. 
Dyer George ]M., D. 
Emmett Michael, D. 
Evarts Joseph V., \V. 
Farnsworth Gilbert, D. 
Farren Charles C, D. 
Field Osmer F., D. 
Francis (1st Lt.) J. L., D. 
Francis Henrv J., D. 
Franklin Elfo'rd C, D. 
Frecland Andrew I., D. 
Freeman Horace H., D. 
Flynn Michael, D. 
Gardner Thomas, D. 
Garner John, D. 
Gavitt Lorenzo D., A, 
Gilbert Svlvester, A". 
GradvJohn, IF. 
Gray'WillianiD., Z). 
Green George, IF. 
Green jNLirtin A., D. 
Hale Howard F., IF. 
Hall Wilson S., D. 
Hammond George, D. 
Hamm Daniel S., Z). 
Hayden Henry, K. 
Hicks Lester, D. 
Hitchcock Fred. J., D. 
Holden John M., D. 
Hurd William B., D. 
Huid John H.. />. 
Ingham Frederick, D. 
Ingersoll Clarence L., D. 
Irish Ezra, D. 
Jillson Henry, D. 
Johnson Abncr II., D. 
Johnson Philo B.. D. 
Judson Frederick N., K. 
Kidder AYarrcn, IF. 
Kelley Edward, D. 
Lamphcre Henry A., D. 
Learv Timothy O., xi. 
Lee Edward N., D. 
Lester John E., Z). 
Lcven worth (1st Asst. Sur- 
geon) M. C, D. 
Lillie Warren, D. 



860 



APPENDIX. 



Lloyd Henry, K. 
Lord Benjamin, D. 
Loftus Patrick, W. 
Loveland Marvin, D. *' 
Loring Locke L., W. 
Lucy John, D. 
Macauless George, K. 
McCarthy Patrick, D. 
McClellan John, D. 
McKnight William, D. 
Mattler Abram, D. 
Maynard Charles C, D. 
Mathewson Joseph, D. 
Miles Reuben, D. 
Miner Jesse L., D. 
Mitchell William E., A. ^ 
Moreliousc Samuel E., K. 
Moffit John S., D. 
Murphv John, D. 
NewelfWilliam J., W. 
Nixon Thomas N., D. 
Nolan Thomas, D. 
Northrup Corvus, D. 
Parkhurst Wilfred, D. 
Parsons Edward, D. 
Elizur B., D. 
Pierce Charles IL, D. 
Penfidd Evelvn, D. 
Perkins Charles L., D. 
Piatt Charles S., D. 
Piatt George II., D. 
Porter Benedict M., D. 
Pratt Gurdon, D. 
Prowitt Henry M., D. 
Sackett Ambrose S., D. 
Seranton Dayton R.. D. 
Schweikart George, D. 
Seward Henry A , D. 
Simmons Joseph W., D 
Sinclair Eugene, A'. 
Smith George E., D. 
Smith John, D. 
Smith John C, D. 
Snow George, D. 
Stebbins Benjamin, D. 
Steele Charles E., A'. 
Stillman Fred. W.. D. 
Sullivan Charles, D. 
Sullivan John P., D. 
Sweet William E., A'. 
Thrall Bradley, D. 
Thompson Ambrose, A. 
Thompson William H., D. 
Toole Thomas, D. 
Toy Joseph R., D. 
Tracy Thomas, K. 
Updyke William, D. 
Vanderbilt Ilcnry,'Z). 
Walker Joseph, D. 
Welch (2d Asst. Surgeon) 

John B., D. 
Whithead Alphonso B., D. 
Winsiiip Charles N., D. 
Youngs George, K. 
Youngs John D. 

Thirteenth Regiment Infantry. 
Ackley Abram E., D. 



Ames Benjamin G., D. 
Assaut Christian, A". 
Baker William, D. 
Benedict Aaron, D. 
Bertz Charles, K. 
Betz Edward, D. 
Black David, K. 
Blackman Eli B., A'. 
Blakeslee Norman, D. 
Blanchard William, K. 
Bogue Edmund, D. 
Bowen Thomas L., D. 
Brady John, D. 
Brown David II., D. 
Burns Thomas, K. 
Capen Eibridge S.,,D. 
Carey Patrick, A. 
Carroll Thomas, D. 
Carpenter Walter G., D. 
Catlin Charles, D.' 
Chapel Alonzo, D. 
Clark John, D. 
Clarke ( 1st Lt.) Jonah F., D. 
Cleaveland Charles F., D. . 
Coffee Jeremiah, W. 
Comstock John C, D. 
Conrad Henry S., D. 
Corbet Michael, W. 
Cramm John, K. 
Cravey Jolin, D. 
Daniels John F., D. 
DcWolfEdwanl,Z>. 
Dobson Michael, D. 
Downes George, D. 
Downes George C, D. 
Dooliftlc Frank H.. D. 
Douglass Reuben H., D. 
Enland Alexander, D. 
Ferris Smith W ,D. 
Ferris William I., D. 
Finley Daniel B., D. 
Fitzpatrick Thomas, D. 
Francis Thomas A., D. 
Freed John, />. 
Fogertv John, K. 
Fox Henry F., D. 
Garcia Joseph, K. 
Gay Moses, D. 
Gilbert James, D. 
Gilmore William, D. 
Gladden Charles R., D. 
Goldsmith George, D. 
Gorman John, D. 
Greene John, D. 
Gunter Thomas L., K. 
ilackette Andrew, IF. 
Hassan James, Z>. 
Hayward John, D. 
Hopkins Ro'-well E., K. 
Hotchkiss Charles, D. 
Hungerford Martin B., D. 
Hurley Thomas, D. 
Johnson (2d Lt.) A. T., A. 
Jones Benjamin, D. 
Kellcher Jeremiah, D. 
Kempton William D., D. 
Kimberly Albert A., D. 
Lane Henry L., D. 



Larned Edward A., D. 
Leary Patrick, D. 
Le wis James C, D. 
McGowan John, D. 
McGuire James, D. 
McLachlan Wells, D. 
McManus Edward, K. 
Matthews Stephen A., W. 
Merwin Charles N., W. 
Miesner (1st Lt.) Louis, W. 
Miller William, D. 
Rloore William H., D. 
Morris Charles, D. 
Mosher James D., D. 
Murphey Edward, D. 
Munson Charles, D. 
Munson Henry B., D. 
Nettleton (1st Lt.) I. F., Z). 
Nickerson Edwin L., K. 
Nops Benedict, D. 
O'Brien John, K. 
Pe.k Daniel R., D. 
Pile Benjamin, D. 
Roa'li John, D. 
Roath Leonard G., K. 
Robert-; William F., D. 
Rogers Gardner B., D. 
Reynolds Andrew J., D. 
Reynolds William H., D. 
Reynolds William H., W. 
Richmond Edward S., A. 
Ruscoc Hiram, D. 
Ryan William, D. 
Sarles Benjamin O., K. 
Secellc Theodore, A. 
Sellect George B., D. 
Scribner William F., D. 
Shardon Martin J., D. 
Shea John, D. 
Simmons Lewis E., D. 
Skiff George C, D. 
Slovcr Chester, D. 
Smith James, D. 
Stanley Frank E., A. 
Stanley Frank W., W. 
Strickland (1st Lf.) Jos., A. 
Sturges Frederick L., D. 
Sutliff Friend, D. 
Tavlor John J., D. 
Thorne John W., D. 
Tomlinson Charles H., K. 
Torrance James, A". 
Tryon Charles E., D. 
Tyler Fernando H., D. 
Tyrell Payne S., D. 
Underwood James V., D. 
Waldron Frederick E., W. 
Warner Aaron C, D. 
Weed Ed. R., D. 
Welch Henry, D. 
Welch Patrick, D. 
Westhus Bcmliardt, D. 
Wick wire Franklin L., D. 
Wi liams Albert G., Z>. 
Williamson James, D. 
Wheeler (2d Lt.) John T., A. 
Whitman Elijah N., D. 



ROLL OF HONOE. 



861 



Fourteenth Regiment Infantiy. 

Abby Jolin, A'. 
Allen Amorv, K. 
Allyn Stephen D., W. 
Allyn William R., D. 
Ames Thomas M., K. 
A very Oliver C, D. 
Baldwin George W., W. 
Bangston Charles, 1). 
Banks Wesley, W. 
Barker John, D. 
Barrows Charles, K. 
Barry Roliert, A". 
Beber Charles A., A". 
Beebe Charles A., K. 
Beckley Birdscy, K. 
Benton Kaphael W., K. 
Benton Joel C, Z>. 
Bidwell Lucius E., K. " 
Blimm (Capt.) Jarvis E., A. 
Booth Eiisha S., W. 
Bond Joseph B., D. 
Bonney William S., D. 
Bradshaw William, W. 
Brainard Thomas I., A'. 
Brewer Edward II., D. 
Bronson (Capt.) Isaac R., IF. 
Brooks Charles S., A'. 
Brcckett Edwin, W. 
Brown William C, K. 
Brown Henry, A. 
Brown James M., A. 
Buckingham E. C. 
Briflet Charles F., D. 
Burke John, D. 
Burrows Daniel L., D. 
Burrows Charles, A. 
Burton Chester, A. 
Burton Lewis G., W. 
Butler Nathaniel, D. 
Canlield(2dLt.)D.E.,A^ 
Carlock George, A'. 
Caulkins John F., A. 
Cause William M., W. 
Cavanagh Francis, A. 
Chadwi.k Ro'icrt A., A. 
Chapman William, D. 
Chamberlain Joseph A., D. 
Clark Aaron A., A'. 
Clement Moses G., K. 
Clement. Nathaniel C, D. 
Cole Alonzo E., \V. 
Comes (2d Lt.) W. A., ]V. 
Comstock Albert O., D. 
Conncrs James P., K. 
Cooper James, D. 
Corhit Gorge W., W. 
Corlnt Vniliam H., W. 
Crampion Cornett M.,D. 
Crosl)y (2d Lt.) G. H., D. 
Cummings John, D. 
Cunningham John, D. 
Curtis Ilanford, Z). 
Curtis Benjamin, D. 
Daniel John, K. 
Dart Charles E., W. 
Davis William, D. 



Delaney "Michael, D. 
Dibble Alfred II., A. 
Dixon George, D. 
Dorman Orrin, D. 
Dorcy Edward, IF. 
Dudley Henry C, D. 
Dwight Franklin, W. 
Eno Frederick R., K. 
Fairchiid Amos H., D. 
Farmer Ilarman, W. 
Farar David II.. D. 
Field Edmund I., A'. 
Field Chester C, W. 
Fiske (Capt.) Samuel, D. 
Flint Curtis W., D. 
Frost Albert S., A'. 
Fuller Benjamin H., A'. 
Fuller Franklin, D. 
Gibbons (Capt.) E. W., W. 
Glcfssenger William, A'. 
GoodeU'William W., A. 
Greene John, A'. 
Griswold Russell, A'. 
Gurley John, jr., D. 
Hamihon Charles T., IF. 
Harrison Frederick, IF. 
Hart Thomas, K. 
Hart (2d Lieut.) E. W., D. 
Hanford Charles J. 
Henderson James, D. 
Herring Samuel, A'. 
Hill Albert M., IF. 
Hine Luther R., A. 
Hodges Nelson, IF. 
Hollister Francis, D. 
Hollister Frederick J., D. 
Hubbard Lucian AV., D. 
Hubbard Robert, A'. 
Hull Richard L., A. 
Hurlburt John J., D. 
Huxham Samuel, A. 
Hyatt Charles G., D. 
Jackson Patrick, IF. 
Jacobs William, IF. 
Janot Joseph, D., 
Jerome Elias L., A. 
Johnson Eiisha, D. 
Johnson George W., D. 
Jones Watson, IF. 
Jones John, IF. 
Judd Austin, D. 
Julian John F., IF. 
Keam Jacob, A'. 
Keegan IMichael, A'. 
Kcliur Henry, A'. 
Kelly Thomas, A'. 
Kern in Patrick, A'. 
Kenyon Eugene W., D. 
Kelsey Alson A., D. 
Kittle Stephen D., A'. 
I^ine Jo'hn L., D. 
Latue Charles, D. 
Laughlin Frank, A'. 
LeftingwcU Ozius C, D. 
Lewis Thaddcus W., K. 
Lloyd Patrick, IF. 
Lloyd Henry A., IF. 
Lincoln David B., IF. 



Lovejoy William F., K. 
Madigan Michael, K. 
McLaughlin James, K. 
McCauley James, D. 
McClusky Joseph, IF. 
McAlhatten Charles, A^. 
McVay James, D. 
Mann Edward W., A'. 
Mansfield William, K. 
Marsh William D., A'. 
Mastcrson Patrick, D. 
Maynard Jabez B., D. 
Maynard Erastus A., D. 
May George S., K. 
Metcalf Martin V. B., W. 
Mills William S., K. 
Mills Thomas J., D. 
Miller Hermon, K. 
Miner Joiin, A. 
Mix David, D. 
Morgan Henry, D. 
Molian Alfred' G., D. 
Moore I'rederick, D. 
Morse Charles D., D. 
Mott William, A'. 
Myers William S., D. 
Nichols Bradley, IF. 
Niles Frederick W., D. 
Norton Anion L., IF. 
Norton William II., A. 
Norton William E., K. 
Norton Francis iM., A. 
Norton Edward ¥., K. 
Otis Josiah L. D., D. 
Otis Daniel H., IF. 
Osborn Robert W., D. 
Orcutt Henry W., A^. 
Owen Henry, IF. 
Packard David, D. 
Parks John W., A. 
Parsons Ileman, D. 
Penfield George H., D. 
Percey Frank J., A'. 
Perkins Erastus B., W. 
Petersen Hans, D. 
Phillips Jonathan W., W. 
Pickett Bird,>ey, D. 
Pritchard Orlan C, TF. 
Post John W., D. 
Puffer Joseph, A'. 
Ramsdell William P., K. 
Reardon Cornelius, IF. 
Redficld John I)., D. 
Reed Norton A., D. 
Richardson Miles G., D. 
Rising Roland, IF. 
Root Svlvanus E., D. 
Russell* Wdliam, A 
Scranton Francis S., IF. 
Scranton Thomas ]M., D. 
Scranton Lewis AV., D. 
SchultC Christoijher, D. 
Scully James, K. 
Searle Julius ¥., D. 
Shalk (IstLt.) Fred. E., IF. 
Sbaughnessy Michael, A'. 
Shcpard James B., A'. 
Shiier Andrew, W. 



862 



APPENDIX. 



Simons Churlcs, W. 
Simmons Daniel, W. 
Slcssenv'cr Cliarlcs, IF. 
Smith John H., A'. 
Smith Charles H., D. 
Snow Worthington, D. 
Sperry Juclson E., D. 
Spencer Edison W., K. 
Stannard Ezra D., Z). 
Stannard George E., W. 
Standish Walter F., A'. 
Stanley (IstLt.) T. A., W. 
,Starkey Robert, D. 
'Steele Sylvester W., A'. 
Stevens Horace B., A'. 
Tak-ott Lucius, D. 
Talcott Samuel L., W. 
Taylor Smith S., D. 
Tiernay Michael, D. 
Timmons Daniel, W. 
Tiley Henry, A'. 
Tucker Hiram H., D. 
Tully John B., D. 
Tyler Moses, D. 
Wadhams ( 1 st Lt. ) H.W., K. 
Wadsworth Lucius, D. 
Waldo Christopher, D. 
Ward Frederick S., K. 
Wayner Gottfreit, D. 
Webster John R., W. 
Welton Frederick F., D. 
Wilkie Thomas, \V. 
Willard (Capt.) Sam. F., A. 
Woldert Adam, D. 
Wri.eht Dwioht IL, D. 
Yerrington Henry P., ]V. 

Fijleenth Regiment Infantrij. 

Allen Charles S.,Z).' 
Andrews Sidney JSI., D. 
Augur (Lt.) M. C, Q. M. 
Baldwin C. S. 
Bailey Oscar M., D. 
Beach Lyman A. 
Baker Francis P., A. 
Baker Thomas, D. 
Baker James R. 
Bassett Hohert A. D. 
Beecher F. K. 
Bishop Austin, D. 
Benjamin C. A. 
Bo/len Philip, D. 
Barnard Thomas G. 
Brooks Thomas, D. 
Boylen Luke. 
Bradley Edgar S., D. 
Bassart Pedro. 
Brown Charles C, D. 
Brocken Timothy. 
Boyle C. A. 
Bell wood Theodore. 
Burwell J. H. 
Carpenter Franklin S. 
Clark Dennis, D. 
Cook Alvah J. 
Coon Joseph, D. 
Coulter Samuel, D. 
Cullom Michael, D. 



Crowley Daniel. 
Curtiss Hcifiy L., D. 
Culver Henry. 
Crandall Dudley W. 
Davis John N., D. 
Dean George. 
Dolph William H., D. 
Doolittle Henry C, D. 
Durgal F. S. 
Douds Benjamin R., D. 
Dudley Edward W. 
Dutton Theodore. 
Dougherty Bernard. 
Divine Patrick, D. 
Dugan John. 
Ely James S., D. 
Fields John L., D. 
Foote Philo B., D. 
Flynn Richard, D. 
Forde John. 

Glassford William H., A'. 
Hill Russell, D. 
Hitchcock Andrew B., D. 
Hull James C, D. 
Hursel Conrad, Band. 
Howlev Edmund. 
Haley Thomas, D. 
Hammond Joseph, D. 
Huntlev Albert. 
Howe G. H. 
Hull H. Ellsworth. 
Ives Dclavan W., D. 
Jennings Edward, D. 
Johnson Edward. 
Kcartning Thomiis, D. 
Kilbride Mark, D. 
Kcnney Alvin. 
Lines James B., D. 
Leestrainge Michael, D. 
Lewis George H., D. 
Linsley Jacob F., D. 
Linslcy Samuel j\L, D. 
Lord Henry C. 
Lynch Thomas, D. 
Martin Henry. 
Morse Augustus G., D. 
Munson Oliver S., D. 
Miller-Edward A. 
Miller Christian. 
Mortimer Alonzo S. 
Norton Burritt M., D. 
Olmstead Oscar. 
Onghemach John, D. 
Osborn John. 
Parker James B. 
Parlon Prescott W. 
Pardee Milton P., D. 
Peck (Capt.) Henry B., D. 
Phelps Austin, D. 
Pickett Elliott R. 
Pettee Rothens, D. < 

Ransom Joseph. 
Reynolds John, D. 
Roberts J. G. L., D. 
Robcrson William H., D. 
Rogers Mason. 
Redfield Willis, A. 
Reynold G. H. 



Sperry Henry E. 
Sherman Benjamin R., D. 
Smith George, D. 
Smith Martin L., D. 
Spencer Lewis F., D. 
Sperry Jared L., Z). 
Stone Charles E., D. 
Smith Jacob A., K. 
Smith (Capt.) S. S. 
Smith C. R. 
Sturgess Joseph A. 
Story John 0., D. 
Striby Emil. 
Talmadge Frank P., D. 
Talmadge John C, D. 
Thompson Irvin B. 
Treat Noyes. 
Tuttle Beirs. 
Thompson George W. 
Thompson (Lt.) W. W. 
Uhl William, .1. 
Wade Charles T., Z). 
Whaley Albert H. 

Sixteenth Regiment Infantry. 
Aborns Francis, D. 
Aldritch Henry, A. 
Allen George W., A'. 
Allen John W., IF. _ 
Allen Solomon H., A. 
Allyn Ralph, A'. 
Barber Henry W., A. 
Barber (Capt.) Fred. M., K. 
Barnes Jesse O., A. 
Barnes Gideon S., D. 
Barnett Henry, A. 
Barrows D wight, D. 
Benton Charles H., D. 
Bingham John F., A. 
Bout Daniel, D. 
Braman John P., D. 
Brooks James W., IF. 
Brown (Capt.) Samuel, A. 
Brookman George, TF. 
Burr Francis H., W. 
Bushnell James W., D. 
Campbell Orville, A. 
Cad well Mortimer H., D. 
Case Hosea E., Z). 
Case Lowell M., Z). 
Case Orville J., D. 
Chaniberla'n Rufus, TF. 
Champlin Andrew G., D. 
Clanc}' Terrence, A. 
Cook Asa L., IF. 
Cooley Frederick P., K. 
Cowan William, W. 
Cullums William N., K, 
CuUums George, D. 
DcIMars Theodore E., K. 
Duff William, K. 
Drake (Capt.) John L., K. 
Evans Henry D., A. 
Fleminti Elliott, K. 
Foster Philip H., A. 
Foster Gilbert B., IF. 
Gengan James, A'. 
Gladding Timothy, K. 



EOLL OF HONOll. 



863 



Grace Michael, K. 
Greene Leonard A., D. 
Griggs John L., D. 
Grosvener Joseph A., K. 
Hagar Edward, W. 
Hale Nathan, D. 
Hamilton H., A'. 
Harris Albert S., D. 
Hawlev Kobert A., W. 
Hill Albert M., K. 
Hines James, W. 
Hines Steplien, K. 
Hobbs John F., D. 
Hollister Bridgman J., W. 
Horton (IstLt".) William, A' 
Hubbard William H., D. 
Hubbard Rufus N., D. 
Hunn Horace, D. 
Ingram Charles AY., D. 
Kent John S., K. 
King Charles C., W. 
Lathrop Whitney E., D. 
Lay Horace, IF. 
Loveland John, W. 
Lyman Marcus E., D. 
Macarty Thomas, K. 
McGrath James, A'. 
Mills Samuel C, IF. 
Mix (Capt.) Edward H., A 
Iklorgan Robert P., IF. 
Manross (Capt.) N. J., K. 
Mumsell Elijah, A'. 
Newell Levi H., D. 
Nichols William W., K. 
North William A., A'. 
Parmelee Edward A., K. 
Parsons Edwin L., D. 
Patrick James, D. 
Pease Charles W., K. 
Peckham James W., D. 
Perrv James M., D. 
Pinney Delos R., D. 
Pockett Joseph, D. 
Porter Linus A., D. 
Porter William W., D. 
Prior S. Franklin, A'. 

Rivers Joseph, IF". 
Rowley Edwin L., D. 

Safford William P., D. 

Scott Robert, A'. 

Sharp Theodore W., D. 

Shepard Miles D., D. 

Smith Henry L., D. 

Smith Michael, K. 

Snow Nelson E., K. 

Stevens diaries G., TT'^. 

Sternberg Charles ]\L, D. 

Stoughton Sanford, D. 

Sugden AVilliam, D. 

Taleoit Arthur D. N., D. 

Tennant (Capt.) C. A., W. 

.Thompson (1st Lt.) S. Yi.,D. 

Truesdell Augustus, K. 

Twiss Jason E., K. 

Wardwell Emerson, TF. 

"Warner Horace M., A'. 

Washburn Wadsworth A., /v. 

Waterman Charles IL, \V. 



White John J., D. 
Wilco.x Frank E., D. 
Wiklman Cornelius, K. 
Wiisey Julius C, K. 
Wilson Joseph A., D. 
Wilson Orviil M., IF. 
Woodruff Samuel E., D. 
Wright Joseph, I>. 
Wright Francis H., D. 
Wright Jason, L). 

Seventeenth Regiment Infantry. 
Armstrong Joseph H., D. 
Avant William, D. 
Arnold Lewis, IF. 
Barnum Bethel S., K. 
Beach NeUon, D. 
lienedict Charles S., D. 
Benedict William E., D. 
Benson (Capt.) D.O^,Z). 
Benson Frank J., IF. 
Blackman Theodore, K. 
Black John A., A'. 
Bradley William F., A'. 
Bronson August E., TF. 
Brown Thomas D., D. 
Brown Henry, K. 
Buttery Elias, D. 
Burdett Samuel J., D. 
Clark William S., IF. 
Comstock Samuel, 2d, TF. 
Crabbe Cas>ius M., K. , 
Crofut Stephen C, K. 
Cromma Archibald, D. 
Cumiskev John, K. 
Curtis William, D. 
Dauchy William O., K. 
Delavan Smith, TF. 
Delavan Charles I., D. 
Ferrin Charles Z., D. 
Flynn James, IT". 
Fowler (Lt.Col.) D., ^. 

Fox Michael, "A'. 

Foote Gains St. John, D. 

Fry John G., D. 

Glover Martin V. B., D. 

Graham Thomas R., A'. 

Gregory William S., K. 

Gurnsey George H., TF. 

Hartning William, D. 

Hawkhurst William H., D. 

Hayes George R., D. 

Hearne James, D. 

Hendr]cks George B., D. 

Hickey John, D. 

Hoyt John W., D. 

Husted Elnathan, D. 

Jackson John W., D. 

Jarman Walter M., K. 

Jessop Edwin B., D. 

Johnson Elias, D. 

Lewis Charles B., D. 

Light James H., D. 

Lobdell Eli, D. 

Mahan Hugh, K. 

McLaughlin Thomas, TF. 

Metcalf John W., K. 

Morgan Wilber B., D. 



Moore (Capt.) James, E., A". 
Morrcll Charles E., D. 
Monger Joim N., D. 
Olmsted Christopher S., D. 
Patterson George, IF. 
Peck Lemuel, L). 
Pickett Edwin D., K. 
Potts Jose|)h M., K. 
Purdy Daniel H., IF. 
Rae John W., D. 
Randle Lewis, D. 
Reynolds George W., W. 
Richards T^dward, D. 
Rogers William A., TF. 
Rourke Patrick, D- 
Scotield Orlando F., D. 
Seymour Francis E., Z). 
Small Charles S., D. 
Smith Edwin R., D. 
Stevens Albert, D. 
Stevens William T., D. 
Tavlor Richard D., W. 
Walter (Lt.-Col.) Chas., K. 
Warren Rufus, IT". 
Waterworth James, D. 
Weed Raymond, D. 
Westlake William W., W. 
Whitlock Joseph S., TF. 
Wilcox Alva E., TF. 
Wood George IL D. 
Woodman Ireneus P., TF^. 

Eighteenth Regiment Infantry. 

Adams RusseU W., D. 
Adams Joseph P., A'. 
Adams William L., K. 
Apley Henry, D. 
Asbery George F., D. 
Ashley Earl, A'. 
Baldwin Charles, K. 
Barber Charles A., K. 
Beck with Charles H., D. 
Bennett Daniel G., K. 
Bogue Jabez H., A'. 
Bosworth Charles A., D. 
Buck Lorenzo H., D. 
Bundy Asa H., D. 
Brown Russell M., K. 
Brady John T., K. 
Burdiek Horatio, D. 
Burnett Albert, K. 
Burnham Oliver B., W. 
Burnham James T., K. 
Cahoone Jerome B., K. 
Campbell William H., D. 
CaiT Nathaniel S., D. 
Chapman I'^lias H., D. 
Chapman Seth S., D. 
Chappel Alfred S., D. 
Cooper Thomas D., K. 
Crawford John, IT^ 
Culver (Adjutant) E. B., W. 
Cushman Isnart P., D. 
Daggett James, A". 
Dilliber Andrew N., K. 
Fanning Charles T.,K. 
Fenton Anson A., K. 
Forestner Joseph, D. 



864 



APPENDIX. 



Fox Wallace, D. 
Franklin Albert G., K. 
Green John S., A'. 
Green David, D. 
Green Nathan B., D. 
Hamilton William H., K. 
Hayes George S., D. 
Herrick JohnP.,/).^ 
Holmes Asher D., A'. 
Howard George E., K. 
Johnson Edwin F., K. 
Jones Thomas F., AT. 
Kinney Thomas, D. 
Leonard Irish, K. 
Marey Samnel L., D.^ 
McMahan Thomas, A'. 
McCracken H. H., A\ 
McCracken James, A'. 
MeGinnis(lstLt.)J.T., JF. 
Martin Islay B., W. 
Noyes Charles C, K. 
Oatlcy Stephen H., A'. 
Paine William H., A'. 
Parsons Willard O., A'. 
Pcnry John, D. 
Pickett George W., K. 
Porter (Capt.) Edward L., A'. 
Rawson Stiles, D. 
Rood Julius J., D. 
Rose Hiram D., K. 
Schalk John, D. 
Scott John B., AT. 
Sharkey Robert, K. 
Sheridan Cornelius F., A'. 
Simmons Thomas, A'. 
Smith Wallace, A. 
Snell Alfred A., D. 
Spaulding (Capt.) W. L., A'. 
Tabor Edwin S., D. 
Thompson Nelson C, W. 
Thomas Edwin, D. 
Thornhill William S., W. 
Town William H., D. 
Tracy Alfred E., A. 
Weeks James M., jr., K. 
Woodmaney Albert D., A. 
Wilber Daniel, A. 
Young Walter, A. 

Twentieth lieghnent Infantry. 
Andrus Charles W., D. 
Arnold Edwin, D. 
Bailey James B., K. 
Barker Joim W., D. 
Barrett James, D. 
Bell Giove L., D. 
Benham Reuben, K. 
Booth Henry T., D. 
Bronson Royal L., W. 
Brooks Charles W., D. 
Brooks Joel J., K. 
Buckingham Joel, K 
Buckley John, D. 
Burnham Hiram, K, 
Cassidy James, IF. 
Chapman Owen, D. 
Clooney William, D. 
Cocns Michael, D. 



Coleman William A., A". 
Davis Charles B., D. 
Danner Louis, D. 
DeBank William, D. 
Demay Heman, W. 
Dewasa Augustine, D. 
Devine Timothy, A. 
Dick Charles L., D. 
Dickerman Joel C, A'. 
Doolittle (1st Lieut. ) E. A.,D. 
Do^vns Burton, A. 
Dunn James, A. 
Farrell Henry, D. 
Fillins George W., D. 
Finegan John, A. 
Ford William M., W. 
Foley John, A. 
Foster Melvin, D. 
Francis Thomas, A". 
Garner Thomas, K. 
Gaston Samuel N., D. 
Geer Henry S., D. 
Griffiths (2dLieut.)D.N.,A'. 
Guilford George S., D. 
Hale Walter, W. 
Hart David W., W. 
Hellcnthat Philip, D. 
Hendryx James W., K. 
Hitchcock Augustus, D. 
Hill John, D. 
Hotchkiss Julius H., D. 
Howd Julius B., D. 
Jorfes David W., W. 
Johnson Thomas, D. 
Kane Henry, D. 
Kclley Barney W., D. 
Kelsey Gilbert I., D. 
Knapp John S., D. 
Lawler John, D. 
Lee Erastus R. D. 
Lewis Judson, D. 
Lyon Charles E., D. 
McLean iohx\,'D. 
Moss Franklin, D. 
Moss Titus, A'. 
Morse Edward L., D. 
Morse Francis B., D. 
Mulvey Barnard, A'. 
Murphy Patrick, D. 
Norton Luzerne T., K. 
O'Brien George, K. 
Peck Allen L., D. 
Perry John D., A'. 
Piatt Zenas, D. 
Potter Samuel, K. * 
Powers John, A'. 
Prout Titus M., A. 
Preston John L., K. 
Redshaw Thomas, K. 
Richardson James, D. 
Roberts Charles H., IF. 
Roberts Charles F., A'. 
Root John S., A'. 
Roswell Philo, IF. 
Rowell David B., IF. 
Royce Albert L., D. 
Russell Albert F., D. 
Shipmaker George B., W. 



Simons Thomas, W. 
Skelly John G., D, 
Smith Joel, D. 
Smith George E., D. 
Smith HcrDert E., D. 
Smith Charles H., K. 
Smith (Capt.) Henry C.,^. 
Spencer Samuel T., D. 
Steers William H., D. 
Stillman Albert, A'. 
Talmadge William E., D.- 
Todd Henry A., D. 
Upson (Capt.) Andrew, K. 
Watkins Hiram B., D. 
AVhitlock Frederick, D. 
Whittaker William, D. 
White Thomas, D. 
Williams Charles, D. 
Williams Frederick H., IF. 

Twenty-Jirst Hegimenl In- 
fantry. 
Adams Edwin H., D. 
Adams Daniel L., W., _ . 
Andrews Charles B., W. ' 
Avery Charles, K. 
Babcock Albert C, D. 
Babcock Henry O., D. 
Bennett Theodore F., AT. 
Benjamin Sidney, D. 
Bliss George E., D. 
Brackett John M., D. 
Brainard Fred. K. Z., D. 
Brainard Stillman, L>. 
Brightman Denison, A". 
Brown Henrv D., D. 
Brown Charles F., D. 
Burdick Alfred L., D. 
Burpee (Col.) Thomas, TF. 
Carney Martin, IJ. 
Carpenter Joseph AV., D. 
Chollard John A., D. 
Chajiman Rufus C, D. 
Clark William H., D. 
Clark Edwin J., D. 
Clifford Michael, D. 
Crosbv Gcoriie H., D. 
Culliti John,' A 
Dart Edwin F., D. 
Davis Elias N., D. 
Davis Jarries A., D. 
Douglass David R., D. 
Dutton( Col.) Arthur H., TF. 
Edgerton Gecrge, D. 
Ekiredge Aaron W., 7v. 
Ecclcston Edwin F., D. 
Ellsworth James B., D. 
Farnham Sidney B., D. 
Fitzgerald John, IF. 
Flint George B., D. 
Freeman Alfred J., A. 
Gay Thomas W., D. 
Geer John B., D. 
GoffJamesB,/).^ 
Greene Lyman, K. 
Greene Charles T., D. 
Greenfield Cliarles T., D. 
H'iath Amos F., K. 



EOLL OF HONOR. 



865 



Heath J.imes A., D. 
Hulsc William, D. 
Hyatt James W., D. 
Johnson William, W. 
Jones Edwin B., D. 
Lamb Warren A., D. 
Landrigan Daniel, D. 
Lash Gottlob, TT^. 
Litchfield Elisha P., D. 
IMasuire Thomas, D. 
Maynard Aucjustus E., D. 
Main Jesse M., D. 
Main*Latham H., D. 
ilcCammon James, W. 
Marrow Thomas, K. 
Z\IcMellen John J., D. 
Metcalf Mason M., D. 
ilinor Joseph H., D. 
Mulligan Patrick H., A. 
■ jNIusgrave Fi-ancis J., D. 
Murphy Dennis, D. 
Munsell Wdliam S., K. 
Noble Hiram, D. 
Norton John, D. 
Olmsted Evelvn, D. 
Owen Elijah E., D. 
Parsons Henry A., D. 
Pease Cyrus J., K. 
Perkins Julius A., D. 
Peck Dwight B., D. 
Peters Hewlett, D. 
Phillips Curtis, D. 
Pickett William, K. 
Pitcher Henry, D. 
Prentice A. LeRoy, £>. 
Reynolds Alfied E., A'. 
Rich Bernice B., D. 
Rogers Charles H., D. 
Robinson James A., D. 
Robinson William, D. 
Robinson Calvin N., D. 
Sheppion Daniel, A'. 
Shaylor Justin R., D. 
Sheppce Amos, D. 
Stanton Joseph W., D. 
Staples Charles A., D. 
Starkweather Benjamin, K. 
Staplins Stephen, D. 
Stemm Max, D. 
Sutton George C, D. 
Thomas George S., D. 
Thorne Henry W., A'. 
Tucker Frank, D. 
Watrous Timothy, D. 
Wells Samuel O.", D. 
West Alfred M., D. 
White Rufus C, K. 
Wilcox Chancy F., D. 
Wilcox Leonard, D. 
Williams Charles H., W. 
Wilson William, D. 
Wood George W., D 
Wyllvs Whitins S., D. 
York William R., D. 

Twenty-second Regiment In- 
Jantrij. 

Allen David R., D. 

109 



Boos William, D. 
Buck D. Winthrop, D. 
Corbin John W., D. 
Edgerton Allton L., D. 
Easton Oliver, jr., D. 
Ellenberger Charles, D. 
Foster Elcazer B., D. 
Franeis Charles J., D. 
Goodwin David B., D. 
Hemingway Daniel E., /). 
Lathrop Benjamin F., D. 
Porter Leroy S., D. 
Rice Rodney H., D. 
Spencer Frederick A., D. 
Shepard Alonzo, D. 
Turner Charles D., D. 
Willard Eugene B., D. 
Welch John, A. 

Twenty-third Regiment In- 
fantry. 
Adams Charles, D. 
Ahern Daniel, D. 
Barnuni Frederick C, D. 
Beers Hawley, D. 
Bradley Daniel B., D. 
Bron^on Luther N., W. 
Burton Roflin S., D. 
Carter ELenry, D. 
Carter Ammi, D. 
Cole Julius N., D. 
Comstock William E.^D. 
Cornell Thomas C, A'. 
Crofut Charles W., D. 
Curtis Frederick L., D. 
Deforest George W., D. 
Dexter Hcnrv L., D. 
Eastford Cvrus B., D. 
Edwards David S., D. 
Gage Sclah, D. 
Gillett David A., D. 
Godfrey (Capt.) G. M., Z). 
Goodale Grimes, D. 
Gorham Lewis H., D. 
Hamlin Almon E., D. 
Hamlin William R., D. 
Johnson George B., D. 
Knajip Michael F., D. 
Keller Adolph, A'. 
Lillis John, D. 
Light Charles, D. 
Lockwood Charles, D. 
Ma-rshall John, D. 
Mead Watson M., D. 
Meeker Charles S., D. 
Merwin Francis B., D. 
Moulthrop Abraham L., K. 
Nichols Franklin W.,D. 
Ould Samuel, W. 
Peck (2d Lieut.) E. F., D. 
Parke William W.. D. 
Porter George A., D. 
Porter George B., K. 
Scofield William, A. 
Serine Orrin, D. 
Scribner Aaron 0., D. 
Smith Dwight L., D. 
Starr (1st Lieut.) Fred., W. 



Treat Frederick W., D. 
Webster Joel F., D. 
Wheeler Abel M,, W. 
Wood Cyrus, D. 

Ti^enty -fourth Regiment In- 

fintry. 
Alexander Lucius P., D. 
Avery Timothy A., D. 
Baker Charles; D. 
Barry John, K. 
Barry Patrick, A. 
Bray William, jr., K. 
Brainard Harris A., IF. 
Brown Henry B., D. ■ 
Bushnell Sercno H., W. 
Carroll Charles, K. 
Carroll John F., K. 
Clark Samuel E., D. 
Cottar John, D. 
Cunis Julius,/). 
Dibble Charles A., K. " 
Dickinson Aaron B., Z), 
Dunn Edward, D. 
Eaton Edward, K. 
Evans Hiram, D. 
Galligan Philip, Z). 
Gaylord Marslmll, Z). 
Gillett Oscar A., D. 
Goodyear Gardner F., Z). 
Goodyear Lyman J., D. 
Goodyear (2d Lieut.) L., Z). 
Greenwood Samuel E., A. 
Ives Edgar D., A. 
Keene Edward, Z>. 
Lyman Thomas, D. 
M'ason Frederick S., D. 
McCartv John, K. 
McCartin Patrick, D. 
Merriman Harvey, K. 
Miller Amos G.,'^. 
Ne'ttleton Erwin, D. 
O'Donnel John, T). 
Owens Patrick, Z>. 
Paddock Luman, D. 
Parker Elisha, D. 
Peck Andrew, D. 
Penfield Augustus, Z). 
Pierpont Horace, D. 
Piatt Newell H., B. 
I'latts Samuel S., W. 
Post (1st Lieut.) B. Q,.,T). 
Potter Charles H., D. 
Pratt Selden, D. 
Rigby Charles, K. 
Riley Thomas, Z). 
Robinson William H., Z). 
Rutty Ellsworth, Z>. 
Scott Selleck, A'. 
SchoU Henry, W. 
Sizer Albert'M., D. 
Smith Robert, A'. 
Spencer Cyrus, D. 
Spencer Russell, Z). 
Stevens Charles D., Z). 
Walters Henry, D. 
Warner Wallace R., Z). * 

Weimore George, Z>. 



866 



APPENDIX. 



Wilcox Miner J., D. 
Wilcox George W., D. 
Wooding Hobart, D. 
Wright Sereno A., D. 

Twenty-fifth lirgiment In- 
fantry. 
Addis Ira B., K. 
Arnold Charles R., D. 
Barrows Samuel F., D. 
Beach John W., D. 
Bennett Noble H., D. 
Bissell Carlos F., K. 
Bissell William 0., D. 
Booth Austin C, D. 
Brandly John, D, 
Brooks Abner S., K. 
Bulkley Robert, K. 
Button William, W. 
Carrier Miletus H., W. 
Carter John, D. 
Chadwick James A., D. 
Chapman James B., D. 
Clapp (2d Lieut.) C, D. 
Cobb Charles A., D. 
Coe Leverctt H., D. 
Cook Charles S., W. 
Dart Fred. W., D. 
Dewey {2d Lieut ) D. P., K. 
Denley George C, D. 
Deming Philip, D. 
Faulkner VVdiiam G., W. 
Francis John M., D. 
Gower Edwin J., D. 
Gower Sparling J., D. 
Graham Alljcrt, A'. 
Grey Zebulon, A'. 
Griffin Emorv M., D. 
Grover Charles D., IF. 
Haydcn (Capt.) S. S., A'. 
Holcomb John 0., D. 
Holden Jonas G., K. 
HoUister Andrew, D. 
House William W., jr., D. 
Hunt John II., W. 
Hyer Eliziir, I). 
Jackson Wellington, K. 
Johnson (Capt.) N. P., Z). 
Jones Alonzo S., D. 
Latham Webster B., D. 
Lawton Samuel A., K. 
Long Michael, />. 
Marks Lucius F., D. 
Martin John, A'. 
Moore John C, D. 
Newberry Horace H., D. 
Oliver (2d Lieut.) W. A., IF. 
Palmer Andrew, D. 
Parmlee Charles M., D. 
Parsons Norton T., D. 
Prindie Edward D., A'. 
Porter William, K. 
Robinson George K., D. 
Robinson George, D. 
Rockwell Henry E., IF. 
Rogers Chauncey, D. 
uRogers William, jr., D. 
Root Cyrus, D. 



Skinner (Surgeon) A. B., D. 
Simpson George W., D. 
Talcott Wallace S., IF. 
Taylor Charles, D. 
Thomas Emerson B., D. 
Thompson Albert F., D. 
Thrall Jason, D. 
Ticknor Frederick W„ D. 
TuUer Leroy, D. 
Twinintr Charles E., IF. 
Tuttle William IL, D. 
Upson Charles, D. 
Wallace Erskine, IF. 
Warner Hiram L., D. 
Ward Elijah, D. 
Webster Linus E., IF. 
Wheeler James E., D. 
Willis Madison C, D. 
Wilson Archibald, A'. 
Woodruff Alson T., D. 
Wright James W., D. 
Wright Henry D., A' 

Twenty-sixth Regiment In- 
fantry. 
Aver}^ Courtland C. D. 
Bailey Edwin W., IF. 
Bailey Henry Cit, D. 
Bailey Pruscius, D. 
Barber John, D. 
Barker Joseph R., K. 
Barn.es Amos D., D. 
Beckwitii Charles J., D. 
Beebe Samuel P., D. 
Bcrger Leonhard, D. 
Bentlcy Adam C, D. 
Bogue" David G., D. 
Brooks Henry, W. 
Bromley Miles, D. 
Brooks Augustus 0., D. 
Brooks Hen IV, IF. 
Brown William J., IF. 
Brown Andrew H., IF. 
Burlingame Albert J., D. 
Bntton^Edward, )F. 
Chapcll Horace L., IF. 
Chapell George H., IF 
Chapell John O., K. 
Chapman Andrew M., D. 
Chapman William E., W. 
Child Chester R., D. 
Cburch William II., D. 
Church William W., D. ■ 
Christie Edwin L., D. 
Clark Ebenezer J., D. 
Coonev James, A'. ■* 
Crandall Charles P., IF. 
Daniels John C, D. 
Dugan James, D. 
Edgerton George F., D. 
Edwards Horatio N., D. 
Ellis Rodman, D. 
Fellows William C, D. 
Ferrister Dennis, IF. 
Flike Joseph, A'. 
France George, D. 
Franklin Allen H., D. 
Frink Thomas H., D. 



Gard Frank W., D. 
Geer Cyrus M., IF. 
Gray George S., Z>. 
Gray Montgomery, D. 
Green Elisha N., D. 
Griffiths Jared, D. 
Haire William H., D. 
Harding Thomas R., W. 
Henrick Philip, A'. 
Hobson Wolcott, IF. 
Holmes Daniel, W. 
Holmes George R., D. 
Jacobs (2d Lieut.) H.t\, W. 
Johnson James W., D. 
Johnson Stephen T., D. 
Kenyon (1st Lt.) M. R., D; 
Keyes Edwin R., IF. 
Kohl Joseph, IF. 
Latham William P., IF. 
Lombard James, K. 
Lord Dexter M., D. 
Lord Ames W., D. 
Lyons Orrin E., K. 
Lyon Origen, D. 
Luther Orrin M., D. 
Lyman Christopher A., D. 
Main Nathaniel, D. 
Main David W., D. 
Main William A., D. 
Manace Thomas, D. 
Manning (2d Lt.) E. P.,Z). 
Martin David A., D. 
Matthews John H., D. 
Maynard John, D. 
Maynai-d Appleton J., D. 
Maynard Joseph S., D. 
Miller George, D. 
Miner Charles H., W. 
Miner Charles H., D. 
Miirrav William, D. 
M vers "E lias E., Z>. 
Niles John A., IF. 
Nve John, K. 
Osborn William B., TF. 
Palmer Noyes W., D. 
Parkenson James, IF. 
Phillips John, D. 
Phillips Norman A., IF. 
Prentice John R., D. 
Randall (Capt.) Jedediah, W. 
Rathburn Elisha K., D. 
Rowland Alonzo W., IF. 
Hoath Daniel H., D. 
Robbins Henry, D. 
Ruckert John, D. 
Seignions John L., IF. • 
Shirley Thomas H., D. 
Sheffield Nathan S., A'. 
Sherman William J., IF. 
Slater Rudolph, K. 
Smith Albert, IF. 
Smith Henry L., D. 
Snow Lucius J., D. 
Stanton (Capt.) John S., K. 
Sterrv Phineas B., IF. 
Tabrecht Thomas, D. 
Thompson James F., K. 
Tillottson Joseph A., A'. 



EOLL OF HONOR. 



867 



Tinker James, D. 
Tooker William N., D. 
Wai'ner Ulysses S., W. 
Watrous William H., D. 
Weemcs Thacldeus M., W. 
Whipple Austin, D. 
Willey Charles W., K. 
Winchester John B., K. 
Wood Nathaniel M., D. 
Young Albert F., D. 

Twenty-seventh Regiment In- 
fantry. _^ 
Ailing Frank E., ~K. 
Ailing Charles L., D. 
Jialdvvin George C., D. 
Barrett Thomas E., A'. 
Beecher Nelson N., D. 
Bennett Joseph, W. 
Bomherdt William F., D. 
Bodwell William, W. 
Brown George, A'. 
Burke William, K. 
Cabanis Albert, K. 
Castle Andrew B., K. 
Chapman Jcded, jr., K. 
Clark Samuel B., A'. 
Clark John G., D. 
Clinton James G., K. 
Cobb Benjamin H., D. 
Confrey Michael, K. 
Condon Patrick, W. 
Cornwall Charles E., K. 
Dolph Edward B.,Z). 
Dunn Patrick, W. . 
Eddy Jairus C, W. 
Fairchild Augustus B., K. 
Farr Edward B., K. 
Fowler Richard H., W. 
Fowler Samuel, 2d, W. 
Goodwin John, K. 
Goodwin William A., jr., K. 
Goodwill William, D. 
Hazzard Edward C., D. 
Higgins Loren M., W. 
Hill George S., D. 
Hill William G., W. 
Hill Henry B., W. 
Hilliard Henry B., D. 
Hull Joseph, D. 
Johnson Frank A., D. 
Johnson Josiah, W. 
Judson Marcus 0., K. 
Judson George J., K. 
Keller Gilbert, K. 
Lounsbury John W., D. 
Marks Treat A., D. 
Merwin (Lt.-Col.) H. C.,A'. 
Mimmack Geortre H., K. 
Mit.'hell John, W. 
Phile William M., D. 
Plumb Sidney H., D. 
Rawson John, K. 
Renter William, K. 
Robinsoo John S., D. 
Russell Henry D., W. 
Schlieden Jacob, D. 



Seliuerzer (Capt.) B. E., A'. 
Scott William O., K. 
Shelley Rufus S., W. 
Smith Hezekiah P., D. 
Sperry Gany B., A'. 
Tayldr (Capt.) A. C, W. 
Thomas Corydon N., A'. 
Thompson Joseph B., D. 
Thompson Edward, K. 
Thompson Sidney R., W. 
Tucker Lewis M., D. 
Welton Harvey S., D. 
Wilford George G., W. 
Wilson William E., K. 

Twenty-eighth Regiment In- 
fantry. 
Barber Samuel C, D. 
Bai-den George, D. 
Banks Stephen, D. 
Bemus Charles F., K. 
Beers Georue, D, 
Bissell William E., D. 
Blake OrviUe 0., D. 
Bouton Spencer, D. 
Brazie Jourdin, D. 
Bronson William N., D. 
Byxbee Nathan R., D. 
Caldwell Samuel, D. 
Churchill David, D. 
Clark Edward T., D. 
Clock George W., D. 
Conkwright Alexander, D. 
Cook George W., D. 
Crane Joseph W., D. 
Curtis Erwin W., D. 
Dailey Henry, D. 
Darrow John H., D. 
Dayton Walter B., D. 
Disbron Richmond, D. 
Dowd Thomas F., W. 
Durand {1st Lieut.) C, A'. 
Duvall Daniel W., W. 
Feriis Jay, D. 
Fillow Henry B., D. 
Ford Aaron N., D. 
Gregory Charles B., D. 
Haggerty Michael, W. 
Hanford Benjamin F., D. 
Hartson George W., IF. 
Hoag (Capt.y David D., A'. 
Holiister Lewis, D. 
Hoyt Andrew, D, 
Hoyt John E., D. 
Hubbard Mvron N., D. 
Hungerlbrd'(2d Lt.) L., D. 
Hungertbrd Oliver P., D. 
Kenney Elmore C, D. 
Kenney Noxon E., D. 
Kiley Eugene, K. 
Lamson William, D. 
Leeds (Capt.) F. R., Z). 
Lockwood Andrew J., D. 
Lockwood Henry B., D. 
Lyon ( Surgeon j R. P., D. 
McArthur R. A., W. 
Madara Charles, D. 



Marsh Decatur D., D. 
Mead Hibbard, D. 
Mills William H., 2d, D. 
MoUet Thomas W., D. 
Nott Egbert F., K. 
Ormsbee John E., D^ 
Partlow Richard, D. 
Piatt Gabriel W., D. 
Riley Eugene, A'. 
Rosborough Charles A,, IF. 
Scofield Lewis B., D. 
Searles George R., D. 
Shaw Ovid P., K. 
Sherwood Nathan, D. 
Smith Talcut, IF. 
Totton William PL, D. 
Turner Cornelius, D. 
Vail James, K. 
Walton William H., D. 
Warden Jason, A'. 
Washburn Charles E., D. 
Watson Cassius, D. 
Waterbury Andrew C, D. 
Waterburv Stephen R., D. 
Webb William O., D. 
Wellcr John L., D. 
Weliman Joseph, D. 
Wellstood John G., jr., D. 
Wheeler Mai-k H., K. 
Wilmot George W., K. 
Woodin Charles E., IF. 
Wright Columbus C, D. 
Youngs WiUiam H., D. 

Twenty-ninth Regiment Infan- 
try (colored). 
Adams Henry E., D, 
Addison John S., D. 
Benson Thomas, D. 
Brown Charles, D. . 
Carroll John, D. 
Copelin Richard, D. 
Collins Francis, D. 
Coffin Abram P., D. 
Closson William, D. 
Dennis Francis, D. 
Dulliran Henry, D. 
Frank Oliver, D. 
Freeman Joiin R., D. 
Freeman John, D. 
Gaul William H., D. 
Gipson Robert A., D. 
Glazier Henry, D. 
Halstead Albert, D. 
Hawley James, D. 
Hempstead James M., D. 
Holbert Morris, D. 
Holmes Joseph, D. 
Howard Peter, D. 
Johnson Thomas, D. 
Johnson Peter, D. 
Lewis Emor, D. 
McCoy George H., D. 
Mclntyre Gurnish, D. 
Maticer Benjamin, D. 
Meade William, D. 
Montgomery James H., Z)., 



868 



APPENDIX. 



Murray John F., D. 
Nelson Theodore, D. 
Odell William M., D. 
Ostis Raymond, D. 
Price John, D. 
Richards Samuel, D. 
liogers Lyman R., D. 
Roasting Richard, D. 
Royce Lyman R., D. 
Russell William, D. 
Saulsbury Jeremiah, D. 
Seymour Austin, D. 
Simmons Virgil, D. 
Steward William, D. 
Storms LaFayctte, D. 
Vance Thomas, D. 
Watson Horace, D. 
Williams Moses, D. 
Williams George W., D. 

Thirtieth Rerjiment Infantry 
(colored). 

Baker William, D. 
Berdan Spencer, D. 
Cunningham Alexander, D. 
Daniels Josiah II., D. 
Gibson James, D. 
Hannibal William, D. 
Hawkins Allen, D. 
Johnson Frank, Z>. 
Kanaka Friday, D. 
Marshall Andrew, D. 
Parker Levi, D. 
Sherman Thomas, D. 
Wilson Isaac, •/). 

Thirty-first Regiment Infan- 
try [colored). 

Dom Samuel, D. 
Smith George, D, 
Thomas John, D. 
Walker John, D. 

Drafted ynen assessed to R. I. 

Artillery. 
Bush William, D. 
Hakes Peter, D. 
Jackson Albert G., D. 

First Squadron Cavalry. 

(Known as Companies C and 
D 2d New-York Cav.) 

AUyn Henry W., W. 
Bailey Cornelius H., A. 
Batchelder George A., D. 
Bishop Wallace A., D. ' 
Burwell George W., D. 
Decker (1st Lieut ) J. N., K. 
Flaherty John, W. 
German William A., A. 
Hallock Dudley, D. 
Hosford Nathan F., D. 
Martinson (2d Lieut.) A., K. 
Me Stone Henry, D. 
Norton Ellsworth H.', K. 
Oakley Gilbert, W. 



Orvis George A., D. 
Patterson Sillman P., D. 
Pendleton Damon S., D. 
Riddock Thomas W., K. 
Session Thomas, K. 
Snell Charles D., D. 
Whittaker (1st Lt.) D., K. 
Wilson Henry M., D. 

First Regiment Cavalry. 

(Originally organized as First 
Battalion Cavalry.) 

Backus (Capt.) Joseph, K. 

Baker Frederick W., D. 

Blivin Isaac T., D. 

Bngbee Sylvester C, K. 

Burke John, D. 

Burbank William L., D. 

BiM'lingame Harris, Z>. 

Carr Andrew C, D. 

Carver Michael, K. 

Chaffee Euirene A., D. 

Crandall Robert B., D. 

Falon George, K. 

Flannagan Michael, K. 

Fox Albert M., K. 

Hiller Frederick J., K. 

nine Charles H., D. 

Holcomb Lucius E., D. 

Jameson (Q. M. Sergt.) J. 
S. died in Hospital at An- 
derson ville. 

Johnson Richard, D. 

Lecrienier Giles P., K. 

Morgan John, D. 

Nilcs (Capt.) Albert II., D. 

Peters John A., D. 

Shields John T., D. 

Sterling Theodore, D. 

Thatcher Stephen G., D. 

Tilletts George W., D. 

Towner Terrencft, D. 

Tompkins Enos, A. 

Tra-ansee William P., D. 

Warner (Capt.) A. G., A'. 

Whipple Samuel S., 2v. 

Williams (1st Lt.) Charles 
P., jr., D. 

Winchester Daniel B., A. 

First Light Battery C. V. 

Bullard Henry B., D. 
Cook Fanfield, D. 
Gillette Nathan, D. 
Goodale George A., D. 
Graham William L., D. 
Havs James, D. 
Hull Joseph H., D. 
Metcalf (1st Lieut.) G., W. 
McLean Hector, D. 
Moore William E., D. 
Norton Jonathan G., D. 
Pettibone Fred. K., A., D. 
Roberts Edmund JM. B., D. 
Spencer Reuben A., D. 
Spencer Henry H., D. 



Taylor James J., D. 
Warner Levi J., D. 
Wilmot Henry L., W. 

Second Light Battery C. V. 
Bulkly Nathan, D. 
Chase Edward B., D. 
Dart Anson W., D. 
Hartshorn Tyler W., D. 
Peck James A., D. 
Ryan Dennis, D. 
Wood James G., D. 

First Regiment Heavy Artil- 
lery C. V. 

(Formerly Fourth llegiment 
Infantry.) 

Ackerbey James B., D. 
Alvord Edwin B., I). 
Anderson William H., D. 
Atherington Edgar, D. 
Austin Angell A., D. 
Avery Francis B., D. 
Barrett G orge, 2d, D. 
Bassett John^M., Z). 
Beckwith Henry M., D. 
Beel)c Gilbert, jr., D. 
Bingham Eliplialet N., D. 
Blakeslee George L., D. 
Bowen John P., D. 
Brandt August, D. 
Bushnell Frederick, D. 
Clark Charles, D. 
Clark Henry W., D. 
Comstock Charles F., A. 
DeForrest Daniel B., D. 
Diggen James, D. 
Donahue James, D. 
Dorman Fernando, D. 
Ellsworth Havilah I., D. 
Farrell Loren J., D. 
Gardiner Dwight, D. 
Glamey Samuel C., D. 
Grant Frederick L., D. 
Griffin Clement, D. 
Griswold Sidney, D. 
Goodyear Waldstein, W. 
ilarvey Robert F., D. 
Holders Charles H.. D. 
Hubbard Talmage N., D. 
Hungerford Gordon H., D. 
Hyland Thomas, K. 
Kain James, D. 
Kain George W., A. 
Lewis Daniel W., D. 
Loomis William T., A. 
Lynch Owen, D. 
McCarthy John, D. 
McCormick James, K. 
McClure John C, D. 
McNeillc Edward, A. 
Malone John H. S., D. 
Mathes Henry, K. 
Minor James, D. 
Morand Patrick, D.' 
Munroe Wifliam H.,' D. 
Munson Reers W., D. 



EOLL OF HONOK. 



869 



Murphy William H., D. 
Nettlcman Rolan A., D. 
Noble William D., D. 
O'Conner Patrick, D. 
Osborn Frederick A., D. 
Owen Leverctte B., D. 
Parmlee George, D. 
Payne George E., D. 
Perkins Thomas D., D. 
Pendleton George W., D, 
Porter James M., D. 
Post Ezekiel L., D. 
Potter William R., D. ^ 
Qninlan William H., K. 
Robertson Thomas, D. 
Rogers Thomas J., D. 
Roiers Leverctt M., D. 
RoUcston William N., K. 
Ryder John Q., D. 
Ryan Samuel S., D. 
Searlc Henry jM , D. 
Seymour Alexis J., D. 
Shoals Charles, D. 
Skelly William W., D. 
Sherman Thomas G., D. 
Smith William E., D. 
Smith Edward P., D. 
Spaulding George 11 , D. 
Stevens Henry S., D. 
Stowe Luke, D. 
Sweetland Julius, D. 
Taylor Charles, D. 
Trowbridge James A., D. 
Turner James E,, D. 
Warner Azariab, D. 
Webb James W., D. 
Wliiting John O., D. 
Wilson George A., D. 

Second Regiment Ai-tiUery 

C. V. 
Adams Charles, jr., W. 
Andrus Franklin, K. 
Baldwin Isaac, K. 
Barber Norm an B., D. 
15arnes Th.codore A., K. 
Barrett Augustus E., Z). 
Beach George L., W. 
Beckwith Albert, D. 
Benedict Harlan D., D. 
Boughton Ezra B., K. 
Bradley John H., D. 
Bradley Ira S., D. 
Bragg Robert W., A". 
Brasliing I'red. W., K. 
Bristol Henry B., A'. 
Burton William, K. 
Butler William, D. 
Calhoun Henry A., D. 
Caul James, K. 
Case James H., D. 
Castle Edgar J., W. 
Clark Harvey, D. 
Clark Sheldon, D. 
Cleveland Charles G., D. 
Coe Joseph E., D. 
Cole Philo L., D. 



Colby Henry, D. 
Colt Williaiii H., A' 
Comstock George, K. 
Cook Moses, jr., D. 
Cone Giles A., D. 
Comins Alfred, K. 
Dains William H., D. 
Daniels Frederick W., K. 
Demuth Jacob, W. 
Downs Lewis, A'. 
Egsrleston Horatio d , D. 
Elwell Timothy, D. 
Evans Orlando D.. D. 
Evarts Jared P., K. 
Everett George, K. 
Fallen Stephen, K. 
Ferris Charles i)., D. 
Ferris Mvron, K. 
Feron Plulo A., K. 
Ford Harvey, D. 
Foster Thomas B., D. 
Fox ^Valter M., A'. 
Fox Harvey H., D. 
Galpin Almond D., K. 
Gillett Chester, D. 
Gibbs Samuel E., K. , 
Gil>bs Birdsey, A'. 
Glover Wesley F., D. 
Griffith Edward, K. 
Guernsey Charles E., W. 
Hall Charles D., D. 
Hall Jolm E., K. 
Hard Henry F., D. 
Harriniiton George W., D. 
Hart Willard, K. 
Hempsted (2d Lt,) G.B., D. 
Henderson William G., D. 
Herald William, D. 
Hickey Edmund, K. 
Hitchcock Oliver, K. 
Hinraan Charles C, D. 
Holt George H., D. 
Iloyt George A., jr., D. 
Hubbard William R., D, 
Hubbard Franklin W., D. 
Hubbell Mvron, D. 
Hull Alonzo J., K. 
Hurlburt William S., D. 
Hurlburt George W., D. 
Huxley Matthew H., D. 
Hyatt Henry H., K. 
Idc Leander, />. 
Iffland John, K. 
Jackson Charles W., K. 
Jackson Andrew, K. 
Johnson Jerome, D. 
Johnson William W., D. 
Jones Albert A., A'. 
Jome Alfred, W. 
Kaine Patrick, K. 
Kane Friend F., K. 
Iveegan Patrick, K. 
Keliey William, A'. 
Kellogg Arthur G., D. 
Kellogg (CoDElisha h.,K. 
Lacy David, A'. 
Lake David D., K. 



Lapham John, D. 
Leach William B., W. 
Lewis EdL'ar B., D. 
Lord Simeon W., D. 
Lownsbury Banks, D. 
Lyman Daniel E., D. 
Lynch Patrick, A". 
Mann Thomas, IF. 
Mansiie'd X-rman, IF. 
Martin John, A". 
Martin John, A'. 
Martin Walter, K. 
Mattoon llii-am, W. 
McBirney George H., K. 
Meeker Benjamin, AT. 
Merwin Edward R., D. 
Miller Henry W., K. 
Miner Orson IM., K. 
Miner Henry M., D. 
Mooney James, K. 
INIorris Ezra B.. A'. 
Morse Apollos C, W. 
Murphy Joiin, A'. 
Xewl)urn Nelbert P., D. 
North Pascal P., D. 
NorviUe Wil iam IL, D. 
Ostrander Adam, K. 
Ostrander James, jr., D. 
Ostrander Peter, D. 
Painter Frederick K. D., K. 
Palmer Lucius C, IF. 
Parks Joseph P., K. 
Parmalee Willard H., K. 
Parmalee Watson, D. 
Payne Joseph B., K. 
Pease Harvey, W. 
Perkins Rue! IL, K. 
Preston Jertmie, Z>. 
Pierce Georee, K. 
Pollard John, W. 
Polly James C, D. 
Potter George W., W. 
Reed Ciiarles, A'. 
Rexford Henry A„ A'. 
Richardson William W., D. 
Riley Peter, D. 
Robinson William T., D. 
Rouse Lucicn G., D. 
Ryan Patrick, K. 
Ryan Lant, K. 
Sanford Andrew IL, D. 
Segur Charles H., K. 
Scott Elias P., A^ 
Scull Robert, A'. 
Skiff George A., K. 
Sidney James, D. 
Smith Lyman J., jr., K. 
Sothergiil Robert, A'. 
Sparks^ Walter C, A'. 
Stanley Clutrles H., K. 
Starks"Darwin S., D. 
Stevans Franklin B., K. 
Stewart John H., D. 
Sterry Myron R., K. 
Stoll'John B., A'. 
Stone Merrietti H., D. 
St. John Lewis, D. 



870 



APPENDIX. 



Straight Henry C, K. 
Tatro George A., K 
Teeter John M., K. 
Tliomas Charles L., D. 
Thomas Horatio S., D. 
Thomas John, D. 
Thompson Richard S., D. 
Thorp David J., K. 
Tilford Homer F., K. 



Tolles Burnitt H., D. 
Volusen Caralf, D. 
Wadham Uri, D. 
Wadhams (Capt.) L., W. 
Wadsworth Josiah J., D. 
Warner John, K. 
Warner William C, D. 
Watson William S., Z). 
Watt Robert, K. 



Webster Frederick B., D, 
White John S., D. 
White John II., D. 
Wheeler Curtiss, W. 
Whiteman Monroe, K. 
Wilson William S., D. 
Winship Julius, D. 
Wooden Amos, D. 
Woodford Julius, D. 



OUR MARTYRS AT ANDERSON VILLE. 



For the only complete roll of the martyrs who perished at Andersonville, the nation is 
indebted to private Dorence Atwater of Plymouth, Conn. Younp Atwater was captured, 
with others of the First Squadron, near Hagerstown, Md., in a fight with Lee's retreating 
army, and was taken to various prisons, ultimately arriving at Andersonville in February^, 
1864. Being a neat penman, he was soon detailed as a clerk in the surgeon's otfice, to 
keep the daily record of deaths. While serving in this capacity, knowing of the appalling 
mortality inside the stockade, he secretly made a duplicate roll of all the'deaths, which he 
surreptitiously brought away with him "in ilarch, 1865. He alleges that he sold to Col. 
Breck of the War Department, for three hundred dollars, the privilege of copving the 
rolls ; the originals to be returned to him. Breck retained the whole. Afterwards, in 
visiting Andersonville with Miss Clara Barton to mark the graves, Atwater recovered 
possession of his list, and, on refusing to deliver it to the War Department, was seized 
by Col. Breck, court-martialed, convicted of theft, and sent to the Albany Penitentiary 
as a criminal. He was released with impaired health under a general amnesty, and, with 
the encouragement and assistance of Sliss Barton, published the roll for the benefit of 
surviving friends. The following are the names of the martyrs from Connecticut : — 



[All persons numbered below 
12,.367 died in 1864 ; above 
that number, in 1865.] 

^'o- "f X.ime. 

grave. 

2.380 Anderson, A. 

3461 Batchelder, Benj. 

3634 Baty, John 

730G Brunkissell, H. 

2833 Brennon, M. 

3224 Burns, John 
10414 Blumley, E. 

545 Biselow, William 
11965 Ball, H. A. 
12089 Brookmeyer, T. W. 
13152 Burke, H. 
12209 Bone, A. 
10682 Burnham, F. 
10690 Barlow, 0. L. 
10876 Bennett, N. 

5806 Brown, C. H. 

5919 Boyce, William 

6083 Bishop, B. H. 

6184 Bushnell, William 

7763 Bailey, F. 

2054 Brewer, G. E. 

5596 Bm-ns, B. 

5632 Balcomb 

5754 Beers, James C. 

1636 Birdsell, D. 

4296 Blakeslee, H. 

3900 Bishop, A. 

1493 Bessanon, Peter 

2720 Babcock, E. 

2818 Baldwin, Thomas 

2256 Bosworth, A. M. D. 

5132 Boucin, John 

5152 Brooks, William D. 

5308 Bower, John 

.5452 Bently, F. 

5464 Bently, James 

4830 Blackman, A. 

7742 Banning, J. F. 



No. of „ 

grave. ^«™e. 

8018 Ballentine, Eobert 

2408 Bassett, J. B. 
12540 Bohine, C. 
12620 Bemis, Charles 

3707 Chapin, J. L. 

3949 Cottrell, P. 

3941- Clarkson 

4367 Culler, M. 

4449 Connor, D. 

4848 Carrier, D. B. 

6060 Cook, W. H. 

6153 Clark, H. H. 

6846 Clark, W. 

5799 Champlain, H. 
336 Cane, John 
620 Christian, A. M. 
775 Crawford, James 

7316 Chapman, M. 

7348 Cleary, P. 

7385 Campbell, Robert 

7418 Culler, M. 

7685 Carver, John G. 

7780 Cain. Thomas, 

9084 Crosslev, B. 

10272 Col tier," W. 

11175 Callahan, J. 

11361 Candee, D. M. 

25 Dowd, F. 

7325 Davis, W. 

2813 Davis, W. 

3614 Damery, John 

7597 Diebenthal, H. 

8568 Donoway, J. 

8769 Dunton,W. H. 

5446 Dugan, Charles 
11339 Dean, R. 
11481 Demmings, G. A. 
11889 Downer, S. 
11961 Demming, B. J. 

3482 Edmonds, A. 

4437 Easterly, Thomas 



Xo. of 
grave. 

4558 

7346 

7603 

8968 

11608 

12442 

186 

1277 

2612 

4444 

4465 

5123 

^82 

5913 

5556 

8028 

9089 

10255 

12188 

3028 

4096 

4974 

4015 

5173 

7057 

7.337 

7592 

7646 

9423 

10300 

10396 

49 

2336 

3195 

3448 

3559 

1350 

3053 

5029 

5162 

5352 

871 



Same. 

Earnest, H. C. 
Ensworth, John 
Edwards, 0. J. 
Evans, N. L. 
Emmett, W. 
Eaton, W. 
Fluit, C. W. 
Francell, Otto 
Fry, S. 
Fibbles, H. 
Fisher, H. 
Florence, J. J. 
Fuller, PI. S. 
Frisbie, Levi 
Fogg. C. 
Feely, M. 
Filby, A. 
Frederick, John 
Fagan, P. D. 
Gordon, John 
Gray, Pat 
Grammon, James 
Gullerman, J. 
Gilmore, J. 
Gallagher, P. 
Gott, G. 
Goodrich, J. W. 
Graigg, W. 
Guina^ H. M. 
Grady, M. 
Gladstone, William 
Holt, Thomas 
Hughes, Edward 
Hitchcock, Wm. A. 
Hall, William G. 
Holcomb, D. 
Hilenthal', James 
Haskins, James 
Hollister, A. 
Hally, Thomas 
Hanson, F. A. 



872 


APPENDIX. 




No. of Kame. 


^°- l^ Name. 


No. of 


grave. 


grave. 


grave. 


6695 Hodges, George 


6426 Messey, M. 


2405 


4937 Harwood, G. 


6451 McGee, Thomas 


2474 


0964 Hovt, E. S. 


6570 JMcDavid, James 


3010 


7012 Hull, M. 


6800 Meal, John 


3026 


7380 Holcomb, A. A. 


6902 Mape, George 


3041 


7642 Halv, W. 


6240- Marshall, L. 


3522 


7757 Hubbard, H. D. 


7547 Mcore, A. P. 


3.598 


8148 Hubbard, B. 


7852 Miller, F. D. 


4212 


8413 Haywood, E. 


8150 Modger, A. 


4316 


SO 13 Heath, J. 


8446 Matthews, S. J. 


4555 


9129 Hall, B. 


8501 Meyers, L. 


4722 


9369 Hearr, W. 


9170 Mcrts C. 


4892 


9981 Hurley, R. A. 


9321 Milor, W. 


5385 


12086 Hibbard, A. 


10695 M"Creieth, A. 


5563 


12117 Hancock, W. 


10914 UcKcon, J. 


5712 


12163 Hudson, Charles 


11 587 Murphv, W. 


5725 


9340 Islay, H. 


11533 McDowell, J. 


6734 


737 Jamieson, Charles 


12134 Montjoy, T. 


7070 


5221 Johnson, John 


5044 Nichdls, C. 


7975 


7083 Johnson, G. W. 


6222 Northiop, John 


8038 


7365 Jamison, John S. 


7331 North, S. S. 


8235 


7570 Jones, John J. 


10895 Nichols, M. 


9-04 


7961 Jones, James E. 


4565 Orton, H. C. 


9435 


8502 Johnson, F. 


7511 Olena, R. 


9468 


11970 Johnson, C. S. 


8276 Orr, A. 


9987 


12340 Johnson, W. 


1960 Pcndelton, W. 


101-8 


1-590 Kingsbury, C. 


3868 Pompev, C. 


10247 


5186 Klincland, L. 


4356 Parker," S. B. 


10476 


6374 Kempton, B. F. 


3803 Phelps, S. G. 


10787 


6705 Kershoff, B. 


4934 Pinible, A. 


-2005 


6748 Kclley, F. 


5002 Plum, James 


12288 


7749 Kalty, J. 


5386 Patchcy, J. 


541 


8065 Kimball, H. H. 


7487 Post, C. 


4443 


8866 Kohlenburg, C. 


7688 Poteche, A. 


5427 


10233 Kern, T. 


9248 Phillips, J. I. 


5479 


3401 Lendon, H. 


9444 Padfrey, Svlvanus. 


7723 


5893 Lastry, J. , 


9533 Painter, N". P. 


10035 


5499 Lewis, J. 


106-6 Puritan, 0. 


10142 


6124 Leonard, W. 


12616 Peir, A. 


11089 


7912 Levanaugh, Wm. 0. 


2804 Ruther, J. 


3107 


7956 Linker, C. 


2871 Reed, H H. 


401 


9219 Lewis, G. H. 


3674 Risiev, E. 


2158 


10228 Lee 


4636 Reins, William 


2601 


74 Mills, W. J. 


5902 Ross, D. 


5.543 


119 McCaullery, James 


0400 Robinson, H. 


5222 


2295 IMiller* Charles 


6796 Riniiwood, R. 


4649 


3516 McCord, P. 


8078 Reed, John 


5675 


3644 Miller, A. 


8170 Richardson, C. S. 


6138 


3410 Mould, James 


8345 Rav, A. 


6918 


3932 McGinnis, J. W. 


7310 Reed, Robert K. 


8024 


4079 Miller 


8662 Roper, H. 


9028 


4417 Messenger, A. 


10029 Roiunson, J. W. 


9265 


4492 McLean, William 


10196 Richardson, D. T. 


9212 


4595 Marshall, B. 


10416 Reynolds, E. 


10033 


5238 Mickallis, F. 


12031 Rathbone, B. 


12600 


5328 Miller, H. 


4 Stone, H. I. 


6364 


6342 Malone, John 


234 Smith, Horace 





Seward, G. H. 
Stephens, E. W. 
Scott, W. 
Sutcliff, B. 
Stuart, J. 
Smite, J. 
Sherwood, D. 
Smith, C. E. 
Straubell, L. 
Straum, James 
Sullivan, M. 
Steele, Samuel 
Shultz, C. T. 
Stino, P. 
Steele, Samuel 
Smith, S. 
Steele, James M. 
Stephen*, B. H. 
Smith, Henry 
Short, L. C. 
Smally, L. 
Starkweather, E. M. 
Sutliff, J. 
See, L. 
Slihg, D. 
Schubert, K. 
Sparring, T. 
Steele, H. 
Stauff, J. 
Swift, J. 
Smith, J. T. 
Taylor, Moses 
Thompson, Wm. T. 
Thompson, F. 
Tibbels, William 
Treadwav, J. H. 
Tisdale, Edward F. 
Taylor, J. 
Turner, H. 
Valter, H. 
Winship. J. H. 
Weldon, Henry 
Warner, E. 
Wikert, Henry 
Wright, C. 
Wheely, Jam^s 
Wenchell, John L. 
Way, H. C. 
Wiggleworth, M. L. 
West, Charles H. 
Williams, H. D. 
Wheeler, J. 
Ward, Gilbert 
Weins, John 
Ward, G. W. 
Young, C. S. 



REGIMENTAL INDEX. 



(For general topics treated, see Table of Contents.) 



First Regiment — Three Months. 

Volunteering in all parts of the State, 38 to 55 ; ordered to rendezvous at New Haven, 
58 ; the work of equipment, 58 to 61 ; in camp, 61 ; organization, 61, 62; for the seat of 
war, 67 ; Colonel Daniel Tyler, 70; arrival in Washington, 83 ; in Virginia,- 87 ; first 
Connecticut man wounded, 87 ; Blackburn's Ford, 93 ; battle of Bull Run, 94 to 99 ; 
muster-out, 100. 

Second Regiment — Three Months. 

The first uprising, 38 to 55 ; preparation for rendezvous, 58 ; encampment at New 
Haven, 64 ; equipments, supplies, and " good advice," 65, 66 ; departure, 67 ; arrival in 
Washington, 84 : in Virginia, 88 ; Blackburn's Ford, 93 ; battle of Bull Run, 94 to 99 ; 
muster-out, 100. 

Third Regiment — Three Months. 

The first uprising, 38 to 55 ; rendezvous at Hartford, 67 ; organization and muster, 68 ; 
equipment and drill, 68 ; departure, 69 ; arrival in Washington, 85 ; in Virginia, 89 ; 
Blackburn's Ford, 93 ; Bull Run, 94 to 99 ; muster-out, 100. 

First Squadron Cavalry. 
Organization and departure, 102 ; subsequent experience, 569. 

First Regiment Cavalry. 

Origin of the battalion, 137 ; in camp at Meriden, 138 : departure, 139 ; supplies, 150; 
near Wheeling, 208 ; fighting bushwhackers in West Virginia, raids, battles, and incidents, 
209 to 213 ; a Thanksgiving dinner, 472 ; second battle of Bull Run, 489 ; near Twalley- 
town, 490; battalion changed to a regiment, 491 ; beyond Bolivar Heights, 492; at 
Baltimore recruiting, 493 to 496 ; to the front, 496, 497 ; at Brandy Station, incidents and 
casualties, 567 to .569 ; battle of the Wildernes'-i, 570 ; battle of Spottsylvania, 572 ; to 
the rear of Lee's army, 575, 576 ; the fight at Ashland, 581 to 586 ; picket-fight, 603, 604 ; 
on Wilson's raid, 612 to 616 ; exploit of Capt. Whitaker, 614 ; in the Shenandoah, 714 ; 
narrow escape, 715, 716 ; battle of Kearneysville, 716, 717 ; Opequan Creek, 718 ; Fisher's 
Hill, 723 ; a squadron captured at Spring Hill, 724 ; battle of Cedar Creek, 724 to 729 ; 
prison-life, 753; in the Shenandoah, spring of 1865, 757; in front of Richmond, 758, 
759 ; battle of Five Forks, 783 to 785 ; pursuit of Lee, 792, 793 ; west of Appomattox, 
794; muster-out, 818, 819. 

First Heavy Artillery — (Fourth Infantry.) 

Promised to the Government, 71 ; rendezvous and organization, 72; departure, 73; 
in Maryland, 117 to 119 ; life at Fort Richardson, 133, 134 ; supplies, 148, 149 ; changed 
into First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, 203; to the Peninsula in 1862, movement of 
heavy ordnance, 204 ; impartial commendation, 205 ; the seven-days' fight, 206 ; Malvern 
Hill, 207 ; withdrawal and return, 208 ; still in the Arlington forts, 504, 505 ; removal to 
Bermuda Hundred, 557, 558 ; return of non-veterans, 559 ; arrival of the siege-train, 
617,618; at the mine, 624; location of batteries, constant service, 684; engagement 
with the rebel navy, 685 ; impartial commendation, 686 ; in front of Petersburg, 759 to 
761 ; death of Col. Trambull, 760; rebel assault on Fort Stedman, 775 to 779 ; muster- 
out, 824, 825. 

873 



874 REGIMENTAL INDEX. 



Second Heavy Artillery — (Nineteenth Infantry.) 

Nineteenth regiment called for, 222 ; recruited, 223, 224; organization and departure, 
232.to 234 ; arrival at Alexandria, 233 ; at Fort Worth, changed into the Second Con- 
necticut Heavy Artillery, 505, 506 ; join the army at Spottsylvania, 573, 574 ; to the 
North Juna, 577; battle of Cold Harbor, 587 to 589; death of Col. Kellogg and other 
casualties, 592 to 596 ; advance on Petersburg, 606 to 611 ; defence of Washington, 645 ; 
at Parke's Station, •678 ; in the Shenandoah, 714; battle of Opequan Creek, 718 to 722; 
death of Major Rice, 720 ; battle of Cedar Creek, 724 to 729 ; return to Petersburg, 761 ; 
fight near Petersburg, 780 ; pursuit of Lee, 792 to 794 ; muster-out, 821 to 823. 

First Light Battery. 

Origin, 137 ; in camp at Meriden, 138 ; departure, 139 ; on James Island, 198 to 200 ; 
capture of St. John's Bluff, -303, 304 ; on James Island again, 438, 439 ; fight, 442 ; hon- 
orable mention, 448 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 538 to 541 ; at Drury Bluff, 542 to 552 ; at 
Deep Bottom, 649 to 657 ; in front of Richmond, 761 ; into Richmond, 792 ; muster-out, 
813. 

Second Light Battery. 

Organization and departure, 236 ; near Wolf-run Shoals, 517 ; embarks for New Orleans, 
51 8 ; to the mouth of Mobile Bay, 708 ; the reduction of Fort Morgan, 709 ; return to 
Louisiana, 709 ; again in Florida, battle of Blakeley in April, 1865, 710 ; location, 761 ; 
muster-out, 819, 820. 

Third Light Battery. 
Location, 761 ; assault of rebels on Fort Stedman, 779 ; muster-out, 813 

Fifth Infantry. 

Col. Samuel Colt's battalion, 73 ; disbanded and re-organized, 73, 74; departure, 101 ; 
in Maryland, 1 1 9, '1 20 ;' becomes " the foot cavalry," 134; supplies, 148, 149; sufferings 
during the winter of 1861-2, 213 ; across the Potomac, 214 ; battle of Winchester and 
retreat, 215, 216 ; battle of Cedar Mountain, casualties, 217 to 221 ; life in Virginia, 299 
to 302 ; advance to Chancellorsville, 358 to 360 ; the battle and casualties, 361 to 374 ; 
advance to Gettysburg, battle, victory, casualties, pursuit, 378 to 396 ; veteran furlough, 
523 ; transferred to Tennessee, 692 ; the journey, guai'ding railroads, 693 ; near Cumber- 
land Tunnel, 694 ; incidents, 695, 696 ; join Sherman's army for the great raai'ch, 697 ; 
the battle of Resaca, 698 ; at Casville, 699 ; battle of Peach-tree Creek, 702, 703; capture 
of Atlanta, casualties, 705, 706 ; through Georgia to the sea, 707, 708 ;^the march from 
Savannah to Goldsborough, battles, incidents, and casualties, 766 to 771 ; muster-out, 
817. 

Sixth Infantry. 

Volunteering begun, 102; rendezvous at New Haven, 120; organization, 121, 122; 
departure, 123; at Annapolis, 123; at Hilton Head, 131, 132; supplies, 150; in War- 
saw Sound, 191 ; assault on Fort Pulaski, 194 ; to James Island, 197 ; battle, 198 to 202 ; 
battle of Pocotaligo, 304, 305 ; in Florida, 436 ; on Folly Island, 437, 438 ; capture of 
Morris Island, 439, 440 ; assault on Fort Wagner, 442 to 446 ; mention for gallantry, 
448 ; return to Hilton Head, 449 ; at Hilton Head, 506, 507 ; veteran furlough, 523 ; up 
the James, 537 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 538 to 541 ; Drury's Bluff, 542 to 552 ; skirmish 
of May 20, 553 ; assault on railroad, 611, 612 ; at Deep Bottom, 648, 649 ; battle and 
casualties, 649 to 657 ; in front of Petersburg, 682 ; on the Darbytown Road, 668, 670 ; 
resisting an attack, 671, 672 ; assault on the rebel right, 672, 673; fight on the Darby- 
town Road, Oct. 27, 674 to 676 ; promotions, &;c., 680 ; expedition to New York, 682, 
683 ; capture of Fort Fisher, 686 to 691 ; advance on Wilmington, 761, 762 ; muster-out, 
820. 

Seventh Infantry. 

Volunteering begun, 102; rendezvous at New Haven, 120; organization, 122, 123; 
departure, 123 ; at Annapolis, 123 ; at Hilton Head, 131, 132 ; supplies, 150 ; on Tybee 
Island, 192; reduction of Fort Pulaski, 193 to 196; the post of honor, 197; to James 
Island, 197; battle, 198 to 202; battle of Pocotaligo, 304, 305; in Florida, 436; on 
Folly Island, 437, 438 ; capture of Morris Island, 439 ; assault on Fort Wagner, 440 to 



REGIMENTAL INDEX. 875 

442 ; second assault, 443 to 446 ; detailed as artillery, 447, 448 ; mention for gallantry, 
,448; to St. Helena Island, 449 ; to Olustee, 507; the battle and reverse, 508 to 511 ; 
veteran furlough, 522, 523 ; up the James, 537 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 538 to 541 ; 
Drury's Bluff, 542 to 552 ; Major Sanford and eighty men captured, 555 ; assault on 
railroad, 611, 612 ; at Deep Bottom, battle and casualties, 648 to 657 ; in front of Peters- 
burg, 662 ; on the Darbytown Road, 668, 670 ; resisting a rebel attack, 671, 672 ; assault 
on the enemy's right, 672, 673 ; fight on the Darbytown Road, 674 to 676 ; promotions, 
&c., 680 ; expedition to New York under Hawley, 682, 683 ; capture of Fort Fisher, 686 
to 691 ; prison-experience, 744; advance on AVilmington, 761 to 764 ; death of Chaplain 
Eaton, 763 ; honors to Gens. Terry and Hawley, 804 to 809 ; muster-out, 820,' 821. 

Eighth Infantry. * 

Volunteering begun, 102; rendezvous at Hartford, 120; organization, 123, 124; de- 
parture, 124; life at Annapolis, 127, 128, 130; supplies, 149, 150; enibark for North 
Carolina, 162 ; the passage and the gale, 163, 164 ; at Roanoke Island, 165 ; embark for 
the Neuse, 170; battle of Newberne, 172 to 174; race for Newberne, 174; assault on 
Fort Macon, 178 to 180; surrender of the fort, 181 ; return to Newberne, 255 ; to New- 
port News, 256; to Fredericksburg, 257, 258; the march to Antietam, 259 to 263; the 
battle of Antietam and casualties, 264 to 287 ; pursuit of Lee to Fredericksburg, 288 to 
290 ; battle and casualties, 291 to 297 ; to Newport News and Suffolk, 330, 331 ; siege 
of Suffolk, 331 to 336; blackberry raid, 336 to 340; near Portsmouth, 475 to 479; 
veteran furlough, 521, 522; up the James, 536; at Bermuda Hxmdred, 538 to 541; 
Drury's Bluff, 542 to 552 ; casualties at Cold Harbor, 597 ; advance on Petersburg, 605 
to 608; casualties, &c., 610; work in the trenches, 618, 619; at the mine, 625: at Ber- 
muda Hundred, 661 ; loss of a working-party, 662, 663 ; to Chaffin's Bluff, capture of 
Fort Harrison, 664 to 666; defence of Fort Harrison, 668; casualties, 669; promotions, 
&c., 680 ; headquarters' guard, 684 ; promotions, 764 ; into Richmond, 792 ; muster-out, 
827. 

Ninth Infantry. 

Volunteering begun, 102; rendezvous at New Haven, 125; organization, 125; in camp 
at Lowell, 140 ; at Ship Island, 140, 141 ; capture of Bixoxi, Miss., 157 ; fight at 
Pass Christian, 158; first regiment on main land in Department of the South, Butler's 
commendatory order, 159; up the river to New Orleans, 159, 160; the Pass Manchac 
expedition, 306; to Vicksburg, great suffering, 309, 310; battle of Baton Rouge, 310, 
311 ; a raid on the enemy, 312 ; in defenses of New Orleans, 511 to 513 ; veteran furlough, 
524, 525; at Deep Bottom, 622; in the Shenandoah, 714; at the battle of Opequan 
Creek, 718 to 722; battle of Cedar Creek, 724 to 729; battalion ordered to Savannah, 
765 ; to Hilton Head, 802 ; muster-out, 823, 824. 

Tenth Infantry. 

Volunteering begun, 102; rendezvous at Hartford, 126; organization, 126; life at 
Annapolis, 127, 128, 130; supplies, 149, 150; embark for North Carolina, 162; the 
passage and the gale, 163, 164; at Roanoke Island, 165 ; the battle, 166, 167 ; sketch of 
Col. Ch.arles L. Russell, 167, 168 ; up the Neuse, 170 ; bivouac, 171 ; battle of Newberne, 
172 to 174; death of Col. A. "W. Drake, 175 to 177 ; the Tarboro' raid, 341, 342; battle 
of Kinston, 343 to 347 ; on St. Helena Island, 347, 348 ; on James Island, 438, 439 ; fight 
on James Island, 442 ; assault on Fort Wagner, 443 to 446 ; siege-work, to St. Augustine, 
450, 451 ; death of Col. Chatfield, 452 to 455 ; still in Florida, 513, 514 ; veteran fur- 
lough, 523, 524; up the James, 537 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 538 to 541 ; Drury's Bluff, 
542" to 552 ; assault of June 15, 611 ; at Deep Bottom, 619 to 622 ; battle and casualties, 
648 to 657; in front of Petersburg, 662; on the Darbytown Road, 668; on the New 
Market Road, 670 ; resisting an attack, 670, 671 ; assault on the rebel right, 672, 673 ; 
death of Major Camp, 673, 674 ; fight on the Darbytown Road, Oct. 27, 674 to 676 ; 
promotions, &c., 681 ; expedition to New York under Hawley, 682, 683 ; promot'ons, 765 ; 
moved to the left of the line, 782, 783 ; assault on Fort Gregg, 786 ; capture, incidents, 
and casualties, 787 to 789; pursuit of Lee, 792; condition, &c., 809, 810; muster-out, 
824. 

Eleventh Infantry. 

Volunteering begun, 102; first companies arrive at Hartford, 126; organization, 129; 
life at Annapolis, 130 ; embark for North Carolina, 162 ; the passage and gale, 163, 164 ; 
beached near Hatteras, 164 ; up the Neuse, 170 ; bivouac, 171 ; battle of Newberne, 172, 
173, 174; in the rebel barracks, 175; return to Newberne, 255; to Newport News, re- 



876 EEGIMENTAL INDEX. 

organization, 256, 257 ; to Fredericksburg, 258 ; the march to Antietam, 259 to 203 ; 
battle of Antietam and casualties, 264 to 287 ; pursuit of Lee to Fredericksburg, 288 to 
290 ; battle and casualties, 291 to 297 ; to Newport News and Suffolk, 330, 331 ; siege of 
Suffolk, 331 to 336 ; blackberry raid, 336 to 340 ; near Portsmouth, 475 to 479 ; at Glou- 
cester Point, 480 ; veteran furlough, 521, 522 ; np the James, 537 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 
538 to 541 ; Drury's Bluff, 542 to 552 ; casualties at Cold Harbor, death of Major Con- 
A-erse, 597 to 599 ; advance on Petersburg, 606 ; battle, 608 to 010; work in the trenches, 
618, 619 ; at the mine, 625 ; death of Gen. Stedman and Col. Morgling, 625 to 628 ; at 
Bermuda Hundred, 061 ; promotions, &c., 681 ; recruits, 683 ; presentation of flag, 704 ; 
into Richmond, 790, 791 ; muster-out, 827. 

^ Twelfth Infantry. 

Origin, 136, 137 ; recruiting, 141 ; organization, 142, 143; in camp at Hartford, 144; 
to Ship Island, 145, 140 ; up the river, 159 ; first regiment to. aiTive at New Orleans, 100 ; 
Pass Manchac expedition. Camp Parapet, 300, 307 ; battle of Georgia Landing, 313 to 
316 ; the gunboat Cotton and the Diana, 319 to 321 ; at Irish Bend, 403 to 407 ; invest- 
ment and capture of Port Hudson, 408 to 419; casualties and incidents, 420; at New 
Iberia, re-enlisting as veterans, 514 to 517; veteran furlough, 524 ; in the Shenandoah, 
714; battle of Opequan Creek, 718 to 722; death of Col. Peek, 721, 722; battle of 
Cedar Creek, 724 to 729; locations and promotions. 700; muster-out, 821. 

Thirteenth Infantry. 

Origin and organization, 143 ; in barracks at New Haven, 145 ; supplies, 150 ; to Ship 
Island', 154 to 150 ; to New Orleans, 160, 161 ; to Camp Parapet, anecdotes, 307 to 309 ; 
battle of Georgia Landing, 313 to 316; at Baton Rouge, 319; diversion towards Port 
Hudson, 401 to 403 ; at Irish Bend, 403 to 407 ; investment and capture of Port Hudson, 
408 to 419 ; casualties and' incidents, 420, 421 ; at Thibodeau, 518 ; battle of Cane River, 
519, 520; veteran furlough, 525 ; in the Shenandoah, 714; battle of Opequan Creek, 718 
to 722 ; battle of Cedar Creek, 724 to 729 ; battalion ordered to Savannah, thence to 
North Carolina, 765, 802, 803 ; muster-out, 827, 828. 

Fourteenth Infantry. 

Called for, 222 ; recruited, 223, 224 ; organization and departure, 225 ; an-ival at 
Arlington, 237 ; march to Antietam, 260 to 203 ; battle of Antietam and casualties, 204 
to 287 ; pursuit of Lee to Fredericksburg, 288 to 290 ; battle and casualties, 291 to 297 ; 
advance to Chancellorsville, 358 to 300 ; battle and casualties, 361 to 374 ; advance to 
Gettysburg, battle, victory, casualties, pursuit, 378 to 390; at Stevensburg, 500; Capt. 
Fiske's view of soldiering, 501 to 563 ; Mine Run, 564 ; how to make winter quarters, 564, 
565; fight at Morton's Ford, 560, 567 ; battle of the Wilderness, 570, 571 ; battle of 
Spottsylvania, 572, 573; to the North Anna, 577; to Cold Harbor, 587 ; casualties, 589 
to 592; advance on Petersburg, 607 to 611 ; at Deep Bottom, 622, 049 ; return to the 
left, 057 ; on the Weldon Railroad, battle at Reams's Station, casualties, 658 to 001 ; at 
Prince George's Court House, 604 ; fight for the Southsidc railroad, 076 to 078 ; battle on 
Hatcher's Run, 078 to 680 ; location in spring of 1805, 765 ; on Hatcher's Run, 780, 781 ; 
pursuit of Lee, 792; muster-out, 811, 812. 

Fifteenth Infantry. ' 

Called for, 222 ; recruited, 223, 224 ; organization and departure, 226, 227 ; arrival at 
Washington, 237 ; to Fredericksburg, 288, 289 ; battle and casualties, 290 to 297 ; to New- 
port News and Suffolk, 330, 331 ; siege of Suffolk, 331 to 330 ; blackberry raid, 330 to 340 ; 
near Portsmouth, 475 to 479 ; to Newberne, 481 ; to Plymouth, 482 ; return to Newberne, 
485; attack on Washington, 537 ;» at Newberne, 538; the yellow-fever, 710 to 713; 
expedition to Kinston, 766; battle and capture, 771 to 774 ; death of Major Osborn, 772, 
773; muster-out, 810. 

Sixteenth Infantry. 

Called for, 222 ; reci'uiting, 223, 224 ; organization and departure, 227 to 229 ; arrival 
in Virginia, 237 ; march to Antietam, 200 to 203 ; battle of Antietam and casualties, 264, 
to 287; pursuit of Lee to Fredericksburg, 288 to 290; battle and casualties, 291 to 297 ; 
to Newport News and Suffolk, 330 to 33l ; siege of Suffolk, 331 to 330 ; blackberry raid, 
330 to 340 ; near Portsmouth, 475 to 479 ; to Newberne; 481 ; to Plymouth, 482 ; 
return to Newberne, 485 ; return to Plymouth, 486 ; the town besieged, 486, 487 ; the 
surrender, 488 ; prison experience, 520 to 535 ; escape from captivity, 744 to 746 ; to Fos- 
ter's Mills and Newberne, 774; muster-out, 815, 816. 



REGIMENTAL INDEX, 877 



Seventeenth Infantry. 

Called for, 222 ; recruited, 223, 224 ; organization and departure, 229, 2.30 ; detention 
in Baltimore, 237, 238 ; moves into Virginia, 297, 298 ; advance to Chancellorsville, 358 
to 360; battle and casualties, 361 to 374; advance to Gettysburg, 1)attle, victory, casual- 
ties, pursuit, 378 to 396 ; in front of Fort "Wagner, 446, 447 ; mention for gallantry, 449; 
on Folly Island, 450 ; at St. Augustine, Florida, 729 ; perilous raids, 729, 730 ; McGisto 
Creek, 730, 731 ; capture of Baldwin, 732 ; capture of Col. Noble, 732 ; expedition for 
cotton, death of Col. Wilcoxson, 733, 734 ; detached service, 735, 736 ; muster-out, 817, 
818. 

Eighteenth Infantry. 

Called for, 222 ; recruited, 223, 224; organization and departm-e, 231, 232; in Balti- 
more, 238 ; life at Fort Marshall, 348, 349 ; to the Shenandoah valley, 349, 350 ; battle of 
Winchester, 351 to 353 ; surrender, 354 ; heavj' losses, 354, 355 ; imprisonment, 356, 357 ; 
at Slartinsburg, refitting, 497 ; social life, 498 ; prison experience, 499 to 503 ; spring of 
1864, under Sigel, 638 ; battle of JSTew IMarket, 639 ; casualties, 640 ; under Hunter, battle 
of Piedmont, 641, 642; casualties, 642, 643; descent on Lynchburg, 644; the retreat 
northward, 645 ; battle of Snicker's Ferry, 646 ; retreat through Winchester, 647 ; in the 
Shenandoah, 714; again at jNIartinsburg, 717; location, &c., 766 ; muster-out, 815. 

Twentieth Infantry. 

Recruiting, 223, 224 ; organization and departure, 234, 235 ; arrival in Washington, 
238, 239 ; life in Virginia, 299 to 302 ; advance to Chancellorsville, 358 to 360 ; battle and 
casualties, 361 to 374 ; advance to Gettysburg, battle, victory, casualties, pursuit, 378 to 
396 ; transfer to Tennessee, 692 ; the journey, guarding railroads, 693 ; at Cowan, fight 
with guerrillas, 694 ; incidents, 695, 696 ; join Sherman's army for the great march, 697 ; 
seizure of Boyd's trail, ,697, 698 ; battle of Resaca, 698 ; capture of Cassville, 699 ; at 
Alatoona Pass, 700 ; flanking, 701 ; battle of Peach-tree Creek, 702, 703 ; capture of 
Atlanta, casualties, 705, 706 ; through Georgia to the sea, 707, 708 ; from Savannah to 
Goldsbovongh, battles, incidents, and casualties, 766 to 771 ; pursuit and capture of John- 
ston, 796, 797; muster-out, 812, 813. 

Twenty-first Infantry. 

Recruiting, 223, 224 ; organization and departure, 235, 236 ; arrival in Washington, 
239 ; pursuit of Lee through Virginia, 288 to 290 ; battle of Fredericksburg and casual- 
ties, 291 to 297 ; to Newpo'rt News and Suffolk, 330, 331 ; siege of Suffolk, 331 to 336 ; 
blackberry raid, 336 to 340; provost-duty in Portsmouth, 477 to 479; at Norfolk and 
Newport News, 481 ; a raid, 483 ; to Moreliead City and Newberne, 484, 485 ; up the 
James, 537, 538 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 538 to 541 ; "Drury's Bluff, 542 to 552 ; near Port 
Walthal, 553 ; death of Col. Button, 554 ; losses at Cold Harbor, death of Col. Burpee, 
600, 601 ; advance on Petersburg, 606 to 610 ; near the Appomattox, 616 ; work in the 
trenches, 618, 619; at the mine, 623, 624 ; at Bermuda Hundred, 661, 662; exposure and 
casualties, 663 ; to Chaffin's Bluff, 664 ; capture of Fort Harrison, 665 to 667 ; defense 
of Fort Harrison, 668, 669 ; casualties, 670 ; promotions, &c., 681 ; expedition to 
Fredericksburg, 764, 765 ; into Richmond, 792 ; muster-out, 813 to 815. 

Twenty-second Infantry ■ — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 241 to 245; organization and departure, 246, 247 ; 
on picket in Virginia, 298, 299 ; to Suffolk, 332 ; siege of Suffolk, 334 to 336 ; to West 
Point, 336 ; home and muster-out, 433 to 435. 

Tioeniy-third Infantry — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 241 to 245 ; organization and departure, 247, 248 ; 
from Long Island to Ship Island and Louisiana, 316, 317 ; at Camp Parapet, 427 ; along 
the Opelousas Railroad, 428 ; battles at La Fourche and Brashear, 429, 430 i imprisonment, 
casualties, and muster-out, 432, 433 ; prison-life, 743 ; muster-out, 433 to 435. 

Twentyfourth Infantry — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 241 to 245 ; organization and departure, 248, 
249; from Long Island to Ship Island, 316, 317; to Baton Rouge, 319 ; diversion 
towards Port Hudson, 401 to 403 ; at Irish Bend, 408 ; investment and capture of Port 
Hudson, 408 to 419 ; casualties and incidents, 421, 422 ; muster-out, 434, 435. 



378 REGIMENTAL INDEX. 

TwenUj-fflh Infantry. — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 241 to 245 ; orjranization and departure, 249, 250 ; 
from Long Island to Ship Island, to Louisiana, 316, 317 ; to Baton Eouge, 319 ; diversion 
towards Port Hudson, 401 to 403 ; at Irish Bend, 403 to 407 ; investment and capture of 
Port Hudson, 408 to 419 ; casualties and incidents, 422, 423 ; muster-out, 434, 435. 

Twenty-sixth Infantry — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 24J to 245 ; organization and departure, 250, 251 
from Long Island to Ship Island, to Louisiana, 316, 317 ; at Camp Parapet, 319 ; invest- 
ment and capture of Port Hudson, 408 to 419; casualties and incidents, 423 to 427 
muster-out, 434, 435. 

Twenty-seventh Infantry — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 241 to 245 ; organization and departure, 251,252; 
to Fredericksburg, 290 ; battle and casualties, 291 to 297 ; advance to Chancellorsville, 
358 to 360; battle and capture, 361 to 372; imprisonment, 374 to 377; advance to 
Gettysburg, battle, victory, casualties, pursuit, 378 to 396 ; muster-out, 434, 435. 

Twenty-eighth Infantry — Nine Months. 

Called for, 240 ; recruiting and draft, 241 to 245 ; organization and departure, 252 to 
254 ; from Long Island to Ship Island, to Louisiana, 316, 317 ; to Pensacola, encampment 
and service, 318, 319 ; investment and captnro of Port Hudson, 408 to 419 ; casualties 
and incidents, 426, 427 ; muster-out, 434, 4;>j. 

Twenty-ninth Infantry — (colored). 

Organization, 460 ; to Annapolis, 461 ; at Beaufort, 637 ; joins the Army of the James, 
648 ; at Deep Bottom, 648 to 657 ; in front of Petersburg, 662 ; up the New-Market 
Road, the charge, 667 ; defence of Fort Harrison, 668 ; casualties, 670 ; fight on the 
Darbytown Road, Oct. 27, 674 to 676 ; location, 764 ; into Richmond, 790 ; to Texas, 
802 ; 'muster-out, 825 to 827. 

Thirtieth Infantry — (colored). 

Enlistment begun, 461 ; organization and appeai'ance at the front, 601, 602 ; the assault 
at the mine, 622, 623 ; to the left of the line, 782 ; pursuit of Lee, 792 ; to Texas, 802 ; 
muster-out, 825 to 827. 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



[Xarnes incidentally mentioned are not embraced in this Index.] 



Abbev, William H., 250 
Abbon, E. K., 143 

Charles S., 235 

Ed. T., 750 

Henry L., 504, 557, 
559, 617, 624, 684, 
686, 687, 776, 778, 
813, 825 

J. C, 687, 689 
Abernethv, E. P., 108 
Adams, Hon. John T., 188, 
630 

W. L., 642 
Addis, Ira D., 422 

Wm. J., 248 
Agar, George, 207, 504, 825 
Aggett, R., 449 
Aiken, Wm. A., 231, 801, 

839 
Aldricb, Thomas J., 646 
Alexander, J. H., 180, 633 

■ Walter S., 425 
Allen, Amory, 567 

Amos S., 597 

Charles W., 522 

E. P., 74, 597 

Ethan, 24, 

Henry A., 448 

Henry, 392, 599, 729, 
732, 733, 735, 736, 
817 

John, 106 

John W., 50 

Lewis C.jun., 121,537 

James L., 557 

Geo. W., 766 

W. C, 597 

Oscar, 788 
Ailing, Frank E., 297 
Almv, Amos H., 464, 834 

John H., 130, 237,317, 
834, 835, 836, 837 
Allison, John D., 44 
Allyn, Roswell, 514 

Stanton, 145,306,514, 
515 

T. M., 227, 597 
Ambroster, Albert, 246 
Andrews, Benj., 624 

D. C, 545 

Levi, 448 
Andross, Edraond, 17, 18 
Auger, Marshall C., 712 



Anthony, R. C, 430 
Appelman, Pliram, 24, 48, 
•172, 179, 188, 271, 
272 
Arms, C. J., 475 
Arnold, John, 68 

(Col.), 85 
Alsop, J. W., 834 
Ashmead (Mrs.), J. H., 470 
Atwell, S. S., 199, 201, 447, 

672, 683, 762, 820 
Atwater, Dorence, 871 

Chas., 81,188 
Atwood (Dr.), C. H., 241 
Austin, Willard, 654, 762 
Averill, James, 432 

Perry, 405 

Hon. Roger, 801 
Ayers, Edwin D., 345 
Avers, Henry, 426 

W. H., 623 
Babcock, 424 

Chas., 228 

James F., 52 

Samuel D., 834 
Backus, Joseph, 494, 584, 

603-4, 819 
Bacon, C. A., 448, 46.7 

(Dr.), Francis, 97,195, 
201 

(Rev. Dr.), 183, 226, 
435, 523, 818 

John W., 48 

(Mrs.), William, 471 

Theodore, 97, 122, 
195, 523, 540, 555, 
556 
Bailey, Charles, 431 

Cornelius H., 102 

Everett, 546 

Geo. E., 281 

, 221 

G. W., 746 

H. L., 546 

J. M., 450 

S. G., 248, 428, 431 
Baldwin, James, 505 

L., 448 

S., 834 
Bancs, Frank D., 779, 825 
Banks (Capt.), 519 
Bannon, C. R., 684, 825 
Bantly, Francis, 448 



Barber, Fred. M., 228, 282 
Barbour, Lucius, 123, 596 
Barker, Chas. E., 539, 544, 
651,654; (Lt.), 447 
Barnes, 48 

Stewart, 475 
Barnum, B. S., 392 
Barnum (Adj.), 611, 774 

Saml. C, 597, 599 

Jos. H., 488 ■ 

P. M., 752 
Ban-ett, R. Cecil, 601 

Thos. E., 297 

Robert N., 47 

Mrs. E., 471 
Barron, Pierce, 782 
Barry, Wellington, 705, 770 
Bartholomew, P., 678 
Barton, Miss Clara, 871 
Bartlett, Egbert, 464 

D. W., 390 

J. H. & Sons, 146 

Frank, 679 
Bartram, David J., 392 

Andrew B., 410 
Bassett, Julius, 227, 772, 773 

Mrs., 471 
Bates, Admatha, 780 

Theo. S., 281 

(Capt.), Thos. K., 

121, 231 356, 
Battell, Robbins, 34, 234 

Joseph, 834 
Batterson, J. G., 597 
Beach, Chas. M.. 596 

(Col.), 271, 274,482 

Frank, 487 

Francis, 228 

Geo. L., 595 

L W., 422 

(Miss), Julia A., 764 

Moses Y., 52, 81 

Watson, 596 
Beard (Col.), 566, 567 
Beardslev, A. E., 694 

(Lt.),302 

A., 47, 464 

Chas., 773 

Fred'k, 752 
Beckley, Wm. A., 244 
Beckwith, H. C, 468 

Theo. L., 253 

(Gen.), 312 
879 



880 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Beckwith, Louis, 803 
Beecher, Rev. H. W., 835 
Belcher, Arthur, 48 
Belden, N. A., 335, 552 

D. H., 107 
Bell, John, 29 
Bellows, George, 654 
Benham (Gen.), 192, 195, 
197-8, 722 

(Lt.), 195 
Bennett, Ezra P., 242 

Samuel, 788 

Thos. G., 670 
Benedict-., W. A., 838 
Benson, Y). 0., 230 
Bent, B. jr., 188 
Bentley, Wm. H., 251 
Benton, Wm., 309 

(Lt.), Geo. M., 728 

Geo. S., 371-2 
Berkley, W., 448 
Berry, Fred M., 720, 822 

Wm. A., 74 

William, 728 
Betts, James W., 216 

Fred C, 733 
Bideraan, John, 448 
Bidwell, Henry L., 143 
Biel)el, Henry, 122, 542 
Bill, Henrv, 50, 231 

Geo. F., 825 

Lcdvard, 55, 515 
Bingham, "W. H. H., 558, 
825 
Levi C, 540 
Birdsall, Sam. T., 252 
Birge, H. W., 119, 143, 155, 
156, 307, 312-16, 
31.9, 409, 415, 423, 
518, 715, 725, 802, 
803, 
Bishop, E. W., 772, 773 

J. A., 244 

Jacob, 666 

A. W., 722 
William, 406, 520 

Bissell, Geo. P., 241, 249, 
253-400, 401, 405, 
407, 423, 808, 811, 
815 
J. W., 400 
Wm., 233 

Bixby, F. G., 497 

Blackmer, E., 551 

Blakeslee, Erastus, 210, 211, 
446, 487, 491-3, 
495-6, 533, 534, 567, 
570, 581, 583-4, 
585-6,612,714,715, 
716. 724, 757, 819 

B. F.,271 
Edward C., 446 

Blakeman, Geo., 464 
Blake, Edward F., 214, 216, 

218, 817 

Eli W., 218 

Henry T., 183 (Mrs.), 
471 



Blotchford, R. M., 834 
Blinn, Chas. D., 143, 306, 
519, 525, 714, 718, 
728, 726, 765, 802 

J. E., 225, 281 
Bliss, John F., 448 
Blodgctt, R., 448 
Bloss, L. L., 241 
Boardman, Henry, 139 

W. W., 471,472 
Bodwell, 393 

Augustus, 766 
Boem, L., 52 
Bohan, John, 421 
Bond, Thos. H., 52 

William, 448 
Booth, Geo. F., 277 
Bostwick (Col.), 367, 368, 
3G9, 378, 379 

Richard S., 267 
Botts, John H., 539 
Boudren, Thomas, 122 
Bowman, Chas. F., 772 
Bowen, Andrew, 139, 490 

Chas. D., 232, 349, 
351 
Bowns, Wm. A., 774 
Bradford (Chaplain), 144, 
404, 727 

Byron, 556, 651 
Brady, A. G., 229, 380, 392, 

■ 450, 729 

Oliver G., 221 

Wm. F., 553 
Bradley, J. R., 252, 371 

J. T., 642 

Geo. G., 673 

Lester E., 142 

Wm. E., 720, 802 

Wm. H., 433 

(Miss), E., 471 

R. O., 772 
Bragg, Wm., 156 
Brainard, H. A., 421 

Francis, 327 
Brally, Lester E., 404 
Brandagee (Hon.), Augus- 
tus, 48, 77, 135 
Brannan, Patrick, 545 
Branch, Joseph W., 26 
Breed, Chas. A., 256 
Brennan, John, 404, 420 

George, 422 
Brewster, James, 68, 152 

Chas. T., 549 

John H., 705 
Briggs, Chas. E., 583 

Thos. R., 105 
Brigham, Geo. N., 660 

Chas. 0., 624, 825 
Briscoe, Chas., 78 

J. A , 448 

John, 570 

E. S., 670 
Bristol, Wyllis, 226 
Broatch, John C, 658, 677, 

765 
Brockett, Chas. A., 545 



Bromley, Isaac H., 231, 349, 
457, 6.33 

Miles, 435 

J. B., 308, 408 
Bronson, Aug. E., 392 

J. R., 372 

Leonard, 372 

Isaac R., 225 
Brookes, A. F., 624, 684 

(Col.), 206, 269 
Brooke, A. D., 597 
Brown, 116 

Delos D., 477, 479, 
481, 484, 536, 551, 
552 

(Chaplain), 552 

Chas. D., 502 

Chas. H., 426 

(Miss), C. L., 471 

Geo. H., 650, 655, 782 

(Capt.), 412, 504 

(Lt.-Col.), E. S., 670, 
758 

H. H., 676 

H. B., 390 

F. A., 470 

Samuel, 228, 282 

J. F., 236, 483, 606, 
616, 665, 764, 813 

Matthew, 773 

Thos. T>., .373 

Thos. G., 552 

(Mrs.), Roswell, 470 

(Mrs.), G. S., 470 

Vernon H., 146 

Wm., 588 
Browuell, Henry Howard, 
709 

(Dr.), C. M., 63 

Tudor, 597 
Brims, IL, 534 
Buck, John R., 630, 798 
Buckingham (Gov.), W. A., 
33, 35, 37, 47, 50, 
56, 57, 63, 69, 70, 
71,81,115.126,130, 
131, 135, 140, 144, 
175, 183, 185, 186, 
188, 197, 222, 223, 
226, 234, 286, 289, 
322, 323, 324, 327, 
328, 402, 434, 445, 
457, 459, 466, 521, 
525, 580, 630, 6.3.3, 
785, 798, 801, 814, 

■ 815, 817, 818, 826, 
828, 829, 834, 835, 
836, 839 

(Col.), P. B., 7, 234, 
235, 300, 302, 359, 
360, 361, 362, 365- 
76, 366-76, 385, 
386, 387, 695, 696, 
697, 698, 700, 702, 
704,767-8, 769,812 

Hiram, 530 
J. W., 431 

BueU, Wm. G., 687 



INDEX OF NAJVIES. 



881 



Buckinaham, F. W. H., 687 
(Mrs.), M. H., 470 

Eugbee, Geo. H., 87 

Edwin H. (Hon.), 815 
Sylvester, 616 

Bulkelv, Chas. E., 505 

E. A., 227 
Bunce, John L., 227 

J. B., 470 
Bunnell, Geo. W., 766 
Burdick, Tlieodore, 436, 446 
Thomas, 47 
(Capt.), 201,305, 440. 
679 
Burbank, R. S., 72 
Burke, Thos. F., 482, 487, 

534, 744 
Burkett, R., 597 
Burley, 697 

Burnham, Geo. H., 45, 46, 
456 
Geo. S., 241, 246 
(Gen.), 87, 96, 247, 
482, 487, 532, 540, 
774 
John H., 335, 476, 
478,681, 816 

A. v., 612 

, (Mrs.), 476 
(Hon.), 842 
Burrall, Chas. L., 47, 78 
Burr, A. E., 228,323 
H. P., 230 
Wm. A., 513 
Burns, Henry, 392 
Burpee, Thos. F., 225, 235, 
3.']0, 477, 484, 551, 
5,54, 600, 814 
Burton, John H., 624, 684 
Bushnell (Rev.), Horace. 15, 
16,26, 27, 28, 674, 
829 
C. S., 52, 71, 188, 

190, 226 
Douc;lass, 694 
Edward W., 721, 728 
Busteed, Richard, 231 
Butler (Mrs.), Sophia, 63 
(Mrs.), A. W., 470 
John A., 596, 609 
Byam, B. S., 226 
Byington (Hon.), A. H., 71, 

188, 389,390, 838 
Byxbee (Capt.), 142, 762 
Theodore, 62 
S. D., 404 
Cady (Mrs.), Abiah, 149 

Chas. H., 480 
Cahill, Thos. W., 125, 141, 
157, 159, 309, 311, 
312, 511, 512, 524, 
622, 705 
Cahoone, J. B., 642 
Callender, W. H. D., 596 
Calkms(Rev.),Mr., 523 
Camp, Howard A., 666 

B. H., 592 

F. E., 675, 421 

111 



Camp, II. W., 165, 172, 174, 
175, 342, 348, 442, 
443, 451, 550, 620, 
649, 662, 671, 672 
Camp, Henry S., 673, 674 

Hiram, 244 
Campbell, Haivey, 663 
Candee, J. D., 226 

Franklin, J., 720 

(Mrs.), C, 471 

(•Mrs.), L., 471 
Canfield, Smith, 721 

David, E., 296 
Cannon, John S., 137 
Carr, 109, 110 

D. H., 226 
Carroll, Charles, 120 
Cai-lisle, Chas., 151, 471 
Carpenter, 78. 
Carpenter, Ezra D., 502 

Elisha, 415, 458, 640 

Samuel W., 225 
Carter, C. H., 62 

Daniel, 52 

Josiah M., 186 
Carver, Michael, 491 

Thomas, 741 
Case, David C, 99 
Case, Lockwood, & Co., 46 

W. Chester, 711 
Casey, James H., 779, 825 

Wilham, 374 
Cashin, T. D., 684, 825 
Castle, George, 569 
Catlin (Hon.), Julius, 45, 67, 
227 

Cyrus, 233 

Abijah, 188 
Caulkins (Miss), F. M., 74 
Chadwick, Robert A., 507 
Chartee, S. E., 235, 370 
Chalkcr, Wm. S., 71 
Chamberlain, V. B., 40, 
201, 305, 436, 439, 
440 

(Mrs.), F.,470 
Champlin, Daniel, 251 

Stephen, 844 
Chandler, W. H., 49 
Chancellor, 360 
Chapman (Col.), 97, 215, 
•218, 299, 302 

(Hon.), Charles, 187, 
226, 240, 632 

Jedcdiah, 392-3 

George D., 457 

(Mrs.), R., 471 

E. C, 64 
Chappell, Rich. H., 146 
Chapin, George D., 73 
Charnley, Wm. S., 52, 226 
Chatfield (Col.), 62, 85, 95, 

97,99,120,197,121, 
198, 200, 304, 305, 
440, 443, 444, 452, 
453, 507, 655, 733, 
734, 820 
Chauncy, Henry, 834 



Chene_v, F. W., 64, 228, 271 
Chipman, Justin H., 74 
Chrisholm (Col.), 93 
Churchill (Mrs.), 470 
Chittenden, Simeon B., 54, 

127, 253, 833, 834 
Chitty, Henry E., 346 
Clapp, William, 129 
Clark, Sidney E., 142, 412, 
414, 420, 516, 711, 
719, 722, 766 

A. N., 227 

Cyrus C, 72, 237, 
396 

David, 64, 811 

E. W., 654 

George, 246 

Jonah F., 319 
Clark, Wm. F., 615 

William, 421 

(Gen.), 411 
Clary (Dr.), George, 406, 803 
Clift, Amos, 48, 180 
Clinton, James B., 813 
Cleveland, Chauncey F., 34, 
115,327 

Chester D., 761 

E. S., 597 

(Rev. Dr.), 52 
Close, J. O., 167 
Cluseret (Col.), 213 
Coates, Thos. C, 125 
Coburn, J. H., 231, 378, 383 
Cockroft, Ambrose; 448 
Cochrane, J. J., 449 
Coe (Lt.), 447 

Lyman W., 62 
Coffin, George, 53 

John C, 346 
Cohn, Alexander, 728 
Cogswell, Wm. S., 7, 131, 
302,707,767,817 

Wm., 721 

Wm. H., 720 
Coit, Alfred, 188 

Charles M., 166, 276, 
540, 597, 605, 676, 
680, 764 

James B., 589 
Cokburn (Maj.), L., 97 
Colby, Henry, 577 
Colbiirn (Dr.), J. M., 48 

(Col.), 144, 160, 307, 
319, 722 

Elbridge, 138, 494, 
516, 568 

Ledyard, 306, 714 
Cole, George W., 040 
Coleman (IVIrs.), J. E., 470 

J. C, 590 

William A., 374 
Colgrove, Ransom, 667 
Coliender, W. H. D., 470 
Collins (Miss), C, 471 

Brothers & Co., 468 
596 

Erastus, 227 
Colt (Col.), 73,320 



882 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Colton (Mrs.), N., 470 
Comstock, Apollos, 143, 306, 
714, 728 

J. C, 45 
Converse, J. H., 173,, 258, 
265, 273, 597, 598, 
599, 627 

A. W., 422 
Cook, 327 

G. B., 206 

J. R., 68 

Lewis A., 654, 676 

C. W., 667 

William, 654 
Cooke, E. B., 62 

S. T., 64 
Coomes, William A., 295 
Coon, John, 667 

Marcus, 62, 102, 569 
Cooper, A. V., 499 
Copeland, Harvey, 102 
Corliss, George W., 74, 464 

Corbin, , 327 

Cornisli, Virgil, 470 
Cornwall, 393 

C. M., 392 

Charles W., 306 
Cosgrove, A. M., 58 
Cothren, William, 52, 823 
Couch, G. N., 825 
Cowen (Mrs.), S. J., 470, 479 
Cowlcs, 11. P., 252, 522 

Henry F., 502 

J..F., 600 

Lester W., 758 

Lvman, 226 

(Mrs.), S. M., 470 
Covell, George B., 599 
Couch, Ansel H., 778 
Crabtree, John W., 754 
Crane, Alvin M., 552, 814 
Crary (Dr.), 324 
Crofut, George S., 247, 428, 
429, 430 

J. M., 85 

Stephen C, 392 
Croffut, D. K., 464 

W. A., 389 
Crosby, Hiram B., 235, 295, 
335, 477, 552, 554, 
606, 681 
Croxton, J. T., 722 
Culver, E. B., 640, 642, 643 
Cummings, J, H., 684 

P., 52 

(Dr.), 404 
Cunningham, 78 

John, 615 
Curtis, Elliott M., 25, 513 

George F., 667 

George, William, 90 

F. L., 432 

Judson, 107 

L. N., 600 

(Sgt.-Maj.), 311 
Cushman, E. M., 4G9 
DaboU, Henry W., 221, 363, 
707, 767, 817 



Daley, Thomas B., 623 
Dana, James A., 283 
Daniels Albert E., 130, 371 

F. W., 595 
. Wm. L., 735 

Wm. A., 363, 705 
Darrow, Barrett, 250 
Dauchy, Wm. O., 392 
Davenport (Eev.), J., 17 
Davis, Henry C, 231, 349, 
532, 5.34 

R. S., 649 

Theo. R., 227 

Samuel H., 225 

Sylvester, 612 

(Gen.), 568 

(Capt.), 351 
Day, Albert, Sons, & Co., 
596 

Erastus S., 188, 327 

John, 50 

Calvin, 227, 468 

Putnam, 120 
Dayton, L. M., 7-2 
Dyer, E. B., 583, 616 
Deane, James, 5S2 

(Capt.), J. M., 778 
De Bourge, G., 4i5, 446 
Decker, J. N., 569 
De Forest, J. W., 142, 719 

(Chaplain), 610, 662, 
791. 

C. D., 135 

H. C. 599 

Henry S., 7, 480, 625, 
677 
Delavan, J. S., 618 
Deming (Hon.), Henry C, 
42,46, 78, 81, 115, 
135, 136, 160, 307, 
722, 800, 821 

Chas. J., 233 
Dempsey, Robert, 507, 510, 

511 
Dennis, J. B., 122, 195, 437, 
447, 539, 543, 544, 
555, 556 

Jared S., 62, 64 

U. A., 72 
Dennison, Chas. S., 130 
Dcnslow, G. A., 248 
Desborough, John, 14 
Dewell, John H., 129 
Dewey, Daniel, 407 
DcVv itt, Wrn., 441 
Dexter, J. N., 201 
Dibble, 81 

C. F., 811 
Dickerson, A. A., 534, 744 

David, 52 
Dickinson, L. A., 142, 766 

Z. C, 448 

David, 64, 236 
Dickernum, Ezra D., 235, 
696, 697, 700, 705, 
706 

J. C, 392 

(Mrs.), 471 



Dimmock, Geo., 825 

Dixon (Hon.), James, 33, 36, 
226, 286, 596 
(Mrs.), 470 
John A., 277 
Charles, 531, 532 

Doane, John J., 105 

Dodge (Gen.), C. C, 722 

Donnelly (Col.), 216 

Donphoe (Col.), 477 

Dooiittle (Chaplain), J. B., 
699, 700, 712 

E. A., 693 
Dorr, E. C, 206 
Dorrance, David, 7 
Douglass (Hon.), Benjamin, 

52, 73, 183,286,435 

Benj. C, 424 

(Dr.), 97 

John M., 7, 59 

John C, 552 

Stephen A., 29 
Doull (Maj.), 205 
Dow, Edwin C, 624, 684 
Downes, Wm. E., 226, 464 
Downing, H. A., 623 
Drake, A. W., 45, 97, 126, 
166, 170, 171, 173, 
176, 282 

John L., 228, 282 
Drown, Azro, 77G, 777, 779, 

825 
Duane (Maj.), 618 
DuBois, Cornelius, 252, 698 

(Mrs.), 471 
Dudley(Dr.),F. A.,678, 811 

F. B., 391 
(Rev.), 155 
Everett L., 782 

Duffy, John, 125 
Duganne, A. J. H., 431 
Dunford, J. C, 72 
Dunham, Austin, 227 

Jas. E., 108, 230, 298 
Dunlap, Thomas, Jr., 766 
Durfee, Wm. H., 669 
Durand, Cliarles, 426 
Duryee, Redfield, 97, 445, 

506 
Durver, C, 650 
Dutton, Arthur II., 218, 2.35, 
3.30, 335, 337, 477, 
483, 484, 538, 542, 
553, 554, 600, 814 
A. S., 552 
Henry M., 217, 219, 

233 
(Hon.), Henry, 82 
(Corpl.), 780 
Eaton (Chaplain), Jacob, 
110, 167, 272, 276, 
277, 327, 543, 545, 
546, 557, 569, 655, 
683, 688, 762, 763 
(Hon.), W. W., 104, 

105, 323, 328 
(Gov.), 14 
Eastman, Henry A., 273 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Eddy, Hiram, 63, 99, 569 

Martin B., 448 
Edircrton, A. J., 640 
Edwards, George P., 666, 670 

Charles H., 248 
Elliott, Chas. W., 226 
Ellis, Theo. G., 299, 3G7, 
386, 388, 396, 508, 
566, 570, 577, 601, 
607, 765, 811 
Elmer, Wm. T., 327, 329, 

630, 798 
Elmore, Harvcv E., 277 
Ells, Wm. B., 233, 506, 587, 

588, 592, 714, 761 
Ellis (Rev.), 54 
Ellsworth,. E. E., 86, 111, 
830 
Wm. B., 233 
John, 86 
(Jud-c;, 27 
W. W., 86, 227 
Ely, Wm. G., 121, 131, 132, 
231, 238, 349, 350, 
351, 354, 355, 357, 
499, 500, 501, 640, 
'642, 644, 715, 717 
Calvin S., 252 
Alexander, 97 
llichard S., 597 
Emploj-ces, The Colt, 468 
Englcs, J. S., 514, 621 
Endish (Hon.), James E.,99 

Wm. S., 546 
Eno, Fred. R., 282 
Ensworth, D. M., 422 
Ericsson (Capt.), John, 190 
Erwin (Mrs.), 470 
.Eustis (Rev.), Wm. T., 52, 

226 
Evans (Rev.)., P. S., 183 

John, 390 
Fardon, I. G., 667 
Farnsvvorth, Chas., 139, 209, 
490, 491, 492, 496 
(Dr.), 243 
Farrcn, John W., 226 
Farrcnd, E., 842 
Faxon, W. C, 558, 617, 825 
Faxton, Wm. C, 779 
Felch, F. A., 448 
Fellows, R. S., 226 
Fenn, Aug. H., 727, 761 
Fenton, E. B., 705 
Charles, 814 
Ferguson, S. B., 108 
Ferris, Weston, 739 
Robert, 277 
Sam. P., 149,219,252, 
456 
Ferry, Orris S., 32, 35, 71, 
74, 214, 219, 722, 
762, 817, 818 
Fessenden, E., 597 
Finch, Lucius R., 226 
Fish, Wm. S., 139, 209, 490, 
491 
Geo. A., 568 



Fisher & Co., 58 
Fiske, Samuel, 264, 268, 269, 
519, 560, 564, 565, 
566, 589, 590, 636 
Fiske, W. 0., 421 
Fitzgibbons, R., 62, 311, 511, 

512 
Fitch (Mrs.), .1. W., 471 

(\lrs.),EniilvM., 471 
Thomas, 48,"801 
A. G., 248 
Jolin, 27 
William, 801 
Fletcher (J)r.), .306 
(Gov.), 18 
H. J., 420 
Flower, E., 468, 596 
Flynn, Michael, 616 
Foley, John, 1 25 
Folsom, Wm., 244 
Forbes (Lt. Col.), 533 
Ford, Roger M., 291, 619 
Foot, Rolf C, Jr., 236 

Andrew Hull, 226, 

397 
(Rev.), John, 397 
Foskett, Geo. H., 249 
Foster, H.,128, 167, 172,173, 
344, 786 
Wm. H., 470 
E. K., 67, 125, 798 
(Hon.), LaFayette S., 
32, 33, 36, il5, 231 
Samuel S., 669 
Fountain, Noah L., 86 

(Dr.), 337 
"Forlorn Hope," The, 416, 

417, 418 
Fowler, Richard H., 297 

Douglass, C8, 124, 
229, 380, 381, 391, 
729, 817 
Foy (Capt.), 142, 305 
Fox, Hiram li., 782 
Francis, -James M., 320 

Daniel G., 122, 194 
John A., 501 
(Capt.), 131 
Frankau, Nathan, 142, 306 
Franklin, Wm., 244 
French, Wilson, 362, 392, 
731, 7.33 
Edwin G., 494 
E. W., 728 
Fritz, James, 99 
Frisbie, A. L., 696 
Frye, Frederick, 68, 107, 
125, .306, 312, 511, 
513 
Gage, Rolicrt B., 305 
Gallagher (Surgeon), 310 

(Hon.), James, 52, 244 
Gallup, Loren A., 250, 424, 
434 
(Hon.), David, 188, 
632 
Gardner, 156 

Wm.C, 719 



Gardner, James M.,307 
Gardiner, G- F., 123,193, 199 
Garvey, Patrick, 125 
Gasney, Geo. A., 676 
Gates, H. P., 475 
Gavitt, A. L., 705 
Geatlcy, John, 607 
Geer, Aug. M., 424 

Na,than H., 575 
German, Wm. A , 102 
Gerrish, Henry G., 122 
Gibbs, Sanmol E., 595 

(Miss), J., 471 
Gibbons, E. W., 225, 267, 296 

Richard B., 125 

T. F.. 513 
Gill, Henry B., 651, 654 
GUlette, Cornelius, 617, 825 

E. A., 624, 684 

Robert H., 690 

(Hon.), Francis, 690 
Gilbert, C, 558 

Lucius, 226 

Jesse B., 421 

S. G., 143 

Raphael, 448, 544 

Smith S., 609 

Thus. S., 207, 779, 
813 

N. B , 779 
Gilmau (Prof.), D. C, 82, 
226 

George, 435 

W. H., 124 

Wm. C, 54, 253 
Gilmore, Patrick, 248 
Gilson, A. J., 705, 769 
Glasson (Capt.), 123 
Glazier, O. I)., 814 
Gleason, Isaac C, 248, 421 
Glenn, Russell, 781, 782 
Glissman (Corp.), 446 
Glover, Joseph, 619 

Martin V. B., 373 
Goddard, Alfred M., 475, 540 

Henry P., 7, 540, 565 
Godfrey, Geo. M., 247, 432 
Goff, Christian, 250 

O. S., 673 
Gold, Edward F., 233 
Goodell, Wm., 600 

W. W., 391 
Goodenough (Mrs.), J., 471 
Goodrich, Frank B., 464 

L. S., 457 

E. T., 619 
Goodscll, E. B., 107 
Goodwin, L. P., 570, 58.3, 
758, 784 

(Set.), 490 

J. E., 660 

Wm. A., 297 

Hiram, 186 

Jonathan, 227 
Goodyear, E. D. S., 126, .549, 
620, 621, 653, 681, 
765, 782, 786, 787, 
788, 824 



884 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Gootlyear, L. G., 421 

(Capt.). 342 
Gore, Asa A., 403 

James W., 64 

Horace H., 493 
Gossman, Jolin, 770 
Gould (Ju(l?;e), 27 

Charles, 125, 253 
Graham, Ira A., 679 
Granger, Albert S., 59, 74 
Granaiss, Samuel H., 142, 

404,411, 420 
Grant (Gen.), 535, 536, 596, 
696, 789, 794, 795, 
796, 797, 803, 813, 
829 

H. L., 448, 680 

(Dr.), ri. A., 188,801 

Matthew, 830 

Noah, 830 

Jesse Root, 830 
Grav, Miles, 517 

" ■ S. H., 122, 132, 194, 
437, 439, 440, 444, 
447 
Graves, B. L., 177, 621 

(Rev.), Samuel, 425 
Greaves (Capt.), 342 
Gregory, J. M., 727 
Greeley, Edwin S., 523, 537, 
548, 611, 621, 656, 
672, 681, 683, 765, 
787, 809, 824 

Horace, 390 

(Mrs.), E. S., 471 
Green (Miss), A. E., 467 

Wm. H., 657 

Geo. H., 657 

Albert C, 498 

Thos. L., 657 

Nelson H., 657 

(Miss), Elizabeth, 466, 
467 

Wm. P., 50, 657 

Cyrus A., 657 
Greene (Mayor), 435 

(Lt.)^447 

Jarncs A., 595 

J. Lloyd, 50 

Stephen S., 595 
Griggs, Charles, 717 
Griffiths, Dana N., 373 
Gnlley, Chas. T., 522 
Griswold (Rev.), S. S., 48 

— , 278, 280 

John, 130, 266, 273, 
279 

Warren, 227 

& Co., 58 
Greenman & Co., George, 48 
Greenman, George, 601 
Grow (Hon.),G. A., 115 
Grover, Chas. D., 407 
Grosvenor, Chas. H., 307 
Guyer, Tliomas, 458 
Guilford, Timothv, 235 
Haffv, Bernard, 448 
Hakes Isaac W. Jr., 231, 349 



Hale, F. M., 50, 231 

H. S., 183 

Ezra, 524 

Charles W., 247 

Leonidas R., 307 

Henry C, 619 
Hal], A. J.,"595 

Edwin D., 548 

(Hon.), Ezra, 816, 827 

N. C, 244 

(Chaplain), 184 

Henry C, 548 
Ilammersly, Wm. J., 227 
Hammond, A. G., 596 

(Mrs.), A. G., 470 

C. E., 612 
Hamilton, 142 

David B., 216 

Hand (Surg.), D. W., 711 

Ilarland, Edward, 68, 123, 

125, 128, 173, 178, 

270, 271, 272, 273, 

294, 475, 482, 521, 

537, 711, 712, 722, 
771 

Plarmon, George, 119 
Harrington, Ctark, 250 

J. v., 644 
Harrison, H. L., 156, 186, 
327, 630 
H. B., 183, 226, 687 
(Dr.), B. F., 52 
Grace, 52 

(Miss),S. B., 470,471 
Hart (Surg.), 345, 673 
F. W., 62 
Matthew, 525 
Edward W., 565 
Charles, 432 
Willard, 595 
Harvev, John, 730 

"Allen W., 227 
Hastings (Mrs.), A. F., 470 
Hatch, Calvin B., 505 

(Mr ), 361 

Hatfield, S. P., 557, 617,825 

Havens William II., 724 

Hawley, Josejjh R., 45, 46, 

61, 62, 63, 97, 105, 

123, 13i; 176, 192, 

193, 196, 199, 200, 

202, 296, 326, 436, 

449, 508, 509, 510, 

538, 546, 548, 549, 
635, C51, 652, 670, 
680, 682, 729, 762, 
804, 805, 807, 808, 
809, 810, 820 

(Mrs. Gen.), 490 
Monson, 108 
(Mrs.), Monson, 465 
Daniel W., 710 
Wm. H., 59,658,659 
Hawkes, C. E., 88 
Hawks, D. W., 502 
Hatch, Calvin B., 592 
Charles P., 435 
Edward W., 183 



Hawkins, Frank, 768, 824 

Joseph, 230 
Hayes, Aleck, 566 
Hayden, Richai'd E., 779 

Sam. S., 249, 407, 599 

Nathaniel, 228 
Haynes, John, 15 

William H., 201, 676 
Healy, John G., 513, 714, 
725, 727, 765, 802, 
823 
Heath, A. A., 105 
Heuiingwaj^, L. G., 72 

(Major), 207 
Hendi'ick (Surgeon), Eli F., 
710, 711 

A. C, 721 
Hendricksen (Rev.), 62 
Henderson Alexander, 167 

James P., 769 
Hennesse}', James P., 125 
Hewitt, Oscar W., 277 
Hickerson, F. G., 662, 786, 

789 
Hickok, N. E., 665 

George A., 233 
Higgins (Lt.), 357 

James D., 533 
Hill, B. A., 676 

Theron, 346 

Joim, 766 
Hilliard, Henry B., 434 
Hillhouse (Miss), H., 471 

James, 28 

(Mi.ss), J., 471 
Hillman, Levi N., 61 
Hillgar, Charles F., 246 
Hincks, Wm. B., 589, 781, 

811 
Hinckley, E. S , 642 

Arthur T., 219 
Ilinman, Stephen N., 582 
Hme, J. W., 244 

E. C, 651, 654 
Hintz, Henry, 534 
Hitchcock, Roland, 40 

E. S., 122, 194, 199, 
200, 201, 327, 392 
Hoadley, Frederick, 420 
Hoag, 1). D., 252, 426,'609 

(Capt.), 412 
Hobbie, Charles A., 2.30, 730, 

Horace, 448 
Holbrook, L., 644, 766 
Holcomb (Surg.), H. V. C, 
52, 712 

Richard E., 412, 420 

(Major), 307 
Holden, Jones G., 407 
Hollister, 22, 23 

Fitz G., 610 

J. C, 226, 457 
G. H., 233 
Ilollenbeck, N. S., 72 
Holden, A. M., 762 
Holmes, 327 

Theo. J., 473 

C. M., 673 



INDEX OP NAMES. 



885 



Holmes, Chas. E. L., 2i7, 427 

Clivistoplier, o45 

T. J., 568, 586, 613 

(Chaplain), 572, 615, 
724 

(Col.), 428, 429 
Honslow, Koper, 440 
Hooker (Rev.), 15 
Hopkins, A. D., 248, 428, 
4.31 

(Gov.), 14 

James M., 152 
Horn (Lt.), 599 
Home, Samuel B., 46 
Horton, William, 282 

Thomas, 201, 327 
Hosfoid, B. F., 505, 727 
Hotchkiss, Geo. F., 252 

W. S., 236, 709, 819 
House, Wm W., 423 

A. P., 108 
Hovey (Hon.), James A., 50, 
231 

Walter P., 788 
Howard, Charles T., 227 

James A., 449 

James L. & Co., 596 

Mark, 227 

Richard, 86 
Howe, Jr., Elias, 108, 297, 
818 

John I., 464 

Edmund G., 596 
Howell (Col.), 553 
Hoyt, Heury M., 123, 292, 
478, 605 

Israel L., 126 
Hubbard, 327 

James, 2.33, .506, 587, 
588, 594, 714, 761, 
795 

(Hon.), John H., 53, 
243, 822 

D. R., 119,207 

(Dr.), Robert, 373 

Richard D., 176, 183 

O. H., 431 

O. S., 430 

H. J., 119 

Horace, 720 

Samuel, 227, 295 

Wm. H., 476 
Hubbell, Wm. S., 392, 552, 

670, 731, 735 
Hudson, Edward P., 121 

Philip W., 126 
Hull, Ezra M., 316 

Andrew, 397 
Humi)hcv, Joseph, Jr., 233 
Hunt, D^ C, 392 
Huntoon, Samuel T., 250 
Hurd, A. C, 448 
Hurlburt, Charles D., 431 

Samuel E., 568 

(Surg.), Geo. A., 75S 
Hutchinson, J. I., 510, 651, 
654 

(Lt), 447 



Huntington, Wm., 779 
W. H., 50 
James M., 50 
Huxman, Samuel, 391 
Hyde, Alvan P., 187, 240 

Wm. I., 129 
IngersoII (^ilrs.), C. A. 471 

Jarcd, 19, 49 
Irwin, Charles N., 669 
Ives, Bravton, 495, 614, 615, 
715, 757, 758, 78.3, 
785, 792, 793, 795, 
817, 818 
Charles, 52, 632 

E. D., 421 
John S., 403 
N. P., 152, 475 
L. C, 468 
Philo L., 564 
(Mrs.), Theron, 470 

Jacobs,' Hervcy F., 424, 425 
Jackson, L. W., 557, 624 

C. W., 506 
John R., 545 
Ebenezer, 286 

F. W., 124 
Ranson, 814 

Jarman, W. M., 449 
James, Giles, 441 
Jameson, J. S., 616, 753 
Janes, Charles A., Jr., 595 
Jarvis, Geo. C, 507, 651, 654 

Samuel F., 505, 618 
JefFry, Frank C, 552 

Jacob, 327 
Jenkins, James H., 428, 429 

J. R., 430,' 431 
Jennings, II. R., 670 
Jepson, 126 

Theodore, 694, 705 

Benjamin, 81 

(Mrs.), B., 471 
Jewell, W. P. & Son, 434, 468 

Marshall, 597, 808 

(Mrs.), P., 470 
Jewett, Eleazer, 104 

(Dr.), Levi, 660, 811 

D. L., 374 
(Dr.), P. A., 185 

Johnson, David F., 247, 428 

H. P., 248 

N. P., 249, 423 

J. N., 501 

Jas. B., 67G 

W. H. H., 770 

And. T., 316 

George, 534 

Frank, 432 

E., 80 

Wm. B.,183 

George VV., 246 

Timothy D., 129 
Jones, Devereaux, 1 56, 307 

Cvrus D., 252 

Edward F., 44 

David W., 374 

Edward W., 233, 761 

Elijah B., 220 



Jordon, Joseph, Jr. 233 

(Lt.), 441) 
Judd, Lewis, 126 

, (Mrs.), J. F., 470 
Kattensbroth (Adj.), 311 
Keables, A. L., 669 
Kcach (aiajor), 238 

Ephi-aim, 231, 249 
Kcaley, John J., 248 
Keaton, John, 558 
Keenv, Henrv, 227 

" H. & W., 597 
Keith, James M., 754 
Kecfc, Jeremiah, 156 
Kellogg, A. G., 64, 88 

E. S., 48, 72, 233, 506, 
573 

Hawlev, 227 

E. N. & Co., 468, 597 
Enos, 118, 207, 230, 

730, 735 
(Col.), 238, 587, 588, 

592, 593, 594, 655 
Stephen W., 62, 631, 

800 
Robert H., 526, 527, 
529 
Kelly, James, 558 
Kendall, Joshua, 458 
Kent (Col.), 49 
Kenyon, I. D., 663 

J.Iartin R., 423 
Marshall, 009 
Kerns, James, 782 
Keyes, E. D., 93, 97 
Edwin R., 425 
David D., 545 
Kibbee, I. N., 640 
T. C, 633 
Kies, George, 502 

John, 681 
Kilbourne, James B., 669 
Kimball, 267 
King, John A., 124 
J. W., 226 
Lewis D., 276, 277 
Kingsburv (Col.), 164, 256, 
259, 266, 273, 278, 
279, 521, 598, 027 

F. J., 183 

N. & Co., 468, 596 

H. W., 129 

T. H. C, 129, 241 

(Lt.), 278 
Kingsley, Tlios. G., 241, 250, 

2:1,411, 426, 427 
Kinuey J. C, 5, 8, 7.08 

(Rev.), E. D., 708 

E. A., 766 

Thomas, 106 
Kinsley (Dr.), 27 
Kirkham, Austin P., 100 
Klein, Daniel, 68, 121, 553, 

680, 683, 820 
Kloch, Chas. II. 657 
Knapp (Capt), 238 

Samuel R., 232 
Knipe (Gen.), 697, 707 



886 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Knowlton, 24 

J. W., 391 

Daniel, 111, 115 
Knox, Andrew, 106 
Krazynski, M., 479, 551 
Lacey, Wm. H., 230 
Ladd, H. O., 185 
Lake, David, 277 
Lamb (Col.), 688 

F. A., 615 
Lamphere, J. D., 545 
Lancey, S. H., 84 

Herbert, 61 
Landon,'Chas. B., 253 
Lane, D. F., 74, 217 

J. H., 616 
Lanfare, Aaron S., 784, 792 
Lansing, James H., 226 
Larned (Miss), A., 471 
Latham, J. II., 552 
Latimer, E. H., 496 
Lathrop (Dr.), De Witt C, 

177 
Lawton, Thomas, 52 
Law, John E., 188 
Lawrenre, Thomas, 323 
Lawton (Rev. Mr.), 132 
Leach, Arnold, 97 
Learned, B. P., 618, 825 
Leavenworth, M. C., 316 
Lee, E. M., 280, 500, 575, 
578, 743 

E. R., 129 

James E., 752 

Charles E., 752 

H. B., 651, 654, 655 

W. T., 596 

Henry, 660 

E. R., 175, 655 
Leete (Gov.), 16 
Leeds, Francis R , 252, 318 
Ledyard, William, 24 
Leggctt, Robert, 100, 126, 
341, 344, 345, 452, 
514, 574, 649, 650 
Leroy, J. 0., 99 
Lewis, George N., 68, 142, 
301^ 420, 570, 714, 
725, 700,821 

Charles E., 277 

(Major), 404 

William G., 277, 470 

B. S., 054, 542 
Robert, 770, 778, 825 

Lilley, John, 042 . 
Lillibridge, Geo. H., 507, 590 
Lincoln, Abraham, 29, 30, 
31, 39, 42, 83, 80, 
535, 624, 799 
William A., 825 
H. H., 080 
Lindsay, 502, 620, 621 
Lindsley, J. H., 672, 787, 788 

C. A., 220 
Lines, Edward, 392 
Lippitt, 48 

Lockwood, F. St. John, 800 

D. B., 388 



Logan, S. G., 084 
Lombard, Joseph A., 175 
Long, P., 606 

Francis S., 624 

Walter P., 552, 063, 
664, 669 
Loomis (Hon.), Dwight, 32, 
150 

Benjamin C, 247 
Lord, F. C., 569 

Horace, 227 

Tom, 200 

Jesse H., 88 
Lounsbury, Stephen, 108 

Cooke, 186 
Lovejoy, Frank M., 227, 

295 
Lowell, John P., 728 
Luddington, Lewis, 678 
Lucrenia, G. P., 616 
Lucas, Walter M., 391 
Lyon, Arthur E., 441 

(Gen.), 102, 111, 112, 
113, 114, 115, 768, 
819, 8.30 

(Major),208, 213, 270, 
490 

R. P., 420 

Hanford, 108 

Henry, 592 

E. L., 102 

Judson M., 139 
Lyman (Rev.), Charles N., 
708 

Henry, 002 
Mabbott, Alonzo, 421 

(Capt.), 415 
McAllister, Alexander, 226 

James, 156 
McBarney, Geo. H., 595 
McBrien, James, 448 
McCabe, James P., 720 
McCail, John, 272, 548 

A. D., 721 
McCarty, John J., 280 
McCartin, Michael, 125 
McCormick, Jos., 508 
McCurdy, Robt. H., 54, 124, 
150, 253 

Charles J., 34, 54 
McCord, J. J., 143, 518 
McDonald, H. J. M., 550, 
764 

Alexander, 585 

G. E., 778 
McDonough, Louis R., 252 
McEwen, William, 540 
McFarland (Bishop), 92 
McGee, R., 449 
McGlaffin, Charles E., 728 
McGrath, Walter, 409 
McKenzie (Col.), 714, 720, 
701, 762 

R. S., 594 
McKinley, Tlios. H., 670 
McManus, Thomas, 402 
McNamara, James B., 778 
McReynolds (Col.), 177,351 



Maguire, Thomas, 74 
Maginnis, J. T., 640, 642, 

643 
Maher (Major), 419 

Patrick, 403 
Mahoney, Dennis, 659 
Maine, Edwin G., 272, 276 
Mallory, Charles & Sons, 48 

Wm. H., 102, 569 
Manning, Edward P., 425 
Manross, N. S., 228, 282, 

283 
Mansfield (Mrs.), H., 471 

(Lt.), 195 

Samuel M., 248 

Jos. K. F., 89, 283, 
554 

B. F., 150, 522, 813, 
814 

Jared, 283 

D. B., 609 
Manville, G. W., 773 
Marble, Edwin, 435, 523 

William S., 556, 689 
Marcy (Major), 583, 584, 
613, 614, 615 

George O., 495, 570, 
612, 715, 718, 723, 
724 
Marsh, E. W., 595 

D. E., 505 
John R., 99 
George H., 277 
William S., 105 
William P., 291 
Charles H., 489 

Marshall Henry G , 7, 766 
(Mrs.), Horace, 467 

Martin, Charles T., 235 
Leonard P., 490 

Martinson, Augustus, 509 

Marion, Edwin, 220 

Mason John, 14 
J. B., 623 

E. P., 084, 686, 825 
G. P., 618, 825 

Mather, Roland, 227, 596 
Matthewson, Charles, 129 

Joseph, 231, 639, 646, 

815 
Ezra J., 232 
(Capt.), 349 
Matson, N., 618 
May, Wm. H., 248,428,429, 

431 
Mayer (Surg.), 274, 278. 
280, 281, 282, 462, 
484, 598, 626, 710, 
711, 713 
George A., 307 
Nathan, 476, 477 
Maynard, J. C, 250, 424 

G. L. M., 667 
Mead, Daniel M., 341 

Thos. R., 127, 341 
Meeker, Benjamin, 595 

Lorenzo, 121,539,542, 
680 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



887 



Melancthon (Surg.), 475 
Merritt, James, 225 
Meniam, E. J., 654 
Men-iman, M. M., 596 
Merrill (Sgt.), 156 

Oscar F., 307 
Merwin, Henry C, 353, 369, 
378, 392 

Ira, 52 
Metcalf, George T., 137, 542 
Meyer (Surg.), 255 

(Col.), 131 
Michie (Major), 685 
Middleton, Georee W., 253 
Middlebrook (Capt.), 139, 
209, 211, 212, 213, 
490 

Henry, 779 
Millen, John, 728 
Miller (Rev.), 52 

Joseph, 448, 654 

D.H., 427 

Peter, 615 
Milford, Henry P., 586 
MUls (Capt.), 507 

Charles C, 555, 556 

John S., 710 

B. K., 108 
Miner, Abraham, 545 

Wm. T., 458 
Mitchell (Capt.), 307 

William, 426 

Louis, 51 

A., 143 
Mix, Edward H., 119, 482 

(Cap:.), 485, 486 
Mobbett, Alonzo L., 248 
Moegling (Major), 267, 273« 
625, 627 

William, 129, 281 

Wm. A., 599, 606, 
608, 619 

Wm. C, 610 
Monroe, Austin G., 88 
Moore, Samuel A., 381, 386, 
392, 566, 570, 573, 
589, 658, 660, 677, 
780, 795 

J. E., 68, 230, 391 

James II., 540 

James M., 660 

Pat., 782 

E. Lewis, 510 

& Johnson, 597 
Morehouse, Wm. A., 446 

John B., 212, 494, 
568, 612, 613, 715, 
757, 792, 819 
Morrell, Pierre, 782 
Morgan, 105, 272 

Henry E., 180, 291, 
333 

J. F., 573, 781 

A.M., 669 

Daniel, 546 
Morris, 184, 289 

(Gen.), 238,349 



Morris (Chaplain), Jolrti M., 
77, 183, 258, 275, 
337, 798 

S. A., 679 

Horace J., 456 

Wm. E., 494 

Dwight, 222, 260, 267, 
395, 396, 6.30, 632 
Morrow, J. J., 727 
Morse, Horace J., 633, 635, 
801, 811 

(Adj. Gen.), 463 

A. C, 595 

109, 110 

Charles W., 534 

Samuel F. B., 27 
Wm. W., 235, 812 
Moss, Titus, 374 
Mullen, Father, 156 
Munger George, 236 
Munson Edward B., 127 

M. W., 81 
Murdock, Wm., 590, 677, 

781 
Murphy, James T., 778, 779 
Murray, E. J., 705, 769 
Myers, Frederick, 126 
Mygatt, A. B., 77 
Napheys, George H., 250 
Nash, diaries W., 123 
Narramore, Robert, 464 ■ 
Nearing, Edward, 429 
NefF, I. F., 762 
Neidhart, Julius, 782, 788 
Nelson, John A., 63, 125 
Nettleton, Isaac F., 313 

Elliott W., 771 
Neville, E. M., 583,612 
Newton (Dr.), 345 
Nickerson (Dr.), Nehemiah, 
746 

Edwin L., 406 
Nichols, Horace, 108 

Andrew B., .546 

Monroe, 23 1,350,354, 
501, 640, 641 

James R., 573, 660 

Stephen M., 428 

Charles H., 542, 612 
Niles, A. F., 490, 492 

J. M., 596 
Noble, Wm. H., 50, 108, 229, 
297, 361, 362, 394, 
450, 722, 729, 731, 
732 

J. W., 722 
Noblett (Capt.), 430 
Nolkes (Rev.), W. C, 49 
North, John G., 61, 82, 522 

Henry, 735 
Northam, Chas. H., 227 
Northrup, 423 ; George, 683, 
765 

Cyrus, 77, 186 

Lewis, 428 

Charies E., 788 
Norton Brothers, 50 

(Mrs.), 471 



Norton, Henry B., 71, 497 
Charles L., 461 
Francis M., 567 
(Mrs.), W. A.,471 
L. F., 590 
(Mrs.), L. H., 465 

Noyes, Benjamin, 61 
Enoch, Jr., 250 
Wm. Curtis, 234 

O'Brien, Dennis, 448 
Lawrence, 158 
John, 825 

Orcutt, Henry W., 567 

Odell John, 777, 779 

Oliver, Wm. A., 407 

Olmstead, Chas. H., 195 
(Mrs.), J., 470 

O'Reilly, Father, 92 

Ormsby, O. P., 281 

Osborn (Col.), 549 

Arthur D., 67, 226, 

244 
E. G., 780 

E. W., 64, 227, 392, 
772, 773, 776 

Thomas B., 57 
S. C, 448 

F. B., 445, 680 

W. F., 558, 624, 684 
Otis, John L., 452, 514, 537, 
548, 549, 619, 620, 
622, 653, 656, 670, 
671, 672, 673, 681 
Oviatt, George B., 407 
Owen, E. H., 470 
S. B., 324 
Packer, E. P., 552, 666 
E. R.,670 

Warren W., 74, 302, 
364, 378, 693 
Page (Dr.), 177 
Paine, W. H., 642 
Painter, M. G., 545 

Palmer, , 327 

Andrew, 103 
Chas. E., 122, 132, 

199, 202 
C. S., 195 
Geo. E., 405 
John C, 227 
Sanford B., 514 

Pardee, ,126 

Benj. S., 126, 128, 
164, 165, 166, 172, 
341,457,460 
». W., 227 
Henry C, 235 
H. E!, 226, 522 
(Lt. Col.), 162 
Steplien D., 151, 183, 
226, 471 
Park, Joseph P., 595 
Parker, Charles, 46, 47 
Frederick A., 235 
H. C, 546 
Timothy R., 248 
Parmelee, Uriah N., 584, 
724, 783, 784 



888 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Parmelee, Leander, 448 

S. T., 244 
Parsons, Edgar H., 448 

J. C, 596 

L. S., 52 
Pasco, Henry L., 228, 482, 
534 

(Major) 485, 531 
Patch, William, 214 
Patterson (Dr.), H. D., 624, 

779 
Payne, A. E., 513 

Josepli B., 595 
Pcale, Henr}^, 64, 231, 238, 
351-5,356,497,638, 
642, 717, 766 
Pease, L. E., 78 
Peek, Albert W., 730 
Peck, A. W., 433 

Prank H., 321, 410, 
420, 516, 524, 714, 
719, 721 

D. J., 226 

David J., 188, 244 

Edward 0., 109 234 

Henry A., 621, 655 

(Capt.),782 

Henry B., 227 

Jabcz B., 433 

John P., 431,4.58 

(Miss), P., 471 

Nelson J., 433 
Pemherton, Mr., 337 
Penrose, J. J., 49 
Perkins, B. E., 346 

D. D., 456 
Farren, 53 
J. H., 72 

(Miss), Eliza P., 466 
H. A., 227, 596 
James H., 247 
S H., 222, 237, 260, 

269, 396 
(Lt. Col.), 293 
(Dr.),N. S., 346, 347 
AVm. W., 346 
Joseph, 45 
Perry (Col.), 195 

(Lieut.), 447 
(Sergeant), 727 

E. S., 651 
Peters, John A., 489 

(Rev.), Saml., 24 
Peterson, Wm. H., 669 
Pettibone, Major, 341, 343 
Phelps, Horace E., 728 

John S., 115 

(Mrs.), 115 
Phillips, Allen F., 493 

Daniel, 227, 468 

(Mrs.),D., 470 

F., 773 

G. W., 49, 327, 458 

Henry T., 581 

W. E., 583 
Piatt, Donn, 350 

(Mrs.), 350 
Pickett, Edwin D., 392 



Pierca, Henry H., 556, 624, 

684-6 
Pierpont, E. F., 448 

(Rev.), John, 76 

Walter, 586 
Pinkerman, P. A., 226 
Piatt, John, 108 

Oscar, 505 

Hon. O. H., 46, 80, 
188, 227, 630, 631, 
632 
Plumh, D. W., 48, 458, 464 

(Mrs.), H. 471 

S. F., 669 

S. W. W., 654 
Plyrapton (Dr.), 49 
Pomeroy (Senator), 109, 116 
Porter (Asst. Surg.), 201 

(Capt.), 688 

Edward L., 355 

(Lt.), Horace, 192 • 

H. L., 596 

Isaac G., 355 

John A., 226 

Selden T., 137 
Post, Ambrose W., 706 

B. C, 421 

O. R., 699, 700, 705 

Oliver R., 706 

Wm. H., 596 
Potter, G. W., 595 
Powell, James P., 227 
Pratt (Mrs.), D. C, 471 

(Miss.), Esther, 470 
Pratt, Franklin A., 624, 684 

Gilbert, 105 

H. A., 686 

James T., 34, 187 

Wm., 764 

Wm. M., 540, 680 
Pray (Lt.), 599 
Prentice, Hon. Amos W., 50, 
231 

Chas.H., 596 
Preston, E. B., 3.34 
Pride (Capt.), 556 
Prindle (Capt), C. E., 143 
Provost, Norman, 448, 542 
Prouty, Bcnj. F., 121 
Punderford,'john A., 227 
Putnam, 20, 21, 22, 24 
Radford (Col.), 98 
Raffle, Chas., 156 
Randall, Isaac, 48 

Jedcdiah, 251, 424 

Silas B., 48 

Mr. ',302 

Rankin, Edw. E., 228 
Ross, Sam'l, 234, 693 
Rathburn, J. A. ,669 

J. G., 596 
Raymond, Stephen, 104 
Rebstock, Wm., 448 
Read, John R., 281 
Reed, Abncr, 157 
Reeve (Judge), 27 
Reeves, Wm., 446 
ReiJ, Robert K., 754 



Rich (Mrs.), G. B., 471 
Rexford, Henry A., 595 
Reynolds (Capt.), 625 
Geo., 380 
G. G., 

(Sergt.), 327 
Wm. H., 612 
Rice, Chauncey D., 48 
E. J., 216 
J. C, 722 
James Q., 233, 506, 

587, 714, 720 
John P., 147 
John T., 188,630 
Randall H., 335, 609, 
681 
Richardson (Gen.), 578 
Richmond, Collins, 779 
Rigby, Chas., 421 
Riggs, Luther G., 246, 334 
Riley, Ed., 782 

(Lt.), 426 
Ripley, Charles H., 546 
(Col.), 48.3-4 
(Gen.), 449. 
Luther, 105 

272 

Roach, Jas.'D., 412, 420 
Roath, Leonard G., 406 
Roberts (Mrs.), B. N., 470 
(Mrs.),B. S., 471 
Hiram C, 281 
Wm. J., 274, 669 
(Mrs.), W. W., 470 
Robhins, T. H., 407 
Robinson, Chas., 623 
Ellis B., 407 
Henry C, 227, 523 
Timothy B., 5.34, 744 
Rockwell, A. P., 198, 303, 
442, 501, 548, 672, 
680, 683, 690 
J. P., 642, 650 
(Dr.), P. G., 62. 
Rockwood, N. P., 590 

T. H., 207 
Rodman, Daniel C, 122, 132, 
194, 195, 436, 543, 
557, 680 
(Gen.), 270, 271, 273 
(Lt. Col.), 131, 439, 
441, 539 
Rogers, C. B., 226 
Edmond, 446 
Enoch E., 773 
J. B., 492, 695 
Joab B., 717 
AVm. H., 556 
Root (Lt.), Ed., 705 
E. B., 246 
E. K., 597 
(Mrs.), J. A., 471 
John G., 246 
John S., 374 
S. J., 68 

Owen, Day, &, 597 
Rose, .Jonathan, 54 [701 

Ross (Col.), 325, 373, 698, 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



889 



Eoss, W. E. W., 623 
Rossman, Wm. H., 448 
Rouse, VV. D., 667 
Rowland, Thos. F., 190 
Kowell, David B., 694 
Royce, Jolin E., 700 
Runvon, T., 722 
Ruggles, Geo. B., 730, 733 
Russell, Chas. L., 97, 126, 
167,453 

(Col.), 126, 146, 164, 
165,655, 781 

(Gen.), 65 

F. W., 458 

George D., 47, 64 

(Dr.), G. W., 185 

James L., 179 

Robert, 590, 677 ■ 

Samuel S., 168 
. Wm. H., 183, 188, 226 

(Mrs.), W. H., 471 

, 272 

Rust, C. H., 277 
Ruth, Patrick K., 123 

(Capt.), 126 
Sackett, Wm. H., 609, 610 
Salisbury, E., 152 

(Mrs.;, E. E., 471, 
472 
Sanford, E. A., 226 

George S., 108 

George W., 782 

Hon.'Henry S., 149 

H., 471,472 

Julius, 247, 428, 431 

Oliver S., 122, 194. 
449, 539, 543, 555, 
556, 557, 744 
Sargent, Geo. D., 624 
Satterlee (Surg.), Dwight, 

476 
Savage, W. L., 655 
Sawyer, Silas W., 125, 513 
Savers (Sergt), 611 
Sciialk, F. E., 589, 591 
Sclileiter, 143, 307 
Schnable, Ellis B., 107, 110 
Schutze, Henry, 58 
Schweizer, B. 'E., 252, 293, 

296 
Scott, Geo. E., 635 

H. G., 558 

John B., 642 

(Misses), 88 

t^cUick, 421 

Thos., 74 

(Lt. Gen.), Winfield, 
70, 83 
Scoville, Chas. M., 592 
Scranton, A. G., 502 

Erastus, 188 

Hon. E. C.,57 
Seaver, Heber W., 228 
Sedgwick, R. A., 207 

(Gen.), 179, 574, 575 
Seeley (Mrs.), Wm. E., 465 
■ A., 458 

Albro, 735 



Seger, Philip B., 236 
Selden, Joseph, 411, 414, 

423, 424, 426 
Senglaube, Louis, 567 
Seward, S. H., 391, 590 

Wm. T., 137, 570 
Sexton, Bolles, & Co., 597 
Seymour, E. W., 233 

Edward, 243 

F. S.,39l 

Griswold & Co., 596 
Hon. O.S., 234. 630 
Gov. Thos. H., 78, 

' 80, 103, 136, 228, 
332 
Shailer, Chas. M., 654 
Shalk, Fredk., 391 
Sharp, Albert F., 391, 620, 

649, 655-6 
Shaw (Col.), 443 
Sheffield (Capt.), 179 
Sheldon, Joseph, 244, 472 

(Mrs.), J., 471 

(Lt.), 374-5 

W. D., 383 
Shelton (Dr.), 124 

Edward N., 47 
Shepard, David G., 305 

Jeremiah M., 236, 
552 

J. H., 335 

Brothers, 345 

(Capt.), 552 

G. W., 552 
S. B., 556 

Sheridan, Terrence, 513 
Sherman (iliss) E., 471 

(Gen.), 116, 502, 535, 
536, 695 

Philo B., 236, 517 

Tecumsch, 95 

T. W., 123 
Shipman. N., 596 

W. D., 227 
Shultas, Chas. C, 246 
Sidders, Chas., 409 
Sidney, Sir Philip, 425 
Silliman, B., Jr., 283 
Silloway, Wm. F., 230 __ 
Simras, John M., 346-47 
Simonds, John H., 277 

W. E., 422 
Simons, Thos., 392 
Simmons, Wm. S., 666 
Simpson, Jas. F., 6G0 

Samuel, 81 
Siprell, D. W., 72, 119 
Skiff (Dr.), 522 
Skinner, Ahlen B., 423 

(]\Ivs.),x\. N., 471 

Beni. F., 122 

B. F., 195, 437,447, 
508-10 

Jeffrey, 233, 714, 720 
761 

(Miss), J. W., 471 

S. W., 617 
Slade, Lucius M., 48 



Slater, John F., 50, 231 

(Misses), 62 
Smith, Abner C, 771 

(Adj.), 218-20 

AU)ert, 424 

Alfred, 468, 470 

Charles, 107,374,392, 
735 

Charles, Jr., 449 

Danl. L., 220 

David, 50, 231 

Ed., 750 

Elisha F., 227 

E. Y., 124 

Francis, 728 

Gad N., 505 

George F., 82 

Geo. G., 307 

Geo. W., 782 

Heber S., 220 

Henry C, 235 

H. n., 201 

Ira S., 602 

James, 779 

Jas. T.,.307 

(Judge), 27 

L. R., 226 

Martin B., 124, 478, 
547, 605, 669, 757 

Moses, 546, 606, 610, 
618, 666,669 

M. L., 746 

Nathaniel, 233, 506, 
594 

Peter J., 751 

Rufus, 458 

Seymour W., 770 

S. S., 227 

Septimus S., 712 

Thos., 468, 596 • 

Wm. A., 069 

W. F., 5.36, 551, 553, 
554, 5SG, 596, 625 

W. G., 654 

W. W., 700 
Smvth (Col.), 659 
Snagg, Henry L., 391 
Snow, M. L., 705 
Soby, Wm., 327 
Soule, E. F., 449 
Souter, James, 599 
Southard, L. IL, 102, 5^9 
Soutlnnayd, Geo. M., 129 
Southworth, Chas. G., 236 
Sparks, Walter C., 595 
Spaulding, J. L., 50 

Reuben, 640 

Wm. L., 639-40 
Speidal, John, 01, 121, 304, 

305, 373, 506, 797 
Spellman, W. C, 616 
Spencer, Albert, 480 

J. F., 676 

Wm., 697 
Sperry, Eli, 234 

H. T., 597 

N. D., 226, 244 
Spittle, Wm., 236, 335 



890 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Sprague (Capt.), 155, 308, 
401 

Ezra, 700, 7C9 

Homer B., 143, 155, 
161, 308, 313, 403, 
578, 714, 719, 725, 
728, 765 

(Lt. Col.), 420, 718 

(Surg.), 114, 115 
Sprenkle, D. &V., 567 
Spring, And. J., 751 
Speed, Fredk., 510 
Standish, Walter F., 391 
Stanley, T. E., 296 

Frank AV , 406 

(Lt.), 29G 
Stannard. Geo. J., 667 
Stanton, Chas. T., Jr., 236, 
552, 606 

John L., 251, 423 
Stanwood (Lt.), Ed. W., 771 
Starkweather, Hon. H. H., 
50, 356 

John C, 117 

(Mrs.) N., 470 
Starr, Benj , 654 

E. W. N., 241 

Fredk., 327, 432 
Stedman (Col ). 266, 267, 
273, 274, 279, 541, 
550, 553, 597-99, 
601, 616, 619 

Edmund C, 390 

G. W., 420, 721 

(Gen.), 625-28 

Griffin A., 74, 129, 
256, 278, 538, 606- 
608, 764 

John W., 50, 231 

(Lt), 722 
Sterling (Capt.), 517 

D. H., 50 

(Mr.s.), Daniel H., 465 

John W., 236, 388, 
517, 70S, 709 

Sherwood, 380 

(Mrs.), W. G., 464 
Stearns, Albert, 68 

(Gen.), 199, 200 
Stevens, John G., 431 

S. S.+ 235, 446 
StCT^art, James, 705 
Stickney (Col.), 429, 430 
Stiles, Bob, 375 

Henry H., 227 
Stillman, Albert, 374 

(Mrs.), A. S., 470 

H. M., 169 
Stille, Chas. G , 464 
Stocking, Gilbert M., 706 
Stoddai-d (Mrs.), Prudence, 
119 

Eben M., 844 
Stokes, Joseph, 99 
Stoll, nenrv,410 [220 

Stone, H. B., 74, 213, 218, 
Stone (Rev. Mr.), 357 

W. W., 77 



Storrs (Miss M.), 471 

(Dr.), 274 

(Sergt.),M., 180, 680 
Stoughton, Frank E., 391, 

677 
Stottlar, John, 654 
Straiiiht (Col.), 499 
Striby, Fredk., Jr., 448 
Strickland, Jas., 420 

(Lt.), 413 

(Mrs.), W. T., 470 
Strong, Clark, 421 

(Major), 157 
Stroud, Ed'win, 592- 
Stuart, 23 

Sturgis (Major), 114 
Sullivan, 24 
Surret, Thos., 669 
Sutliff, Elbert, 750 
Sutliffc, Lucas, 196 
Swan, Frank, 246 
Swayne (Brig. -Gen.), Wager, 

722 
Sweetland, J. C, 676 
Swift, Rowland, 522, 596 
Taft (Mrs.), C. A., 470 
Taintor, M. A., 051, 652 
Talcott (Miss), Mary, 470 

C. M., 770 

Charles H , 250 

P. F., 552. 814 

(Mrs.), T. J., 470 
Talmadge (Col.), 234 
Taylor, Addison C, 252,296 

Isaac, 448 

J. C, 426 

John, 338, 339 

iuoses, 083 

(Rev.), 286 

, 305 

Westlove, 392 
Tarbox, Daniel S., 281 
TaiT, H. G. H., 700, 705 
Tennant, Charles, 484 

Cfliarles A., 335 
Terry, Alfred IL, 64, 89, 97, 
99, 120, 123, 131, 
• 168, 202, 304, 348, 
438, 538, 541, 546, 
611, 612, 648, 652, 
672, 687, 689, 690, 
691, 722, 755, 804, 
805, 806, 807, 808, 
810, 820 

Edward, 708 
Thacher (Miss), A., 471 

(Mrs.), Daniel, 464 
Thomas, David S., 376 

(Miss), Carrie, 466 

^eorge H., 119 ' 
Thompson (Rev ), Alex. R., 
183, 229, 818 

Gideon, 108 

John, 507, 650, 689 

Wm. W., 201, 221, 
651, 712 

Silas W„ 311 

(Mrs.), W., 490 



Thornberg (Dr.), 530 
Thornett (Capt.), 102 

Thomas B., 102 
Thorp, E. A., 670, 766 
Thorpe, David J., 595 
Tibbe, R., 449 
'Tibbetts, John A., 39 
Tiffany, Charies C, 680 

M. V. B., 501, 640, 
646, 714, 717 
Tisdale, E., 143 

(Capt), 307, 315 
Titus, George N., 705 
Tolles, Samuel, 227, 294, 478, 
771, 772 

Tompkins, , 150 

Tomlinson (Dr.), Chas. 812 
O. K., 567 
Russell, 108 
Toucey (Hon.), Isaac, 36, 

136, 842, 843 
Tourtelotte, Jerome, 123, 195, 

437, 440 
Townsend, Jeremiah, 507, 
539 
James M., 201, 202 
Torrance, David, 461, 790, 

826 
Torrence, James, 409 
Torrey, George, 350 
Train, Abner L.. 188 
Tracy, Charies A., 367 
J. A., 461 
John N., 122, 542 
Traganza, Wm. P., 138 
Treat, Amos, 34 
(Mrs.), A., 
Amos A., 18S, 189 
(Major), 16 
Trowb/idgc, George N., 545 
O. E., 432 
P. M., 823 
W. IL, 432 
Thomas R., 51, 127, 
151, 244, 471 
Trumbull, Gurdon, 597 

H. Clav, 65, 67, 178, 
341, '344, 345, 348, 
451, 513, 514, 523, 
550, 569, 621, 636, 
653, 662, 671, 682, 
787, 803, 810 
J. Hammond, 596,637, 

755, 801, 829 
(Gov.), Jonathan, 20, 

22, 23, 28 
Thos. S., 624, 684, 

761 
JohnF., 105 
Tubbs, William H., 225 
Tuck<.r, Edwin A., 244 

James S., 6G7 
Turner, J. A., 119 

Marx C, 534 
Turnbull (Rev.), Robert, 183 
Tuttle, H. E., 592 
Twining, A. C, 119,151,471 
(Miss), M. P., 471 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



891 



Twiss, John M., 825 

(Capt.), 776, 779 
Tyler (Gen.), Daniel, 70,84, 
87, 92, 93, 95, 96, 
97,98, 133,205,206, 
212, 225, 231, 494, 
504 
Hon. Morris, 435, 521, 
, 523, 525, 722, 806 
Moses, 820 
Daniel P., 49 
Robert O., 133, 203, 
383, 389, 470, 505, 
517, 559, 574, 596, 
599 
LeviE., 570 ' 
Upham, Charles L., 27, 29, 

124, 479 
Upson, Henry, 201 
Van Pelton, J. B., 640 
Vaill, T. J., 725 
T. F., 645 
Van Keuren (Lt.), 439 
Vinton, Edward C, 510 
Wadhams, Edward, 548, 591 
. Henry W., 591 

Luman, 588, 589, 592, 
594, 595 
Wadsworth (Capt.), 18 
Daniel, 86 
(Gen.), 381 
(Brig. Gen.), Jas. J., 

722 
N. M., 53 
Wait Hon. John T., 231, 
2/ 4 J 276, 522, 548 " 
Marvin, 265, 272, 276 
Walker, Alfred, 151, 152, 
157, 182,471,474 
(Chaplain), Edw. A., 
119, 133, 182, 505: 
640 
(Lt ), Chas., 97 
Chas. H„ 272 
(Capt.), E. A., 118 
H. J. O., 494, 604 
John, 545 

W. C, 499, 644, 645, 
646 
Wallace, E., 422 

Thomas, Jr., 464 
Walter, Chas., 229, 362, 373 
Walworth (Judge), 27 
Warburton (Mrs.), 468 
Ward (Capt.), 11 
(Col.), 334 

Henry C, 405, 409, 
422, 423, 461, 601, 
782 
(Col.), James, 91 
James Harmon, 91 
John E., 124, 273, 332, 

478, 540, 605, 680 
(Miss), Lvdia R., 464 
(Major), 276 
Sam'uel S., 597 
Warden, Jason, 426 
Warner, Abner S., 477 



Warner, Addison 0., 583, 
584 

(Capt.), 238, 585 

(Col.), 405 

Geo. W., 232, 501, 
640 

(Major), 97 

Rufus, 392 
Warner (Hon.), Sam., 24, 52 
Warren, Chas., 764 

, 24 

Warriner (Rev.), E., 137,138, 

209, 489, 496 
Washburn, Geo. A., 271 
Washington, Geo., 22 
Watcrbury, Geo. A., 426 
Waterhouse (Mrs.), C. R., 

471 
Waters, John M., 533 

John, 654 

Watrous, , 632 

Watson, W. B., 558 
Wayland, Francis, 183 

Francis, Jr., 226, 522 

M., 183, 184, 185 

(Chaplain), 200, 201, 
523, 655 
Webb (Lt.), 245, 246 

W. M., 6.50, 655 
Webster (Dr.), C. B., 467 
Weemes, Thad. M., 424 
Welch (Hon.), E. K., 52, 82 

H. R. W., 188, 632 

H. M., 183, 226 

(Asst. Surg.), John 
B., 156 

(Dr.), 243 

Moses C, 697 

(Rev.), 302 
Weld, Mason C, 249, 402, 

422 
Weldon, T. N., 705 
Wells, Alfred, 247, 431 

Curtis B., 214 

Henry A., 126, 346 
Welles, Frank, 728 

(Mrs.), Oswin, 470 

(Mi-s.), Sec, 469 
Wessels, Henry W., 402,486 

Leverett, W., 233, 
720 

Leverett, 457 

(Col.), 234, 238, 506 

(Gen. J, 488 
Westover, W. W., 567 
Wetherby (Rev.), Chas. N., 

'580 
Wetmore, Prosper M., 54, 

125, 130, 253 
Whaples, W. W., 654 
Wheatlev, Richard, 317,318, 

'426 
Wheaton, Albert F., 346 
Wheeler, A. M., 432 

John D., 227 

John I., 316 
Wheeler, Jonathan, 49 

Mark H , 426 



Wheeler (Sergt.), 585 
Wheelock, S. B., 253 
Whipple, Samuel, 583 

Samuel S., 585 
Whitaker (Capt.), 616 

Daniel, 569 

Edward W., 102, 569 
586, 614, 645, 757 
Whitcomb (Dr.), 274 

J. B., 279 
White (Col.), 133 

Elijah, 277 

Geo. M., 227 

Geo. W., 772 

H. D., 226 

(Lt. Col.), 118 

Moses C, 151 

(Dr.), M. C, 471 

Nelson L., 47, 556, 
617 

S. L., 655, 65G 

(Mr. and Mrs.), Wm. 

D., 392 
Whiting, F. K. H., 709 
Whitney, E. P., 105 

Eli, 27, 226 
Whittlesey, Chas., 246 
Wightman, J. C, 415 
Wilcox, Chas. M., 252, 371 

(Gen.), 295 

J. A., 722 

J. P., 539 

Noah, 667 

Whiting, 277, 278 
Wilcoxson (Adj.), 361 

A. H., 362, 371, 381, 
450, 729, 731, 732, 
783 
Wildman (Capt.), 47 

E. E., 62 

(Miss), Elizabeth, 407 

F. S.,467 
(Miss), Mary, 467 
T. C, 651 

Wilkinson, E., 49 
Willett, John B., 766 
Willey, Hon. Hiram, 231 
Willa'rd, Samuel F., 225, 281 
Williams, A. S., 722 

Frank, 87 

Geo. S., 234 

George M., 624 

(Rev":), John, 183 

J. D., 224 

(Gen.), 310, 311 

Joseph D., 456 

R. G., 72 

William C, 661 

, 48 

Wiilimann, Joseph, 433 
Wills, Alfred, 428 
Wilson,G. W., 46 

J. H., 446 

P. P., 705 

Robert, 304 

,393 

Winchester & Davies, 61 

(Mrs.), Wm., 471 



892 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Winslow, Geo. A., 728 
Winthrop, Gov. Jolin, 16, 
17 

Francis R., 89 

Theodore, 89 

(Maior), 111 
Wistai- (Gen.), 550 
Wolcott (Gen.), 21, 24 
Wood, Charles A., 545 

Enoch, 230 

Frederick, 108 

John E., 236 

T. S., 623 
Woods, W. B., 722 
Woodbridge (Miss), Jane, 

470 
Woodford, S. L., 722 

C. W., 754 
Woodhouse, Levi, 68, 72, 119 



Woodruff (Chaplain), 454 

D. A., 6.54 

(Rev.), G. W., 183 

(Hon.), John, 32, 71, 
226, 244 

(Rev.), R., 623 

K. K., 623 

Richard K., 766 

S. A., 686 

S. F., 700 

Samuel S., 235, 360 

(Mr.), 449 
Woodwai-d (Dr.), A., 114, 
185, 426 

James M., 24 

John A., 431 
Woolby, J. J., 11, 124, 183 
Woolsev, Thco. D., 183 

(Miss), D., 471 



Worden, Samuel D., 357 
Wooster (Col.), 366, 37!5, 
378, 386, 653, 667 
D. B., 505 

Wm. B., 47, 80, 234, 
461, 637, 648, 649 
Work (Mrs.), T. J., 470 
Wright, Benj., 514, 670 

Dexter R., 46, 222, 
227, 288, 329, 330, 
458, 460 
(Gen.), H. G., 12,3, 

202, 594, 596 
Horace W., 545 
Ira, 45, 63 
John B., 188 
T., 623 

Wm., 125, 573 
Wyant, Wilson, 74 



